Ed Haggard has been drumming since he was a boy when his dad brought home a drum set. He taught himself initially by playing along with records. Nowadays, Ed leads a neo-tribal percussion dance band called, The Love Drums, as well as a smaller strolling ensemble called The Love Drums Soulution which specializes in special occasions like house blessings, weddings and such. The Love Drums are inspired by West African drum and dance traditions, Middle Eastern music for belly dance as well as Latin and Briazilian styles. Ed and his band play for many kinds of events and have been seen at the Nashville Zoo, Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Art Crawl,Vandy Children's Hospital, Historic Edgefield, the Martha O'Brien Center in addition to corporate events and parties and the group's monthly event called The Love Drums Community Drum and Dance WhizBang held the first Saturday of every month.

For the last ten years Ed has been a full time professional percussionist, teacher, drum circle facilitator for most any kind of group, a drum maker, drum merchant and Interplay leader, along with being a team building facilitator for Adventureworks, Inc . Ed has taught over 3500 drum classes and workshops at University School of Nashville, Abintra Montessori, Casa dei Montessori Linden Corner Waldorf School, Montgomery Bell Academy and Harpeth Hall Academy in Nashville, TN. He has three CD's available, "Dance Wild!", "The Love Drums Live at Art & Soul", and "Learn the Rhythms with Ed Haggard". Contact ed@thelovedrums.com or 615-727-2724.

Current drumming projects:

* Teaching drumming classes at University School of Nashville, Casa dei Montessori Harpeth Hall School and Monroe Harding Children's Home.
* Leading monthly The Love Drums Community Drum and Dance WhizBangs, performances and open drum circles
* Team building drum circles for Adventureworks.
* The Love Drums performances at parties, benefits, concerts, theaters, special occasions.

Ed has played for or with:
Rape and Sexual Abuse Center
Hands on Nashville Day community service project
Outta Da Blue Interplay Performance Group
Universalist Unitarian Church of Nashville
Tennessee Solstice Festival/PoppenStock
OJ Ekemode and the Nigerian All Stars
Harpeth Hall School Winterim Program
Young Women's Leadership Summitt
Wing It Interplay Performance Group
University School Artcectic Art Show
Vanderbilt University Cultural Center
RhythMystik Tribal Percussion Duo
Nashville Center for Spiritual Living
Nashville Celebration of Cultures
Unity Church for Positive Living
Nashville Shakespeare Festival
Nashville Spiritual Community
Tennessee Repertory Theater
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital
Whitand Ave July 4th Parade
Religious Science of Nashville
Harpeth Presbyterian Church
Vanderbilt School of Nursing
Pumpkin Hollow Community
Big Al & the Heavyweights
The Intentional Community
Lockeland School Festival
Outta Da Blue Interplay
Kali Yuga Yoga Studio
Martha O'Bryan Center
Linden Corner School
Samavayah kirtan band
Bliss & Corinne kirtan band
Lifeworks Productions
USN International Fair
Lipscomb University
Interplay Tennessee
Harpeth Hall School
Edgefield Uncorked
Nashville Yoga Fair
First Church Unity
Shawn Gallaway
Magical Journey
Shellee Krueger
Ewart Williams
Nashville Zoo
GraceWorks
Cheekwood
Drumaluma
Drumatic
Deirdre
Christine Tasseff, a certified teacher of Gabrielle Roth's Ecstatic Dance workshops

Recording:

Ed has recorded drumming with:

Eliot Houser-demos
Bo Baseman-demos
Annie Freeman-demos
Jan Morrison-demos The Ascenders - Carey James and Ed Haggard have recorded a 7 minute piece entitled, "Cosmic Sufi Trance Mix". Stu Studio Haitian Relief Project

Drum Circle Facilitator:

Ed has facilitated drum circles for:

Magical Journey
Harmony Landing
Adventureworks
First Church Unity
Girl Scouts Council
Global Education Center
Sound Health Alternatives
The Intentional Community
Nashville Spiritual Community
Leonard Bernstein Center's PACES
Tennessee Solstice Festival/PoppenStock
First Universalist Unitarian Church-Nashville
Hands on Nashville Day community service project
Ecstatic Dance with Drums at Global Education Center
Reconciliation, an organization that works with the families of prison inmates
Drum and Dance Explorations, with Rebecca Gose, choreographer and modern dancer

Classes:

Ed teaches drumming classes for beginners and intermediate players. He seeks to help people have fun in a drum circle with any percussion instrument, but the classes are primarily for djembe and dun dun, heavily influenced by the West African / Guinea style. Participants learn how to hit the drum, how to tune them, some traditional rhythms, how other percussion instruments can fit in, universal grooves and traditional rhythms. Ed tries to help people to experience making their own improvised, authentic, in-the-moment music, and entrain with others. Serious fun!

Ritual Drummer:

Ed and The Love Drums Soulution drum for birthings, marriages, birthdays, spiritual gatherings, Boy Scout initiation ceremonies, celebrations, seasonal events, etcetera.

He has drummed for:
the Circle of Men.
Harmony Landing Women's Drum Circle
numerous yoga classes
the births of Isla & Stephen Tarleton
the birth of Aaron Robillard.
the birth of Edison Haggard.
the marriage of Tom and Mimi and othes
Boy Scouts' Arrows of Light and Crossover initiation ceremonies