Russ Whitman began playing drums at the early age of 6 years old. From then on he always knew what he wanted to do with his life. Following in his father's footsteps, he started off playing by ear in his Grandfather’s church. Russ continued his musical education thru his middle and high school years consistently placing first chair in almost every all-state ensemble from concert to jazz.
After high school he continued his education on the collegiate level and in the US Navy. Since then, Russ was a member of Carolina Crown, Tarheel Sun, and Carolina Gold Drum and Bugle Corps. Even though his main focus is drum set, he remains active in the WGI activity as a staff member of Infinity Percussion in Orlando, FL. He recently started his own company “VisFX” making custom uniforms, props, and vinyl floors/backdrops for some of the activity’s top groups.
Through the years he has had the honor of working with Steve Gatlin, The Lawrence Welk Show, The Swingtime Orchestra, Soul Power Posse, Painted Man, Eason, Frontiers, Craig Woolard of The Embers, and with jazz group J360 where he shared the stage with Spyro Gyra, the Yellowjackets, Gato Barbieri, Kim Waters, and the late Jimmy Smith. For the last decade he has been the beat behind Grand Ole Opry member and Country Music Icon, Craig Morgan.
Russ proudly plays and endorses Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, Roland Electronics, Westone Monitors, Porter & Davies, BigFatSnareDrum, GrooveJuice, and BD Baffles.
