Keeping the Beat

Kate interviews Conrad Real, well-known percussionist. To watch
Seattle musician, Conrad Real, work the drum kit is to experience
your own eyes bulging. Real, who performs regularly with the
Grammy-winning hip-hop trio, Digable Planets, as well as, with the
beloved Emerald City funk quartet, Down North, is known by many
around his hometown as “Superman,” both for the sculpted physique
under his blue t-shirt & for the locomotive-paced, laser
beam-precise playing he brings to prominent shows. Real
collaborates regularly with other significant musical artists. He’s
shared stages with Andrew Gouche, Kamasi Washington, Billy Branch,
Federico Malaman, Hadrian Feraud, Tom Browne, The Temptations' G.C.
Cameron and many others. I met Conrad in 2015, when he was DJing at
a popular Kirkland pub for Karaoke night. I have to thank him, --
if you are a parent – you know how hard it is to get “cool credit”
with your Kids and my son was definitely impressed when I told him
I had met Conrad Real. Tune in for an upbeat & inspiring show!