Joshua comes from a family of rudimental percussionists and was introduced to the activity as a young child watching his father march and teach in drum corps. When in High School, he joined the marching band and did his four years marching snare under the direction of David Vose and Fred Ford. In 1992 Joshua decided to march in his first of several drum corps throughout the 1990’s.

In 1998, after aging out of the drum corps activity, Joshua took on small rolls in several Massachusetts and New Hampshire High School drum lines. In 1999, he moved to Maine and became the Batterie Technician for the Southern Maine Youth Percussion Ensemble (SMYPE) under the direction of Phil Verrill. SMYPE was awarded the 1999 Winter Guard International Independent Open World Champions in Dayton, OH.

After a few years off from the marching arts, Joshua came back to Massachusetts to start Sonic Wave indoor marching percussion ensemble with some friends. In 2007, Joshua was asked to join the winter percussion staff at the Triton Regional High School in Byfield, MA as a Batterie Technician. In the same year, he was also asked to join the management and staff of the non-profit group Youth in the Arts where he was assisting the director with establishing a start-up program for the East Coast Jazz Drum Corps.

In 2008, Joshua signed an endorsement contract with a major drumstick manufacturer and saw a need for sporting event entertainment and founded Northeast Percussive Entertainment Group. This program provided performance opportunities for his students at Boston area professional and semi-professional sporting events. NPEG was made up of several ensembles that not only offer sports entertainment, but also to compete in local and national percussion circuits. NPEG also had an education program that introduced new and inexperienced young people into the world of marching percussion. This program taught young, inner city percussionists from the Boston area proper technique and how to read music when many of their music programs were eliminated due to budget cuts. Sadly, in 2011, NPEG had to come to an end as there was less room in the budget for sports teams to provide entertainment such as NPEG.

After a couple years off Joshua began playing drum set again on the worship team at the Dialogue Church in Manchester, NH where he continues to grow in his faith and drumming abilities while being mentored by fellow drummer William “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and Team Leader Rick Frost.

“I had a formal endorsement contract with a major drumstick company since 2008 and my contract was amazing! I received $2,000/year in sticks and mallets plus all the free wearables that I wanted. I always went over my $2,000 and never once did they charge me. They were good to me and my students but I noticed that over the years, my sticks were getting lighter and lighter and the tips were constantly chipping within 10 minutes of use. The quality just was not the same. My partner Fitz told me about this company that was making drumsticks in a small shop here in New Hampshire. It was nice to use free drumsticks but how could I honestly endorse a product that I wasn’t happy with? I decided it was time to try out a new company. I went to the shop and had a couple pairs of custom sticks made to my exact specifications. WOW!!! I was blown away! The quality was amazing and the detail that went into making each stick, one at a time just blew my mind. I couldn’t wait to get back and show Fitz these sticks and take them for a spin at my next practice. For the first time ever, I had a pair of sticks in my hands that lasted two weeks. Fitz was blown away by how long his sticks lasted too and that’s when I decided I was going to start BUYING my sticks rather than endorse inferior sticks that I received for free. After a few weeks of playing my new sticks and talking to the original owner of Rich Sticks, Fitz and I decided we wanted to be partners and buy the company. I quit my full time job as a chef and the rest is, well…history”.