Shure announces Drum Mastery 2019 winner

Shure Drum Mastery winner 2019, Daniel Kelly II
Shure Drum Mastery 2019 winner, Daniel Kelly II (Image credit: Shure)

Shure has named Daniel Kelly II from Hampton, Virginia as the winner of its 2019 Drum Mastery competition, bagging himself an all-expenses paid trip to London where he will attend a drum masterclass and drum-micing workshop with top session drummer Ash Soan at Metropolis Studios.

The Drum Mastery talent search began at this year’s NAMM Show, with entrants invited to submit their performances between January and April. Shure received over 1000 video entries from over 38 countries.

The submissions were then whittled down to a shortlist of 38 ‘Country Winners’ by Shure, before a ‘jury’ of influential pro drummers including Ash Soan (UK), Taylor Gordon (US), Tobias Derer (Germany) Takashi Kashikura (Japan) and Shiguang Cui (China) selected the final three winning videos.

"The talent from around the world that I’ve seen during the Shure Drum Mastery competition has been fantastic,” Ash Soan tells Shure. “It’s been an honour to be involved with Shure and all the drummers."

"Congratulations to our top three winners, and thank you to everyone who took part in the contest” adds Jens Rothenburger, Director of Global Marketing for Musician and Consumer Audio at Shure. "We were truly impressed by the high quality of submissions."

In addition to the main prize, Daniel Kelly II will also receive $5000 of Shure gear, while second and third place winners, Matthias Knorr (Germany) and Carlos Arturo Hernández Cubillos (Colombia) will receive $300 and $1000 of Shure gear respectively.

Watch the winning performances below, and stay tuned for more information on Shure's Drum Mastery competition for 2020.

Stuart Williams
Drums

Stuart has been working for guitar publications since 2008, beginning his career as Reviews Editor for Total Guitar before becoming Editor for six years. During this time, he and the team brought the magazine into the modern age with digital editions, a Youtube channel and the Apple chart-bothering Total Guitar Podcast. Stuart has also served as a freelance writer for Guitar World, Guitarist and MusicRadar reviewing hundreds of products spanning everything from acoustic guitars to valve amps, modelers and plugins. When not spouting his opinions on the best new gear, Stuart has been reminded on many occasions that the 'never meet your heroes' rule is entirely wrong, clocking-up interviews with the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Foo Fighters, Green Day and many, many more.