A different beat

Drummer John Dare describes himself as a “recovering jazz snob.”

The Auburn native, who began pounding the skins at age 4, received classical jazz training while earning a music education degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston. Because those jazz techniques were ingrained, Dare considered himself a “purist” regarding drumming methods, preferring to pass on those techniques to his students.

But after joining a classic rock band not long ago, he said, his mind has been opened to other possibilities.