When 20-year-old drummer Michael Shrieve took to the stage with Santana at Woodstock in 1969, the youngest musician playing at the festival, he cemented his role in rock and roll history. His arresting solo moment on “Soul Sacrifice”, featured in the Woodstock film, showed the promise of a truly great drummer. The performance became legendary. Shrieve had joined the band just a few months before, and at the time nobody knew who Santana was. Their first LP had yet to be released. But the audience quickly caught on to their Latin-infused sound.

Shrieve had no experience with Latin-style techniques, adding his own jazz knowledge to the rest of the band’s Latin flare. He didn’t truly fit in with the type of music the rest of the group was making, but the incredible energy he brought to their performances more than compensated. He was essential in creating Santana’s distinct sound, one that didn’t quite fit into a specific genre. As Carlos Santana pushed the band to evolve it also lost most of its original members. Shrieve stuck with him, though. He remained with Santana longer than almost any other band members, working full-time on every album until 1974 and maintaining some involvement for years after.

The legend of Woodstock follows Shrieve to this day, but his career has spanned far beyond that one performance. For many years after Woodstock Shrieve struggled with being so closely associated with a single show. It was a challenge to draw attention to his new work, especially when he was going in a completely different direction from Santana. He eventually shifted his thinking, embracing a sense of gratitude for the success that came about from that performance.

After moving on from Santana he began exploring multiple genres of music. He was one of the first drummers to embrace electronic sounds and percussion. He worked with big names like the Rolling Stones, George Harrison, and Pete Townshend. In addition to his work with some of rock’s biggest stars he joined up with Stomu Yamashta, Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola, and Klaus Schulze to form the supergroup Go.

Beyond performance, Shrieve has been a major promoter of the arts and drumming education. He was heavily involved in “Bumberdrum,” a percussion oriented offshoot of the extremely popular Bumbershoot music and art festival in Seattle. Shrieve hosted, performed, and helped organize the drummers featured.

Composition has always been one of Shrieve’s great talents. He was invaluable to Carlos Santana not only as a drummer, but as producer, talented composer, and creative mind. His composition talent led him to work in film and television, including work on 1982’s The Tempest.

Carlos Santana credits Shrieve with opening his eyes to a world of different techniques and influences. His broad, open-minded approach to music has defined his career. He is an innovator and inspiration to drummers everywhere, which is why he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Shrieve moved to Seattle to raise his family, and has remained active in the music scene there. He performs around the city regularly with his band Spellbinder while continuing to advocate and promote drumming across every genre