Welcome Philly-native Tom Kinka! Tom is currently the touring drummer for up-and-coming country artist Lecade. Growing up in a music-heavy family shaped by Rock Band, Blink-182, and country music in his mom’s car, Tom’s passion for music and the drums was developed at an early age. Tom shares how a serious car accident and coma at 17 sharpened his focus on music, leading to a fearless, “persistence and idiocy” approach. He discusses leaving a jazz program at Temple for media production, navigating Philly’s DIY pop-punk scene, moving to Nashville during COVID, learning country on the fly for Broadway, seeking lessons directly from his heroes like Josh Manuel and Luke Holland, and landing the Lecade gig—plus touring highlights, onstage gear fails, evolving drum setups, and his obsession with stick tricks and community. We hope you enjoy!

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:09 Welcome, Tom!
4:34 Music Family Roots
10:57 Blink-182 and Green Day Obsession
12:29 Near-Death Accident
17:27 Broadway Rookie Mistakes
18:15 Rezo Custom Drum Heads (Sponsor)
19:18 Quitting Jazz at Temple
20:44 Philly DIY Pop-Punk Scene
23:57 The Move to Nashville
30:46 Studying w/ Luke Holland
32:32 Drum Box (Sponsor)
33:13 Broadway vs Touring Life
36:58 Meeting Lecade
50:00 Rig Rundown and Gear Changes
53:27 Stage Style and Band Vibes
57:32 Low Boy Beaters (Sponsor)
58:14 Moments from Tour
1:03:36 Drum Supply (Sponsor)
1:04:35 Mastering Stick Tricks
1:15:19 Music City Audiology (Sponsor)
1:16:01 Nashville Drum Community
1:25:47 Rapid Fire Questions
1:30:10 Outro

Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

Rezo Custom Drum Heads
https://rezoheads.com

Drum Box
https://drumbox.space

Drum Supply
https://www.drumsupply.com

Low Boy Beaters
https://lowboybeaters.com
Music City Audiology
http://musiccityaudiology.com


Connect with Tom:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tom_kinka

Music Featured in this Episode:
“Blind” – Lecade
“LET U GO” – JaxsonFree

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Recorded at Garden Groove Recording Space, Nashville, TN
Podcast Artwork: GENUINE CREATIVE ART

ⓒ 2026 Nashville Drummers Podcast, LLC