Campbell won $6,000 In Prizes & Performed with Blue Man Group at Outside the Box Festival

Jarrell Campbell, Winner of BMG Drum-Off 2016

Blue Man Group Boston hosted their 3rd annual Drum-Off competition on the Capital One Stage at the Outside the Box Festival today. Jarrell Campbell, 24, a Houston, Texas native who currently resides in Jamaica Plain, MA, was named the winner. A Berklee College of Music student, Jarrell wowed the crowd during his 2-minute solo performance and won over $6,000 in prizes including a new DW drum kit, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and accessories, a Bluetooth speaker from AT&T and tickets from Blue Man Group.

“Jarrell had the whole package,” said Scott Toomey, Resident Music Director, Blue Man Group Boston and one of the judges. “He moved through the different styles comfortably, got the crowd behind him, and had all the melodic elements. It was a tough call because all the drummers up there today were extremely talented, but Jarrell rose above the rest.”

Jarrell beat out four other competitors, P.J. Holaday, 24, from Newburport, MA, Vlade Guigni, 31, from Dominican Republic, Alex McGillivray, 23, from Peabody, MA and Orlando Retana, 23, from Costa Rica. Drummers were assessed on the following criteria: musicality, ensembleship, creativity and technical ability.

“I just feel grateful for this opportunity,” said Jarrell Campbell. “I entered the competition because I thought it would be fun and it has been that and so much more. I’m just glad everyone enjoyed themselves and it’s been an amazing opportunity.”

The competitors were narrowed down from over 30 applicants. The top five finalists had two rehearsals to learn new music so the winner could then perform at the Outside the Box Festival.

“This was the first year we had the winner perform with Blue Man Group and the band,” said Jonathan Screnci, Resident General Manager of Blue Man Group Boston. “Jarrell rocked it up there and you could tell he was having a good time.”


ABOUT BLUE MAN GROUP

In 2016, global entertainment phenomenon Blue Man Group celebrates 25 years of living in full color with a series of new projects and appearances. The company is best known for the award-winning Blue Man Group show, performed in more than 15 countries and seen by more than 35 million people worldwide since 1991. A dynamic combination of music, comedy and technology, the show appeals to a broad range of age groups and cultural backgrounds. It is continually refreshed with new music, fresh stories, custom instruments and state-of-the-art technology.

The company developed through a creative collaboration among three close friends, Chris Wink, Phil Stanton and Matt Goldman on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Blue Man Group now has permanent theatrical productions in Las Vegas, Orlando, Boston, Chicago, New York and Berlin, a North American tour and a World Tour.

This creative collective is part of the pop culture zeitgeist. Beyond the stage show, they have toured the globe with the “Megastar World Tour” rock concert parody, released multiple albums, including the Grammy-nominated Audio, and the recently released, THREE, and contributed to numerous film and TV scores. They've served as the face of branding campaigns for Intel and TIM/Brasil and appeared countless times on hit shows like “The Tonight Show”, "Arrested Development", “Ellen”, “Schlag den Raab” (Germany), “WOWOW” (Japan), and “Caldeirão do Huck” (Brasil).

Based in New York City, Blue Man Productions has extensive production facilities, recording studios and a 6,000 square foot Research & Development Lab with numerous new creative projects in the pipeline.