Correspondent photo / John Patrick Gatta Two members of the GRAMMY Award-winning Zac Brown Band — Daniel de los Reyes (percussion) and Chris Fryar (drums) — had a special workshop with members of the Boardman High School Rock Orchestra, Project Mayhem, that included discussing their history as well as offer musical guidance during the performances of the band’s hits “Homegrown” and “Chicken Fried.” Here, junior Carson Galich joins in and observes de los Reyes’ technique on the congas.

BOARDMAN — Creating an immediate connection between a successful musician who plays nightly to sold out arenas and awestruck students, Zac Brown Band percussionist Daniel de los Reyes walked among the members of the Boardman High School Rock Orchestra, Project Mayhem, to shake their hands.

Joined by Zac Brown Band drummer Chris Fryar, the Grammy Award-winning musicians discussed their early days as players, sharpening their craft as they performed countless gigs and the fine details of working with Brown while also offering musical tips during a special workshop Tuesday afternoon at the Boardman High School Performing Arts Center.

The two were familiar with the members because the Boardman Local School District received the prestigious NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Foundation’s Best Communities for Music Education Award in 2026. A favorable traveling schedule allowed de los Reyes and Fryar to visit.

Savannah Moorman, a senior, said, “It’s, honestly, a surreal experience. It’s a really cool way to end my last year in the group. I’ve been a part of it for four years. So, having this opportunity, it’s really cool to get to see the professional side of the music industry and get that experience that not a lot of people get.”

While she attends The Ohio State University for a nursing degree, Moorman said she still plans to continue playing her electric violin in some ensemble. Besides Project Mayhem, she performed in the school’s symphony, chamber and pit orchestras.

After introducing themselves and emphasizing the importance of practicing hours a day in order to be exceptional, de los Reyes and Fryar requested to hear Project Mayhem perform a number they’re comfortable with before doing Zac Brown Band numbers that they recently learned.

The students impressed the duo with a cover of Meat Loaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” Then, the members tackled ZBB’s hit, “Homegrown.”

Critiquing the performance, de los Reyes discussed the need to find the groove and mentioned how his bandmates extend the intro. With de los Reyes on congas and Fryar on drums, the students played the number again with a more relaxed, swinging rhythmic feel. It was followed by ZBB’s first hit, “Chicken Fried,” during which Fryar handed over the drum kit to junior Lauren Klanica.

A third-generation musician, de los Reyes had percussion instruments around the house and sat next to his father, who played in numerous bands in Las Vegas.

Fryar’s background involved attending college for a music degree. Instead, one of his professors encouraged him to drop out, join bands, go out on the road and be what he really desired — a professional musician.

Both were surprised by the number of students who acknowledged that they plan to pursue music as a career as well as pleased to see many others who would continue with music in some manner in the future.

“It’s a difficult world,” de los Reyes said, “but the cool thing is you guys said that you’re going to keep playing your instrument. If something happened that diverted you to play in the right setting, you would go in that direction, if it presented itself, because you have to constantly be practicing to get better and better.”

“The truth of it is every musical path is different,” Fryar said. “All of you are going to have your musical path unfold the way that it needs to for you. You’re gonna find a lane you feel most comfortable in, and you’ll find your speed that you want to travel in.

“Ultimately, I believe the secret to it all is to take a moment to find for yourself what success is and what it’s going to look like for you. It’s going to be different for everybody.”

He brought up a friend who works in an office and gets paid for playing at church once a week. The gig is enough to satisfy him.

“If that means you play a little bit here and there, cool. If it means you drop it after you leave school, that’s cool, too. It’s gotta work for you. It’s a lot of hard work regardless. It simply is. There’s way more opportunities (now). You just have to learn how to extract money from those opportunities,” Fryar said.

After the workshop, de los Reyes and Fryar stayed to discuss matters one-to-one with students and sign autographs.

Looking back on the experience, Boardman Band Director Bill Amendol said,

“I thought today was fantastic. I think a few of them were inspired by what they saw, what they heard, the stories the guys told. It’s life-changing for some of these kids to interact with people that are professional at that level.”