Fifth grader RJ Curtis continues family’s musical legacy. (
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Not many drummers could claim a full decade’s worth of experience by the time they reach fifth grade, but Warwick Valley Middle School’s Raymond “RJ” Curtis can.
Early love for ‘banging on everything’ turns into lifelong drumming passion
RJ received his first drum set before he could walk, and the story of how he got it has become family legend. As an infant, RJ had a habit of banging on everything in sight, including the family TV, which sustained some damage at one point. RJ’s dad, surveying that damage, came to a reasonable conclusion and solution.
“He says [the TV] was his fault because he wasn’t watching me,” RJ said with a smile. “After that, he got me a brand-new drum set, and that’s how I started playing the drums at one year old.”
Ten years later, that preventive investment clearly paid off. RJ wrapped up his first year at middle school with gratitude and enthusiasm for his teachers, his classes, and, maybe most of all, for getting to jam out with the Guitar Club for the first time.
A featured performer at school shows
A peak moment happened back in January, when he played drums during the club’s 30th anniversary concert, providing the beat for covers of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” and the classic rock staple “I Fought the Law.”
Following that knock-out performance, RJ was a featured performer at the school’s spring band concert, playing the drums on ‘Let’s Go Band!’, and that was only part of his night; he also sang with the chorus and played the trumpet.
RJ thanks WVMS music teacher Ryan Muehlbauer for recognizing his abilities and giving him the opportunity to shine during his first year at middle school. But, as much as RJ has loved finding his groove at the middle school, his musical education began long before he set foot in the building; generations before, in fact.
A family affair
His family’s musical story begins with RJ’s great-grandmother, a woman of deep faith who loved music and passed both on to her son, RJ’s grandfather, Richard Curtis.
”She loved music,” RJ said. “She passed it down to her son, who is my grandpa. And he passed it to my dad and his siblings.”
That next generation became known as the Richard Curtis Singers. RJ’s dad, aunts, and uncles started singing when they were just two and three years old, performing at churches with their father, Richard Curtis, guiding the way.
”They’d be singing every single day,” RJ said. “They said it was a lot of work, but it was worth it. And I think it was worth it, too.”
When the next generation of family musicians, the one RJ is a part of, was ready for the stage, Richard Curtis gave the new ensemble a name that honored exactly who they are to him: The Grand Band, named for his grandchildren. The lineup is all cousins, and RJ sits right in the middle of it. Two younger bandmates are still in elementary school, while some older members are college-age.
RJ’s role as drummer has its own legacy story. For years, an older cousin anchored the kit while RJ held down the bongos. When that cousin headed off to college, RJ assumed his current seat on the drum throne. RJ isn’t the only Grand Band member making a name for himself at school, either. His cousin and bandmate Leland White, who plays the keyboard, was also recognized this year as an Artist of the Week, and RJ is quick to sing his praises.
”He knows a lot of music,” RJ said. “If you write a note on the board, he will learn it in a snap.”
The Grand Band performs regularly at churches and live events, and just recently, RJ was behind the kit for a live television appearance, where, once again, amazed audience members wanted to know: ‘How did you get that good?’
Expanding his musical range
Along with his love of the drums, RJ stays busy expanding his musical range. He already plays bass, piano, trumpet, and bongos, and says his goal is just to keep on getting better at all of them, all the time. His favorite musical style is jazz, with a little rock and roll mixed in, and his favorite musician is Jonathan “Sugarfoot” Moffett, the drummer behind some of Michael Jackson’s most iconic pockets, including “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.”
While he still has a few years left in middle school and then high school, RJ has given some early thought to what his future may hold. Foremost, he is excited to keep on making music at Warwick Valley, and, beyond that, he is keeping his options open, with two ideas for future endeavors that keep the family tradition close.
”I want to be a drummer when I grow up,” he said, “or a preacher. I have different things in mind.”