Grammy nod a dream for Dream Theater’s Rudess

Written by Peter D. Kramer

7:02 PM, Feb. 10, 2012

It has been a dramatic year for New City’s Jordan Rudess – the keyboardist at the center of the progressive metal group Dream Theater – and it’s about to get even more so.

“On the Backs of Angels” – from Dream Theater’s album “A Dramatic Turn of Events” – is up for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance at Sunday night’s 54th annual Grammy Awards.

It is the first Grammy nomination for the metal group, a development that came as a total surprise to Rudess.

“We knew it was going to be an important album and we knew that all eyes were going to be on us, because of all the changes,” he says.

The group went through a bit of upheaval before recording the album, bringing in Mike Mangini on drums. The other members of Dream Theater are lead vocalist James LaBrie, bassist John Myung, and guitarist John Petrucci.

“When we recorded it, I’m not thinking in terms of Grammys, because our group has always made its way, all by ourselves, a very independent, very unusual kind of course. The Grammy thing is incredible, but it’s in a more mainstream, commercial vein than what I’m used to thinking about.”

The group’s music is wildly popular in Europe, but not suited to American radio play: “On the Backs of Angels” is nearly nine minutes long.

“That’s another amazing thing to me,” Rudess says, “that a song that’s almost nine minutes long could be picked up by the Grammys. It’s pretty cool.”

When Petrucci reached Rudess to give him the news last fall, the keyboard player was in a diner in San Diego.

“For the first 30 seconds, I was in a bit of a dream,” he says. “We weren’t expecting it at all.”

Dream Theater has been around for 25 years – producing nearly a dozen studio albums – and Rudess has been with it for 13 years.

But the Grammys were never even a consideration.

“After so many years of working hard and practicing our instruments and being focused, to have this kind of mainstream notoriety is a really good feeling,” he says. “You say, ‘We were nominated for a Grammy,’ and it means something. You hear the word ‘Grammy’ and it’s, Wow!”

It’s a tough category – Dream Theater is up against (six-time nominees) Foo Fighters, Mastodon, Megadeth and Sum 41 – but Rudess is cautiously optimistic.

“I’d like to think our chances are really good, but we’re up against some well-known groups,” he says. “The competition is really good, but I also think we have an amazing song and the forces of the planet got us this far and it’s possible that we’ll take it all the way.”

Rudess and the band were in Manchester, England, this week, planning to meet their families in Los Angeles for Sunday’s big ceremony. Rudess’ wife, Danielle – the driving force behind Helen Hayes Youth Theater and the producer of the annual Metropolitan High School Theater Awards – will be there, as will the couple’s daughters, Ariana and Kayla.

Win or not, Rudess is happy for the group’s newfound exposure. And win or not, Rudess and the band will be on a plane Monday, off to Zurich for the next leg of a European tour.

His luggage might just be a little heavier.

Wouldn’t that be dramatic?