George is a gold record and billboard award winning drummer with a career that spans over 25 years. As the drummer for Dishwalla, he’s toured around the world and has also played with Amy Grant, The Penfifteen Club, Goleta and Alastair Greene with songs appearing on many hit movies and television series.
George lives in Santa Barbara, CA where he continues to drum for Dishwalla, write his own music and record with other artists. He is also the current drummer for Shaun Cassidy.
He has been actively teaching drum lessons and running Rockshop Academy, a non-profit youth music organization, for 11 years, which nurtures up-and-coming talent in his hometown and has a roster of touring bands he’s mentored.
George has two children, and a dog named Trouble. He has a passion for teaching and music that he’s ready and excited to share.
George Pendergast started drumming at the age of five. Depending on which parent you ask, his interest started at age three or four after watching Buddy Rich on the Merv Griffin show. The first drums he played were a set of bongos leftover from his mom’s hippy moment prior to her having children. When finally pressured enough, George’s dad went to Mike’s Drum Shop where the owner tried to talk him out of buying his five year old a drum set. His dad was not convinced and he bought George a used set that a pro would have been happy with.
Through the years George would go to Mike’s Drum Shop in Santa Barbara for lessons and eventually landed his first part time job as a shop clerk at age 13. The shop was a hub both for local pros and for touring musicians. All of the A-list drummers and percussionists would visit the shop. Airto Moreira and Luis Conte both lived in Santa Barbara at the time and would freely share rhythms. The shop was filled with teachers and students and was a constant source of drum and life lessons.
At 21, George’s mentor told him he should go for it and had a better chance than most. He contacted Drum Workshop and got George an artist’s endorsement deal. At the same time, George and the singer in his band decided that they would quit school to focus all energy on music. This was when he had the realization that nothing else mattered as long as he was drumming.
George was in three bands and recording in Los Angeles when all focus was put on to one project. That project would end up being the band Dishwalla who went on to have the number one rock song of 1996 and one of the ASCAP society’s most played songs of 1996 and 1997. With a gold record and several nods from Modern Drummer and Drum magazine, George had realized most of his dreams.
In 1999 George had an injury that sidelined his touring career. He had to figure out new techniques to continue drumming and started the band The Penfifteen Club. All the members of The Penfifteen Club previously had record deals of their own and, like George, just wanted to play together for fun. After performing their song, Ms. Hilton, at a show at LA’s Viper Room, a scout took notice and licensed it for use on Fox network’s show “The Simple Life” with Paris Hilton for six years.
In 2001 George moved back to Santa Barbara to buy Mike’s Drum Shop. Mike, the owner was in poor health and decided to hold on to the shop until 2006 so George began doing regular lessons gaining over 50 students in his first months teaching. In 2009 Mike’s Drum Shop went out of the retail business, exclusively focusing on lessons. At the same time George launched Rockshop Academy, a youth music organization designed to mentor young musicians aspiring to have a career in the arts. Now in their 11th year, Rockshop has a full roster of professional touring musicians who will attest to owing much of their success to their influence with George at the Rockshop. George’s inspiration for starting this was the large number of gifted students who weren’t connecting with each other. George felt like the best use of their education was to apply it – so he began offering classes that got students playing together and forming bands. He believed the next generation from a town so rich in musical history should be nurtured. Mentoring came naturally for George after his experience with Mike and the drummers at Mike’s Drum Shop.
In 2008 George was contacted to get Dishwalla back together for a music festival. With the help of their new and current lead singer, George has had the band touring ever since. A new album, Juniper Road, was recorded in 2018 and the band has a larger international audience than ever.
George is also the current touring and recording drummer for Shaun Cassidy. Shaun has had a revival of his music career and George is playing with him at sold out shows all across America.
George continues to write his own music and record with the likes of Carly Jo Jackson and Jeff Bridges’ guitarist Chris Pelonis..
