A drummer since the age of three, Will Clipmanhas mastered a pan-global palette of indigenous instruments in addition to the traditional drumset. In a career that has spanned nearly every known musical genre, Will has recorded over fifty albums, including twenty-one for Canyon Records, where he is regarded as the house percussionist. A veteran of more bands than can be listed here, Will currently records and performs with the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet, the William Eaton Ensemble, the Wilde Boys (Nakai, Eaton & Clipman), Gentle Thunder, Ananeah, Quiet Fire, Sacred Clay, and the Conrads. Will’s music has been honored with two GRAMMY Nominations for Best New Age Album; two NAMA Awards for Best Instrumental Album and the Best World Music Album; and a TAMMIE Award for Best Drummer.
A poet since the age of six, Will has published a book, Dog Light; has been included in anthologies such as Dog Music, Tumblewords, The University of Arizona Poetry Center 1960-1985, the National Poetry Competition Winners Anthology, and the Ellensburg Anthology; and has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Ironwood, Greenfield Review, Amaranth Review, Stone Drum, Louisville Review, Syracuse Review, Heron Dance, Southern Poetry Review, Rhetoric Review, and Protea Poetry Journal. His writing has been honored with the Whiffen Poetry Prize, the Academy of American Poets Margaret Sterling Award, the Tucson/Pima Arts Council Poetry Fellowship, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts Award of Merit for Poetry. His poem “The Quiet Power” is the official Dedicatory Poem of the Tucson Main Library.
Will is also an accomplished maskmaker and storyteller. His solo performance, Myths & Masks, magically integrates his original mask art, mythopoetic storytelling, and multicultural music. Working both freelance and as an Artist-in-Residence with the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Will provides hands-on interdisciplinary workshops, lecture-demonstrations, and full-length residencies to elementary, middle, and high schools, community colleges, art galleries, libraries, adult prisons, juvenile detention facilities, senior centers, parks and recreation programs, and hospitals. His service to the community as an arts educator has been honored with the ACA Decade of Distinguished Service Award and a Governor’s Arts Award Nomination. Will holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Syracuse University, and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Arizona.
Check out Will’s latest album with Gentle Thunder which is racing up the Top 100 World Music Charts.





RCNQ’s maiden voyage fuses the world-renowned Native American flute sound of R. Carlos Nakai with an eclectic blend of salsa, jazz, and Afro-Cuban rhythms. “Performed with the kind of low-key intensity that is the mark of virtuosos.” (Goldmine)


People of Peace – with R. Carlos Nakai Quartet 
People of Peace – the fourth and finest adventure in global native groove from RCNQ features the earthy and ethereal Native American flute virtuosity of R. Carlos Nakai, the eco-spiritual explorations of vocalist Mary Redhouse, the inspired improvisations of multi-instrumentalist AmoChip Dabney, and the irresistible rhythms of percussionist Will Clipman, in compelling compositions that span the spectrum from quietly contemplative to highly combustible.
Quiet Fire – Zen Moods for the Spa Experience – 
with Gary Stroutsos & William Eaton
QUIET FIRE marks the first meeting of three remarkable artists, each distinguished for shaping the face of contemporary world music. Attuned to the soothing hum of well-being, QUIET FIRE is a musical journey impelled by an innate sensitivity. To luxuriate in its depth is to gaze into the reflecting pool of the heart. The view will ignite your imagination and restore your spirit.
Beyond Words – with Gentle Thunder & AmoChip Dabney
Gentle Thunder then released “Beyond Words” with Will Clipman and AmoChip Dabney. On this new album, Gentle Thunder will bring all of her various instrumental voices together along with extraordinary musical offerings from these two amazing instrumentalists. Gentle Thunder plays grand hammer dulcimer, Native American flutes, and drum set on a couple tracks. Will Clipman creates a heartful foundation and envelopes the music with his pan global percussive grooves and AmoChip Dabney offers his exquisite multi-textural layers of piano, bass and soprano sax. It promises to be a powerful chapter in Gentle Thunder’s musical story of life, love, and the journey of the human heart.
Sacred Clay – with Gary Stroutsos 
A musical metaphor for the human condition, as a well as a literal reference to the ceramic instruments featured on the recording, SACRED CLAY brings together internationally-acclaimed composer, recording artist, and educator Gary Stroutsos on wind instruments with two-time Grammy Nominee Will Clipman on percussion for an intimate improvisational dialogue that gives voice to our primal origin within the earth, and breathes life into all things created of the earth: our vessels, our instruments, ourselves.
Available at SoundTraveler.net
Ananeah – with Arvel Bird, Mary Redhouse and Wiliam Eaton
ANANEAH (a Paiute word meaning what do you call it?) features Paiute violin virtuoso Arvel Bird, pan-global percussionist Will Clipman, Dine’ (Navajo) diva Mary Redhouse, and multi-string maestro William Eaton, seamlessly interweaving the new sound of the Native American Southwest with colorful accents of Celtic, tango, folk-rock, jazz, and worldbeat to create a sonic tapestry guaranteed to soothe your spirit and ignite your imagination.
Available at Singing Wolf Records
Heart of the Wind – with Robert Tree Cody
Reprising their enormously successful Canyon Records collaboration White Buffalo, NAMMY-winner Robert Tree Cody and GRAMMY Nominee Will Clipman return with Heart of the Wind, a transforming collection of compositions for Native American flute and pan-global percussion. No synthesizers this time around, just flute and drum in an elegant and eloquent dialogue between two masterful musicians!
Voyagers – with R. Carlos Nakai and Udi Bar-David
Multi-Grammy® nominee R. Carlos Nakai melds the haunting sounds of the Native American flute with the soulful expressiveness of the cello of Udi Bar-David. Native American, Jewish, Arabic, and Turkish melodies are presented in diverse arrangements unified by two eclectic and iconoclastic artists who personify their respective peoples. Multi-Grammy® nominee Will Clipman adds subtle percussive colors that expand this multi-cultural sharing and exploration.
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