Jules FolleTt

Executive Director and Founder of The Sessions

  • Entertainment photographer with work published worldwide

    Author and Photographer of Sticks ‘n’ Skins, the world’s photojournalistic essay of a drummers world sharing their personal stories, inspiration, education and experiences

    National Board Member of Music Will

    Founder of The Sessions non-profit organization established in 2011

    Jules’ passion for photography and admiration of drummers inspired her to create Sticks ‘n’ Skins. She kept hearing stories about artists who did not get their fair share of the financial rewards from some of the most successful recordings in which they were involved. Having a business background and not being a musician, this was not only shocking but also deeply disturbing to Jules and she wanted to find a way to give back to artists. She met with some of her top advisors and engaged their expertise and brilliant minds in the music business, and created The Sessions, to educate Artists to help them achieve the success they rightly deserve by empowering and impacting their life with information and experiences these music industry experts share during The Sessions. Hear her story of how she continues to help Musicians worldwide!

    Video Bio

    Musician on the Record Interview

Paul Quin

Board of Directors for The Sessions

Entertainment Attorney & Music Business Consultant

  • Law Partner at Saxon Gilmore & Carraway, P.A.

    General business litigation and entertainment law concentration

    Bachelor of Arts with honors; Manchester University, England 1990

    Master of Arts, American History; Louisiana State University 1992

    J.D. degree with High Distinction; University of Iowa College of Law 1998 and received Antonia D.J. Miller Award for Contributions to Human Rights

    Member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, Florida Bar, Missouri Bar and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

    Member of Music Will Florida Council

    Founding member of The Sessions non-profit organization established in 2011

    Paul spent many years as a professional drummer and remains active in the music industry. Clients include musicians and artists from all over the world in a number of civil, legal arenas. Acting as a music business consultant, he assists artists in developing and charting their career and making sure their interests are best protected. Paul remains an active musician and producer working in a variety of musical genres.

Rick DeJonge

Board of Directors for The Sessions

Composer & Arranger

Core Panelist with The Sessions

  • Rick DeJonge has a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University as well as a degree in Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television from the University of Southern California. He spent thirteen years in public education having taught high school and middle school band, high school choir, and elementary music. He remains active working with bands across the country and has recently worked with Honor Bands and All State Bands in Colorado, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Rick is an adjunct professor at Lipscomb University in Nashville where he teaches Film Scoring.

    As a conductor, Rick has conducted his own scores at Paramount Studios, Fox Studios, Spielberg Scoring Stage, and Firehouse Studios in Pasadena, California. DeJonge’s score for the action film “Fighting with Anger” contained a song by the composer which won Best Original Song at the New York Independent Film Festival and was recorded by Willie Nelson. Maestro DeJonge has been the official arranger/composer for Walt Disney World’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2011. In 2022 Rick worked with Netflix for a new promotion for the popular series “Stranger Things” and his score for the independent short film “Kubrick” won Best Original Score at several different film festivals.

    As a songwriter and arranger, Rick has composed music and written lyrics for several artists including The Boston Brass, Presidio Brass, Roger Ingram, Pat Sheridan, Willie Nelson and Liza Minnelli. For nearly two decades Rick has been working in artist relations covering over 25 different brands of musical instruments ranging from drums to guitar and from timpani to piccolo and everything in between. He has worked with over 500 artists and bands including Reliant K, Capital Cities, Youngblood Brass Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Big Bad VooDoo Daddy, and the band FUN! In 2008 Rick received Music Industry Person of the Year from the Texas Band Master’s Association and the same award in 2015 from the Tennessee Music Educators Association.

David Wish

Board of Directors for The Sessions

Founder & Chief Vision Officer at Music Will

  • Fueled by his belief that all people are innately musical, Dave Wish founded Music Will, a nonprofit organization that funds and runs one of the largest instrumental and vocal music programs in US public schools today. Music Will is also a leading provider of free instruments and curriculum. Dave has initiated and managed the launch of campaigns to restore, expand and innovate music education for more than 1,700,000 children in 44 states.

