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BiographyName: Bonnie Briggs
Styles/Influences: Anything eclectic and diverse. History: My name is Bonnie Briggs, I'm a 52 year old disabled resident of South Parkdale in the west end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I've lived here for about 11 1/2 years in a second-floor walk-up, one bedroom apartment with my husband, Kerre and our two cats, Tinker (13) and his son, Smokey (12). I heard the call of the drum 10 years ago, shortly before I discovered the drumming circle I presently belong to; The Sunnyside Beach Drummers. Our website is www.geocities.com/gold-drum. I don't really have a style, I just follow what everyone else is playing and fit my bass beat in around the lead beat. I used to have a snare drum and just fit in with the rest of the group, but I lost that drum and then my friend gave me the floor tom I have now. Shortly after getting it, it was suggested to me that I should do the bass beat since they didn't have any bass drums. I slowly learned how to do that and now that's all I do, except when I'm marching with my bagpiper friend. That is explained further down. We meet regularly throughout the winter for parties which we call Tam-Tam. We also have a big New Year's party every year. I have a floor tom and another small tom, as well as various and sundry percussion toys, some of which are store bought and others which I made myself out of Kraft Dinner boxes and Pringles Chips cans. I also use Sunny Delight bottles. I also have a large water bottle, the kind used in water coolers, which is used as an extra drum. My drum is multi-purpose, I don't only use it for percussion; Being a former homeless person, I am an anti-poverty activist. I sometimes take part in protest marches with my floor tom, as well as the Labour Day parade, the International Women's Day march, etc... As a result, I have a big shoulder strap on my floor tom so I can carry it in marches. I sometimes march with a friend of mine who is a bagpiper and we lead the marches. I have pictures to prove it. Because I don't have a car, I have to take the transit to the marches and to Tam-Tam. My floor tom is large, awkward, and heavy. When I go out to Tam-Tam, I carry the floor tom on my shoulder, my percussion toys in a backpack and the water bottle under my arm. This makes it hard to walk sometimes. I have problems climbing stairs at the best of times, the drum makes it even harder. It makes it hard climbing up and down the stairs of the streetcar. I often hold people up behind me. The place where we hold Tam-Tam is in the sub-basement of a church which means going down MANY stairs to get to it. It also means that I have to climb all those stairs out at the end of the night with my drum and my backpack. Sometimes, I have to get someone to help me up the stairs with my stuff. It's not just my legs, it's my heart too, because I have a heart murmur and an irregular heart beat. GearHere is a list of some of the items that Bonnie uses in her percussion circle and marches
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