How Eddie Tuduri turned tragedy to triumph

TRAP students in Quito, Ecuador

Eddie Tuduri tells the story of his years in the rock and roll industry and that transformative experience that led to The Rhythm and Arts Project (TRAP) in his anecdotal memoir, Fatback, Life in the Pocket.

by Andrea Beenham

Eddie Tuduri woke up in the ICU after a six-hour-and-a-half spinal cord operation following a horrendous surfing accident. But Tuduri felt no trepidation, anxiety, or depression, even though he was now paralyzed from his neck down. 

To him, still having the use of his eyes and ears—and being able to talk—felt like a lot, and so he started on the road to recovery with a single thought: “What can I do with what physical and mental prowess I have left?” 

Little did he know that he’d go on to develop The Rhythm and Arts Project (TRAP), an educational program that uses music to address cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities. 

After drumming professionally for 40 years, and touring with bands including The Beach Boys, Rick Nelson, and The Stone Canyon Band, Brenda Russell, Brian Auger, Jimmy Messina, JD Souther, Michael and Amy McDonald (and many others), Tuduri’s reality shifted from the business of rock n’ roll to using music as a gateway to connect for a reason. And he felt relieved to ‘escape’ from the music business and excited by the challenge of having a new avenue to explore.

Tuduri discusses his years immersed in the rock and roll industry and his transformative experience in his anecdotal memoir, “Fatback, Life in the Pocket.”

The book is available in digital format at:

https://hudsonmusic.com/product/fatback/

(including 12 musical excerpts and 70 photos from bands across Eddie’s career, only available in digital format).

From rocker to educator

The Rhythmic Arts Project (TRAP) was born as a result of  Tuduri’s surfing accident on September 2, 1997.

Following his surgery, Tuduri spent a week at St. Francis Hospital’s ICU.  Then he was transferred to The Rehabilitation Institute at Santa Barbara, a facility full of patients being reanimated in mind, body, and spirit. While he is quick to credit the patience, love and dedication of the doctors and therapists in those buildings as pivotal tenets of the work of TRAP today, Tuduri has been driven since the beginning by his belief in the power of the human spirit. 

Within two weeks of his surgery, the paralysis had lessened, and Tuduri could get himself into a wheelchair to participate in therapy. Leaning into his lifelong drumming, rhythm, and percussion skills, early rehab days consisted of activities to enhance balance, focus, attention, and coordination using various drums and percussion items donated by industry friends. 

He pulls no punches and tells his story…this is the Eddie I know. He’s a real person who owns his life. The story of his accident, his recovery and how it led to The Rhythmic Arts Project, and how this has become his driving force. Truly inspiring. I could go on but then I'd spoil an incredible read! 

Brother Eddie may God continue to bless you and the works of your hands…sending you love and cherishing our friendship.

- Excerpt of the foreword by David Garibaldi

Therapists loved the results and started to incorporate the modality into their work. Daily therapy sessions of about eight people with varying degrees of physical challenges met up for ‘rhythm therapy’ (this formed the beginning of what is now known as TRAP). In addition to physical therapy, Tuduri’s musician friends, dubbed “The Rehab Rhythm Rockers,” visited weekly to entertain the entire hospital who would dance, clap, and sing along. 

The birth of TRAP with ‘The Rehab Rhythm Rockers.’

Tuduri continued to volunteer at the rehab center for three years with the head of recreational therapy, Libby Whaley, to improve his skills and develop new exercises. 

He was fortunate to work with other incredible specialists across California. The classes got bigger and included more mixed diagnoses than when TRAP first started. 

"Eddie Tuduri's new book Fatback, Life in the Pocket is a must-read for anyone in the music biz or music education...or for anyone that wants to read a heartfelt story, with great advice from a wonderful longtime friend of mine and great musician.  Eddie's incredible personality shines through in every chapter...he breaks down the meaning of groove and feel better than anyone!  Way to go Eddie!  What a great book!"

- Gregg Bissonette

LA Recording Session/Touring Drummer, Member of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band since 2008

Tuduri had never worked with such neurodiverse individuals when he walked the the basement of the Y Spirit Church in Pasadena. There, he met director Seiko Niimi and recreational therapist Susie Getty, the mentors who taught him extensively in the field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Tuduri stayed on for six years and met other phenomenal people, including Vicky Clarke of The Ojai Enrichment Center. Clarke introduced him to the concept of applied behavior analysis, which became a big part of TRAP’s evolution. During those six years, Tuduri turned the TRAP program into a book.