    While working as a public school teacher in California, Dave developed a revolutionary new approach to teaching music known as “Music as a Second Language.” Today, dozens of colleges and universities across the United States use Music as a Second Language in their music education programs. This methodology focuses on the linguistic aspects of music and focuses heavily on teaching children to play the music that they already know and love. By utilizing music that is culturally relevant and sustaining for youth, this approach brings greater equity and inclusivity into music classrooms.

    In 2008, Dave conceived and launched a new type of school-based music program known as “modern band.” Modern band is a new category of instrumental, vocal, technological, and performative music education that is offered alongside existing programs such as jazz band, marching band, and orchestra. Since that time, modern band programs have been written into the music curriculum of school districts across the country, and a number of state departments of education have partnered with Music Will to make modern band a statewide feature of their educational offerings.

    As a recognized social entrepreneur, Dave has been awarded numerous honors for his work in the field, including prestigious fellowships from Ashoka, The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, The Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation, and The Goldhirsh Foundation, as well as receiving the 2014 New Jersey State Governor’s Jeffersonian Awards in the ‘Ambassador’ category for his exemplary volunteer service beyond the borders of New Jersey.

    Dave’s work has been highlighted by national and local media outlets including The New York Times, CNN Headline News, Time Magazine, MTV, A&E, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Dr. Phil Show, and National Public Radio. He has also been a speaker at the LEGO Idea Conference, Imagine Solutions Conference, Social Innovation Summit, TEDxSantaCruz, and the Net Impact Conference.

    Dave is active in the broader field of music education. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium, the Governance Committee of Amp Up NYC as well as the Advisory Boards of SpreadMusicNow and Oberlin’s Music in America Initiative.

ANDREW SURMANI

Board of Directors for The Sessions

  • Andrew Surmani is President and CEO of Surmani Business Coaching, LLC, helping companies and individuals scale up to their full potential in their businesses and personal lives. He is also tenured Professor of Music Industry Studies and serves as the Academic Lead of the Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration degree program at California State University, Northridge. Before joining the CSUN faculty, Andrew worked for more than 29 years for Alfred Music, his last role as Chief Marketing Officer overseeing global sales, marketing, and product development. While at Alfred Music he helped launch some of the company’s most successful product lines.

    A co-author of the best-selling series, Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory and the Copyright Handbook for Music Educators and Directors, 2nd Edition, Andrew has also published articles in educational and music industry journals and has conducted workshops on music education and industry topics throughout the world.

    Andrew also works as a freelance musician, and has performed in the Montreux (Switzerland), Istanbul (Turkey), Juan-les-Pins (France), Jazz à Vienne (France), Umbria (Italy), Lake Biwa (Japan), San Sebastian (Spain), and Wigan (England) international jazz festivals. He has performed in the concert halls of Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Additionally, he led a band and played lead trumpet in two shows at Walt Disney World, and also managed high school groups on tour to Hawaii and Japan for a music production company. After playing trumpet at Walt Disney World, Andrew returned to southern California to complete his MBA degree and began working for Alfred Music.

    Andrew was a Founding Board Member and is a Past President of the Jazz Education Network (JEN).

Dom Famularo

Founding member of The Sessions

Drumming’s Global Ambassador

  • Dom has been traveling the globe over 40 years, earning the title “Drumming’s Global Ambassador.” One of the most respected solo drum artists in the world, he built a career solely upon his unique skills as an artist, educator, author and motivational speaker.

    Dom’s Website

    Director & emcee of major drumming expos around the world

    One of drumming’s most sought after private instructors world-wide, he taught 2,000+ students from over 30 countries at his WizDom Drumshed studio in New York. WizDom Drumshed is a global franchise, with schools in the U.S., Canada, France and Italy. He also served as an Education consultant for Sabian Cymbals, Vater sticks, Mapex Drums, Remo Drumheads and Wizdom Media Publications for programs worldwide.

