Mr. William Farrish, Adjunct Lecturer Applied Music,
Jazz Guitar and Aural Skills.

BM Jazz Performance , Five Towns College,  NY 1992
AA Jazz Performance, Five Towns College, NY 1988

Mr. Farrish graduated Five Towns College with degrees in Jazz Performance with honors. As a student he was the recipient of the Tiny Grimes Memorial Scholarship for jazz guitar, received two Awards for Excellence in Jazz Performance and was inducted into the Phi Sigma Eta Honors Society for his academic achievements in music.

Bill  has performed and or recorded as a leader in various groups ranging in size from solo to quintet and also released five CD’s for MCR Records. His music has been featured on several radio broadcasts in Europe the Far East and South America. In the early 1990’s Bill’s music held the top 20 positions in the Jazz Charts on the former mp3.com for an unprecedented 3yrs. Which helped bring his music to the attention of MCR Records and an international audience.

As a sideman Bill has perfromed with Bernard Purdie, David Garibaldi, Arthur Prysock, Ray Alexander, Jimmy Halperin, Cecil Bridgewater, Kiku Collins, Dave Ambrosio, Peter Rogine, Steve Kenyon, Tony Romano and Off-Broadway productions of  The Man of LaMancha, Lil’ Shop of Horrors, Hair and Tapestry. Session work for gold and platinum recording engineer Remo Leomporra Jr, the bands StrangeColud, QCC, Kim Novak and others.

Television credits include: Bea Moss Productions and The Carl Bruno Show – TCI Cable, TV.,  featured artist in the independently released production “An Evening with Bill Farrish” by Raven Productions, QPTV. composer of the theme and incidental music for The Park, Eun Kyung Show– Radio Seoul, Flushing NY.
As an educator Bill maintains a private teaching studio and currently teaches  advanced guitar courses at SUNY Oneonta.

Mr. Blake Fleming, Adjunct Lecturer Applied Music,
Advanced Drumset.

Blake Fleming started drumming at age 8, and spent several years in fife and drumming corps, bagpipe bands, jazz bands, orchestras, etc. While in the Alton Colonial Fife and Drum Corps, Blake studied with the East Coast Rudimental Snare Drum Champion from West Point, Jerry Whitaker. His first band was Dazzling Killmen, which he co-founded at age 15. The Killmen toured the US extensively, recording a handful of singles, two full-length studio albums, and one live album (Skin Graft/Touch and Go Records). They worked closely with Jeff Tweedy (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo) and Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies, PJ Harvey) and shared the stage with Fugazi, The Jesus Lizard, Neurosis, Helmet, Uncle Tupelo, Sleep, Shellac, Agent Orange, The Bad Livers and Jim O'Rourke.

Dazzling Killmen’s sophomore studio album, Face of Collapse, was named Heaviest Album of the 90s Decade by Alternative Press Magazine, the criteria for which included the dexterity of the rhythm section.

In 1996, he toured the US with the Japanese progressive punk band Zeni Geva and shared late night greek food with Jello Biafra and cheese sandwiches with Eddie Vedder. Afterward, he moved from St. Louis to New York City and formed the influential instrumental quartet Laddio Bolocko. Laddio Bolocko independently recorded and produced three studio albums. Laddio toured the US and Europe numerous times and gave Fleming the reputation of being a master drummer both in the US and Europe.

After Laddio, he moved to Los Angeles and co-founded The Mars Volta in 2001 and recorded their debut single for Grand Royal (The Beastie Boys’ Record Label). He also drummed on Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's solo albums 'A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1' and 'Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus'. He then returned to New York City to form Electric Turn To Me and toured the US and Europe extensively.

He rejoined The Mars Volta after drummer Jon Theodore's departure in June of 2006. Blake appeared with the Mars Volta on the Henry Rollins Show on the Independent Film Channel. After playing a sold-out arena tour opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers throughout the US and Canada, Fleming returned to New York City, devoting his time to teaching and session work with artists, including Evan Dando (Lemonheads), Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), The Ropes (Fleming drummed on their 2008 L.P. "What They Do For Fun" which was 15 in the ABC News top 50 Albums of 2008), Kim Taylor (NPR Artist of the Month), The Rollo Treadway, Father Divine, and Israel Nash Gripka.

Blake has also composed soundtracks and performed for video artist Janet Biggs. Their collaborations have been featured at the Art Basel Festival in Miami (where he performed solo drumset poolside with Olympic synchronized swimmers); The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; Solomon Projects in Atlanta, GA; Smack Mellon in Brooklyn, NY; The Johnson Museum at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; The Mint Museum of Art Permanent Collection, Charlotte, NC; International Video Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain; The European Media Art Festival, Osnabrueck, Germany; North Sea Film Festival for Underwater Movies, the Hague, Netherlands; and the Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY.

In October of 2009, Blake embarked on a two week tour of the U.K. and the Netherlands, playing major festivals and appearing on the BBC and Netherlands television with NYC singer/songwriter, Israel Nash Gripka.

Blake is proud to be an endorser for Truth Custom Drums, Vic Firth Drumsticks and Mallets, Meinl Cymbals, and DW Hardware.

Blake has taught over 200 students in the past twenty years, ranging in age from 5 years old to fifty.

Currently he keeps a tight schedule of studio work and live performances in addition to focusing on his new band FUTURE BY NOW.

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