TRAP’s global impact

Twenty-five years later, TRAP now offers programs in Spanish and English and has touched lives across the world, from the United States and Canada, to Spain, Bulgaria, Damascus, Syria, Jordan, Ankara, Turkey, Ecuador, Thailand, Australia, and multiple countries in Africa. Based on perceptual motor-matching, visual, tactile, and auditory-speech skill work, the book and program have expanded from loose notes to a peer-studied, published methodology used in the field of neurodiverse and intellectually different people. 

Celebrating 25 years of TRAP at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre

“As a teacher, I’m tasked with instruction and guidance, but I am also meant to listen and learn from my students,” Tuduri says. “If I’m paying attention, if I win their trust, I might find the keys to unlock their goals and aspirations. If I know what the dreams entail, I might create a realistic path to success for them.”

Diagnoses of people on the Autism spectrum have increased over the past 20 years. For many years, people within the Autism Spectrum of Disorders (ASD) were just seen as a little quirky, reveals Tuduri. Many people we interact with regularly may be on the spectrum and not know it (nor do we). This condition has such a varied effect that people who are minimally affected are sometimes 40 years old before they find out, and  are frequently relieved to know what it is since they don’t think or reason like other people. Their lives usually start to make more sense to them (and to others). Today, TRAP has two brilliant individuals with Autism who are teaching the TRAP methods to students with various disabilities. 

“Eddie Tuduri has managed to detail what it is to negotiate the veritable "minefield" that is The Music Business and what it takes to make a living in it. He also amazingly describes the many subtle and nuanced elements that comprise a "groove and "feel". At times hysterically funny it is all delivered with the huge heart, wit, and wisdom that is Eddie Tuduri. A tremendously fun and insightful read!”  

- Tris Imboden

         Drummer for Chicago (28 years), Kenny Loggins (12 years), Al Jarreau, Firefall, Chaka Kahn, and many others.

In addition to working with populations on the Autism spectrum, Down Syndrome, and a plethora of other diagnoses, Tuduri worked to implement the TRAP protocols in communities navigating the challenges of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease for almost five years. About the community he serves, Tuduri says  that he learns “more from my students than I teach them.” He adds that if you ever go into one of his classes and interact with a child with Down’s syndrome, or another challenging diagnosis, “you’re likely to walk away with a shiny new heart and mind.”

When asked about the idea for TRAP being godsent, he admits that he feels like he’s fulfilling a divine purpose in a big way and that it is part of a mission. 

Tuduri’s work across the world has earned him many accolades. Among them are UNICEF’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 1990, the Michael Landon Award from the California Governor’s Committee for portraying disabilities in the media, Modern Drummer’s Outstanding Contribution Achievement Award for the Drum/Percussion Community, and The Academia Cotopaxi Global Citizen Award  for his outstanding contribution for the betterment of humanity through his use of music as a medium to address basic life and learning skills. 

“Our friend Eddie Tuduri’s story is one of turning tragedy to triumph. After years as a successful musician in LA, he met with tragedy that began a long and arduous journey back to his career as a drummer, but a new chapter in his life began with an ever-widening horizon of opportunity to make a difference in so many other lives. The miracle of his positive influence on others reaches around the globe today. His story from beginning to end is all at once humorous, yet one of perseverance and triumph.” 

- Michael and Amy (Holland) McDonald

It’s been an incredible journey, and Fatback, Life in the Pocket, is peppered with side-splitting anecdotes of Tuduri’s adventures. He’s no longer the touring sideman he was for so many years, but he says that the rush of playing for and with medically fragile individuals and intellectually different students is unsurpassed.

“I’ve played from the Houston Astrodome to the Forum and Madison Square Garden, and none of those audiences compare to the 40 kids we played with a couple of weeks ago in Camarillo at the Academy for Autism. “

It doesn’t get any better than that. 

To get your copy of Fatback, Life in the Pocket , please visit:  hudsonmusic.com/product/fatback/. A portion of profits will benefit TRAP.)