Episode 33 | Tosh Peterson
What is a prodigy? A prodigy is a young person who is endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities. The word prodigy bears a lot of meaning. People that are described this way generally go on to do great things and reach high levels of achievement early in their lives but also have big expectations placed on them. I think in a lot of cases the expectations can be seen as motivation for a young person. Without the distractions of adult life, it is the perfect time to really focus and hit the woodshed to develop your skills.
A question that I often wonder about is whether it's natural talent that makes a prodigy or is it a natural interest that is well nurtured early on? Take, for example, Tony Royster Jr. for who I am certain the day people first saw that famous video of him crushing a drum solo at the age of twelve, everyone thought that he would go on to be one of the worlds’ greatest drummers. And as it turns out, he is.
Tosh has played drums since he was two years old and has a drumming father as well. He was always encouraged to follow his curiosities with the drum set and because Tosh is homeschooled, he has been able to spend more time drumming while still completing his school work. I think that it is this level of encouragement and freedom that sets Tosh up for success in music. To make matters even better he has had received private lessons from Thomas Pridgen over the years to enhance his skills. Those are great building blocks in establishing a life long career in music, wouldn't you agree?
Lately, all of this hard work has paid off as he was recently employed by Nik West as her touring drummer which has brought Tosh all over the world. Up until this point, Tosh has been playing local gigs and getting his feet wet in the industry, so this gig with Nik West is by far his biggest success as a drummer. It is hard to imagine what a rush that must be for a teenager to be performing with an artist like Nik West. With most teenagers searching for their purpose and finding confidence within themselves, it is rare to see younger people that are so sure footed in their path and actually doing something about it.
So what will Tosh’s future look like in the music industry? It is impossible to even know where he will find himself in the next five years, but it is almost certain that he will be drumming and kicking major ass doing it. In this podcast, we explore his mental attitude towards his career and his own progress, where his musical roots stem from and we try to project what his future holds. Keep your eye out for Tosh, he’s the guy without the shirt.