Although the request was for head material, I might suggest that a pretty good, and fairly cheap body material, if you have a way to cut it to length, is the "cardboard" concrete form prefabs. Find them at a local lumber/construction yard. These are available in 8 to 12 inch diameter commonly, and can be ordered in other diameters, usually supplied in 6, 8, 10, or 12 foot lengths. The cardboard wall is usually a "fat" 1/4 inch, and they are treated ("waxy" inside, at least) to resist moisture at least long enough to pour them full of concrete and hold together until it sets up.

In theory I suppose you could cut them to length with a good sturdy knife; but a table or radial arm saw probably works best, and is safer than a knife if done carefully. The walls are harder than you might expect for a "paperboard" construction. If you happen to want a 3 or 4 foot or longer drum, they'd be a lot cheaper and quicker than burning the center out of a tree.

Foolestroupe - I've never had much luck getting eyelets to stay in tube material except at very low tension. Maybe I'm not familiar with the clamping gadget you suggest. Maybe it's just that most of my experience with tire tubes has usually been with salvaged/used ones, and I just don't care for the "dirt." Small eyelets - with quite a few of them to spread the tension - should work nicely in most upholstery materials or canvas (ripstop or otherwise).

The eyelets sold through camping and hardware outlets for use on canvas/tarp material usually start at about 3/8 inch (through the hole), with 1/2 and 5/8 sizes not too hard to find. Even the 3/8 size might be a little larger than you'd want for a drum, since you'd want the lacings fairly closely spaced. Most fabric shops in my area carry 1/4 inch or 5/16 inch eyelets in the same style that might work well. The smaller "shoelace" sizes don't usually have the washer plate(s) to keep them from pulling out, so they'd only be suitable in something that doesn't stretch much (like real leather heads (maybe)).

John