Born and raised in Brooklyn NY, Howard Fields, the man behind Rock Paper, became hooked on The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Hollies, Dylan, Rascals, etc and then, by 1965, while attending James Madison High School he became equally fanatic about playing the drums. Along the way to achieving his BA in Music at Long Island University he played in a thousand different bands but studying and practicing the drumset always remained at the the top of his priority list. Not long after his release into the real world Howard, in 1975, got a break and found himself playing drums on Broadway in "The Night That Made America Famous", a show based on the music of, and starring, singer/songwriter Harry Chapin.

Later that year, after the closing of the show, he was added to the pop star's touring band and so began seven years of some 800+ worldwide concerts, TV appearances (The Midnight Special, Don Kirshnerís Rock Concert, The Tonight Show, Mike Douglas Show, Merv Griffin Show), and recording (six LPs including the gold album "Greatest Stories Live").

Those days ended sadly with the tragic death of Harry Chapin in 1981 after which Howard carried on as drummer for hire and still fills in his gigging calendar with a variety of rock, pop, blues, R&B, and country dates as well as weddings, parties, etc. He is however most pleased regarding his reunion with Steve Chapin and Big John Wallace, also both members of Harry Chapin's band. Since 1991 the three, as The Steve Chapin Band, have toured North America delighting Chapin fans with both Harry's and Steve's beautiful songs.

In addition to that, Howard also began teaching drumset and piano in 1980 and a clientele of 25-35 students now keeps his Bergenfield, NJ studio hopping. Howard's educational efforts are highlighted by the more than 20 drum transcription books he has written for Warner Brothers Music, Hal Leonard Publishing, and The Cherry Lane Music Co. with the transcribed artists including Metallica, The Doors, The Dave Matthews Band, Guns N' Roses, Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham, Gene Krupa, and many others. He has also written several articles for Modern Drummer and Down Beat magazine but in the publishing arena he is probably most proud of his self-published "The Drum Teacher", a book that many in the international drumming community consider the best teaching aid available for those wanting a painless jump-start on the drumset.

E-mail Howard at hfrockpaper@optimum.net