Jason Bittner grew up in a suburb of Albany, New York into a family that was not especially musical. Maybe it was some genetic quirk, then, that drove Bittner, barely old enough to walk, to start grabbing pencils and banging beats on his father’s 8-track cassette cases.
Bittner's father was a fan of The Who, and so Keith Moon left his mark on young Jason's impressionable ears. As soon as he could read, Bittner began devouring liner notes, magazine articles, and any other information he could get his hands on that dealt with his growing obsession: rock drummers.
Kiss’ Destroyer convinced Bittner that his destiny was to play in a rock band. By junior high Bittner had his first kit. It began as a 3-piece hybrid composed of Tama, Rodgers, and Japanese Del Rey pieces in red sparkle, with seven toms.
In high school, Bittner played in the marching, concert, and jazz bands. During his junior year, he also began taking lessons from Don Bush, the top drum teacher in town.
With Bush’s guidance, Bittner got into the Berklee College Of Music in 1988. After a short tenure at Berklee, Bittner joined the band Stigmata, based out of Troy, New York, who released the acclaimed live album, Do Unto Others…, in 2000.
After a disappointing followup from Stigmata and responding to whispers that Shadows Fall was looking for a drummer, Bittner left Stigmata and joined Shadows Fall, which turned out to be the perfect vehicle for Bittner at that stage of his career. The band's music pumped aggressively yet allowed space for musical nuance where appropriate. After their first album together, 2002's The Art Of Balance, they plunged into an 18-month tour that included head-turning side-stage shows at Ozzfest. Subsequent albums moved progressively further toward placing Bittner’s double-kick virtuosity at the forefront of their sound.
Bittner has gone on to become one of the most respected players and clinicians in the metal genre, and with him as its anchor, Shadows Fall continues to hold a strong place on the metal playing field.