    Traveling intensively to over 60 countries, Dom worked on several drum educational products, and his series of motivational books. Dom’s 9 drum educational books and The Cycle of Self Empowerment are sold worldwide.

    He was a Founder and Board member of Can-Do Musos, connecting musicians with challenges globally, as well as a founding member of The Sessions non-profit organization established in 2011.

Christine Ohlman

"The Beehive Queen"
Vocalist, Songwriter & Musicologist
Core Panelist with The Sessions

  • Christine Ohlman (a/k/a "The Beehive Queen" for her mile-high platinum-blonde hairdo) is the current, long-time vocalist with NBC's Saturday Night Live Band (beginning her 34th season with the show)—and the one of the undisputed queens of American rock n’ soul— whose sixth critically-acclaimed CD with Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez, "The Deep End," was honored on numerous national end-of-year Top Ten lists.

    Born in the Bronx, this Connecticut queen is as deeply embedded in the southern music scenes in Muscle Shoals, New Orleans and Nashville, and she is in New York's—she counts them all as true artistic homes. She has traveled the world with The Sessions Panel and cherishes her time meeting students and teachers as she helps continue The Panel’s important work.   Ohlman's live shows are legendary for their fiery musicianship and superb storytelling. Her most recent on-the-record appearances include: two duets with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Dion Dimucci on 2024’s “Girl Friends”, which topped the Billboard Blues Chart for 5; “I Believe I’ll Run On,” a Muscle Shoals/Memphis-centric tribute to Wilson Pickett slated for September 2024 (Ohlman’s version of “Sugar Sugar” is the featured single); and “True Blues Brother,” a star-studded tribute to Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy that entered the Billboard Blues Chart at #7, cracking the Top 10 immediately. She most recently produced “Walking in Memphis”, a 2023 Muscle Shoals pairing of blues greats Charlie Musselwhite and Travis Wammack. An inductee to the National Blues Hall of Fame of American Heritage, Int., she appears in the film biopic “Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life In The Blues,” a finalist for the Ken Burns Prize for Film at the Library of Congress.  Her voice graces Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” (in a guest-vocal turn with the Rolling Stones on their classic cut “Out of Time”).  She landed the Top Female Americana Vocalist honors on The Alternate Root's International Readers' Poll (she shares top slots with Paul Thorn, The Mavericks, and Rodney Crowell), and is fresh from emceeing the star-studded NYC Celebration of Life for iconic girl group star Ronnie Spector, as well as from appearances onstage with Bonnie Raitt, Keb Mo, Trombone Shorty, Jon Batiste and Paul Shaffer; on the SNL 40th Anniversary broadcast and Post-Broadcast concert at the Plaza Hotel;  "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon;” multiple appearances on the soundtrack for the HBO series “Vinyl,” including a duet with Elvis Costello;  the Carnegie Hall Tribute To The Rolling Stones; the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Concert in Cleveland (HBO) and The WC Handy Festival in Muscle Shoals, where she’s been the special guest of the Blind Boys Of Alabama and led an All-Star Shoals tributes that included Bonnie Bramlett, Candi Staton, and other Southern soul greats. Her numerous studio and live collaborations encompass Grammy-nominated recordings with Charlie Musselwhite; "Evenings of Duets" with the late Mac Rebennack (Dr. John); Dion, Ian Hunter, Marshall Crenshaw and the late Levon Helm (all of whom guested on “The Deep End”); a longtime, continuing onstage collaboration with legendary NRBQ guitarist Big Al Anderson; plus appearances with Al Green, Steve Miller, Smokey Robinson, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, and the late George Harrison. 

    With JoJo Hermann of Widespread Panic, she leads the “Down On The Bayou” New Orleans Jazz and Heritage benefits for the New Orleans Musicians Clinic. She guests on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and legendary Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham's "The ALO Orchestra Sings The Rolling Stones Songbook Vol. 2,”  named “Coolest Record Of The Year” by SIRIUS/XM’s "Little Steven’s Underground Garage."


