Wrapping up 20 Years of Charity
Drum Marathon on a High Note
Story by Jen Brignall-Strong
Photography by Syx Langemann and Gene Schilling
As a drummer, Jeff Burrows knows a thing or two about endurance.
The mental and physical demands of keeping time and carrying the beat set after set? Not for the faint of heart.
That same stamina has carried him far beyond the kit, powering two decades of leading a charity event that has grown, adapted and deepened its impact with every passing year.
Now, as Burrows prepares for the twentieth and final Jeff Burrows 24 Hour Drum Marathon on May 29th and 30th at Good Time Charly’s, he reflects on the genesis of the event, how it’s evolved and what comes after the final beat.
What initially began as memorabilia auctions and private charity shows with his globally renowned alt-rock band, The Tea Party, quickly grew into an annual event that centred on eclectic jam sessions with some of his favourite local musicians and a gruelling 24-hours behind a drum kit. The concept was simple, albeit demanding: Burrows would play the drums for 24-hours straight and would be joined in shifts by bands and artists who signed up to accompany him.
“I had really become interested in doing a lot of charity work (back in the early 2000s),” recalls Burrows. “The manager of The Tea Party at the time, instilled in us that concept of ‘with success comes responsibility’ and I really took that to heart.”
“He reminded us that if you have a platform, you should use it,” he adds. The manager, Steve Hoffman, passed away in 2003 at just 38-years old after a battle with cancer; a devastating loss for the band, and one that deepened Burrows’ charitable focus.
Burrows recounts his time playing SARS Fest (now called Molson Canadian Rocks) in Toronto that same year, collecting signed drumsticks from other bands at the music festival and auctioning them off to raise money for the Windsor-based charity, Transition to Betterness.
“I started with (fundraisers) like that, and it really fuelled the fire to continue to do something different.”
The idea of a drum marathon was just that. Something different. While Burrows says traditional fundraising dinners and events serve an amazing purpose for so many charitable organizations, he wanted to lean into his niche and create a bit of a spectacle.
“I was in radio at the time, and I thought, ‘What kind of a stunt would be cool?’ and, you know, 24 hours of playing drums sounded like a really cool idea,” he laughs. “Sounds good in theory, right?”
So how did the drum marathon evolve into a highly anticipated annual fundraiser supporting multiple charities across Windsor and Essex County?
It almost didn’t.
With months of preparation, soliciting sponsors and coordinating multiple bands and artists, Burrows recalls struggling with the complexities of the event in the early years.
“Anyone who’s ever organized a gala or a fundraiser knows how much goes into an event months beforehand,” he says. “By year three, I remember talking to my friend Gary (Demmans) and saying, ‘I don’t know man, this is just so much work. This might be the last one.’”
However, once Burrows witnessed the impact of the event firsthand, he knew it was something that needed to continue.
“One of the artists who’d played with us since year one had just lost his wife to cancer,” he shares. “He came out that third year and brought a bunch of his own donations that he’d solicited and he gave this beautiful speech and I just remember thinking, ‘We can’t stop now. It’s making a difference.”
For the first ten years of the event, Burrows chose to focus on raising funds for Transition to Betterness to support patients and families navigating cancer treatment. As the years passed, Burrows saw a gap in funding for mental health initiatives, prompting him to expand his fundraising efforts to support multiple local charities including House of Sophrosyne, Maryvale, In Honour of the Ones We Love as well as Harmony in Action.
“We’d seen a lot of cuts to mental health funding and various support programs and I thought, ‘I love my T2B family, but let’s switch it up a bit,” he shares. “We want to help as many people as we can.”
With close to $800,000 raised since its inception, the drum marathon’s impact now echoes far beyond the stage.
“And now here we are,” sighs Burrows, with a tone that’s equal parts gratitude and sadness.
The decision to make this the last year for the event was shaped not only by its 20-year milestone, but by the loss of Jeff’s long-time friend and event partner, Gary Demmans, in whose memory this year’s drum marathon will be held.
“This year has been hard; Gary passed away just a few months ago and I feel like you can’t really do this thing without him,” he says. “It’s a bittersweet pill, but at the end of the day, Gary would have wanted one more show. His family will be there, so it will be very special.”
Burrows says the pair’s friendship dates back to his university days, when he was working midnights at the Canada Post processing plant, where Demmans was a manager.
“He knew we (The Tea Party) were just starting out, and we ended up doing our first independent CD, and he was literally the first person to buy one from me for five bucks,” he smiles. “He was always just this super generous, quiet guy who never wanted a pat on the back or any kudos for anything he ever did.”
The two kept in touch over the years, and when Burrows came up with the idea for the drum marathon, Demmans volunteered to help.
“He was the one that kept everything moving,” he says. “He was the guy who was there two hours before it started and two hours after it was over. It’s a big production and he made it all happen. I was always just so proud of him.”
While Burrows reflects on the many milestones and memories he and Demmans shared over the past two decades, he notes that one of things that always stood out the most to them was the community support year after year. The same families coming out to cheer them on, the same partners and businesses supporting; even through economic downturns and personal struggles.
“It’s really just been so heartwarming to see,” he says. “I’m so thankful for the hundreds of volunteers over the years. The venues. The bands. The charities themselves who do so much to make this event happen. The businesses who donated prizes. This whole community has been so giving.”
And while the drum marathon may be ending, Burrows has already begun contemplating what comes next.
“I’m still wrapping my head around it, but I am working on something,” he teases.
Want to donate to the Jeff Burrows 24-Hour Drum Marathon? Event details can be found on Jeff Burrows’ Facebook or Instagram pages, or donations can be made directly to www.harmonyinaction.com, with funds being distributed equally amongst participating charities.
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Published in the May/June 2026 Edition.
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