“FROM THE LEGENDARY EMMY & GRAMMY-NOMINATED SINGER, DRUMMER, AND PERCUSSIONIST-A POWERFUL MEMOIR OF THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MUSIC AND FIVE DECADES OF LIFE AND LOVE ON THE STAGE

In the first pages of her thoughtful and compelling memoir, THE BEAT OF MY OWN DRUM, renowned drummer and percussionist Sheila “”E”” Escovedo vividly describes what it felt like to approach the stage for her first live performance. The connection she felt to the music seemed like part of her DNA. The cymbals vibrated through her body and the timbales shook her bones and touched her soul. She was five years old.

It’s no wonder that the pounding of drums feels like the heartbeat of her life. Sheila E. was born into a rich heritage of Latin music in Oakland, California. She picked up drumsticks and started making music at the precocious age of three while watching her father, legendary percussionist Pete Escovedo, rehearse for his gigs with Tito Puente and Carlos Santana. She and her two younger brothers and sister grew up in a close-knit artistic family where it wasn’t uncommon for the top musicians of the day to jam in their small apartment until the early morning hours. And if they often struggled to make ends meet, they were rich in love and family unity.

THE BEAT OF MY OWN DRUM is both a fascinating journey through five decades of Latin and pop music-from Sheila E.’s very first band when she was a teenager to her tours with Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, and Prince, to the launch of her own solo career. But it’s also a heartbreaking and ultimately redemptive look how music can save a person’s life.”