On Tuesday, Ramon Sampson learned what it's like to be a rock star: He climbed into the back of a stretch limousine that was awaiting his arrival at the Houston airport.
The 18-year-old Cordova resident returned to Memphis 24 hours later with a new drum kit, cymbals and drum sticks, his prizes for winning the Southern semi-final competition of the Guitar Center Drum-Off.
Sampson, a senior at Cordova High School, beat out three other drummers in Houston to win a slot in the finals of the Guitar Center's national drum competition. The event will be held Jan. 10 at the Music Box in Hollywood, Calif.
Sampson, whose family emigrated recently from South Africa, bested drummers more than twice his age in Houston.
"The other guys were doing things I'd never dreamed of," Sampson says. "Then I remembered a couple of tricks I did back when I was in a high school jazz band, and I just played my heart out."
In January, Sampson and five other drummers will compete before celebrity judges including Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters and Adrian Young of No Doubt.
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