Peter Lambert Smith (a.k.a.
P.S. Lambert) was born in Concord Massachusetts on December 26, 1953. At the age of 3, Peter saw a Memorial parade and fell
in love with the street beat of the marching band. Ever since, playing drums has been his passion. After years of banging
on bongos and toy drums, Peter was given a 4 piece Ludwig drumset for his 13th birthday.
Peter's musical growth included violin and piano lessons along
with drum lessons. Being the main drummer in his home town, Peter had opportunities to play Rock, Jazz, Dixieland
and Classical music.
In 1972, Peter attended Berklee College of Music. After the first
year, he couldn't resist the desire to "Hit the Road" and pursue a professional career. So, at 19 years old, he loaded
up his car with his drums and a suitcase and started a trip to Los Angeles. Within 6 weeks, he had his first gig with a traveling
show group doing dinner shows and playing in Las Vegas lounges.
Being tired of the road, Peter settled down in Encino, CA and
attended The Dick Grove Music Workshops where he studied music theory, composition and
arranging. He also did extensive training with Freddy Gruber. Meanwhile, he played around town with
his own fusion group and did lots of casuals and demo sessions.
Then in 1979 Peter got a call to work for Susan Anton and within
weeks he was doing appearences on The Tonight Show playing with Doc's band and performing
in Las Vegas showrooms with 30 piece orchestras. Susan Anton even insisted that Peter be used for the sound recordings of
her 6 TV Specials with NBC.
In the 80's, as drum machines became more prevelant, Peter
pursued his talents an a singer/song writer and recorded a variety of New Age songs that never got released. He also
patented an invention he had for a unique bass drum pedal and started a company called ROLLOR. A counter weight for pedals
called "The Balancer" became very popular and was eventually licensed to Drum Workshop.
In the 90's, Peter went with the times and pursued his interest in
Rap Music. He wrote a rap to the old "Peter Gun" theme and called it "Peter Drum - The Groove Detective" which was recorded and produced by Richie Podolor (Three Dog Night, Sandy
Nelson etc.). He recorded on "The Luck" by Dwight Twilley and appeared in a Billy
Burnet movie called "Saturday Night Special". Peter also had an article published by "Modern Drummer" called "Knowing your Pedal".
In 1995, Peter married his wife Rhonda and now has 2 beautiful daughters.
But, his passion for drums is still strong. His maturing musicianship grew into a love for classical music and the result
is Clazzical Drums.
After years of searching, Peter feels that he has finally found his
nitch. In the future you can expect to see more Clazzical Drum projects and hopefully live
performances. Stay Tuned!