    Ohlman is a noted musicologist and record collector who was one of the original contributing editors to the All Music Guide. Mixing a fiery brand of rootsy Americana with an old-school soul music flavor, she serves up a style that's been dubbed by SIRIUS/XM's Dave Marsh "Contemporary Rock R&B.” Her six critically-acclaimed CDs will be joined in 2024 by the upcoming “The Grown-Up Thing.”  

     

Sharon Griffin

Digital Media Director

  • Founding member of The Sessions non-profit organization established in 2011

    Sharon's extensive business experience as a Systems Analyst and as an owner of travel and real estate companies,  these skills contribute to The Sessions mission to sharpen business skills of Artists.

    Bachelor of Science,  University of South Florida

    Broker/owner of Florida West Coast Realty

Charmaine Famularo

  • The Sessions is dedicated to offering artists valuable insights and practical tips to navigate the complexities of the entertainment industry. Our panels bring together experienced professionals who share their expertise and provide guidance on building successful careers. Join us for an interactive session that will equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in the world of entertainment.

Dominick Famularo

Production, Media, and Event Manager

  • Working in Television, Film, Theatre, and Live Event production, Dominick has built a career that spans many mediums. His freelance jobs include: Macy’s NBC Thanksgiving Day Parade, NBC Christmas Tree Lighting, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Daily Mail TV, Moulin Rogue, My Next Guest with David Letterman, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and many, many more.

    Alongside production, Dom also works in photo and video editing, social media marketing, and creative writing. His work has been honored at short film festivals, and has won grants and fellowships.

    But his favorite will always be his work with The Sessions, where he continues to inspire the next generation of artists!

Declan Ward

Digital Marketing Specialist

  • Digital marketing and social media professional with over six years of experience in driving brand growth and engagement through strategic content curation and social media strategy. 

    Using his experience of growing small businesses’ online presence within the music industry, Declan has been a key part of our social media team for the last four years to help us continue to enrich, educate, and empower musicians in the digital world.

    MA German and Business; University of Edinburgh 2019

Duran Castro

  • The Sessions is dedicated to offering artists valuable insights and practical tips to navigate the complexities of the entertainment industry. Our panels bring together experienced professionals who share their expertise and provide guidance on building successful careers. Join us for an interactive session that will equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in the world of entertainment.

Joe Hibbs

In Memory of a Founding Member &
Core Panelist of The Sessions

  • Previous Board and Founding member of The Sessions non-profit organization established in 2011.

    R.I.P. Joe

    Mapex Drums Artist Relations Manager

    Artists included Chris Adler (Lamb of God), Russ Miller (LA Studio Artist) and Rashid Williams (John Legend)

    Additional experience included:

    Artist and Product Development for

    KHS Musical Instruments/Mapex Drums

    Artist Relations Manager for Hoshina USA (Tama)

    Artist and Sales Manager for Pro Mark Drumsticks

    Finding new ways to closely tie together the artist power and all sales opportunities along with Joe’s involvement in arranging educational events for top drummers brought to The Sessions an array of hands on experience to share with students and musical educators.

    Joe’s extensive background started in music retail, while playing drums professionally. In the early 80’s, he joined Pro Mark Drumsticks and began working with many of his drum heroes, Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips, even hand selecting drumsticks for Buddy Rich. As a Sales Manager, learning to be able to integrate the power of artist into the function of sales, this opportunity opened the doors for international travel, developing a better sense of the world music business.

    At Hoshino USA (Tama), Joe expanded the artist roster to bring in many of the future drum heroes of today, Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Dave Grohl (Nirvana) while working with legends like Elvin Jones and Neil Peart (Rush), Frank Beard (ZZ Top) and hundreds of others.

    Other work throughout his music business career includes:

    Tama Marketing and Product Development

    Opened the Los Angeles Artist Relations & Product Development Center

    Managed all International Artists

    Product Development manager for Star Classic Drums and Iron Cobra pedals

    Work with Premier Percussion LTD, and while living in England developed a heightened sense of International business and the world demand for music and artist