I Had Nothing To Do With It… and I’m Still Proud

            There is always a problem when you start to make a list of people who do anything.  You will inevitably leave someone out causing them to assume you either don’t love them or, in a fit of senility, have forgotten they exist.  Earlier in one of these epistles, I listed former students who had become band directors and left out my own son-in-law.   That being the case, OF COURSE I am going to now list some folks.  Chalk my mistakes up to old age and demon rum.

            I was reading the paper (yep… I read) and noticed that 2 former students (John Cooper and Jake Ingalls) will be performing in the Memphis area this Spring.  In both cases it is a huge deal for those of us who know them.  I mentioned it to a friend of mine (yep… I have a friend) and I found their response both telling and curious.  They said they thought making it in music, as anything other than a teacher, was a “unicorn moment”.  So rare that it might just be a myth.  If you all feel that way, take note of the former students listed below.  Being in the band at Houston was a small part of their success.  Hard work and perseverance were the much bigger factors.  They are:

John Cooper – John was a trombone player in the band.  My favorite memory of John was of his insistence on answering rhetorical questions.  If I got angry and yelled, “Does anybody here have any idea what they are doing?” the band would get very quiet…. and then John would raise his hand and say “Well Mr. Smith, I do and I think Perry does but Scott doesn’t have a clue!”.  John is now the lead singer and founding member of the band SKILLET.  SKILLET has been around since the late 1990’s and has performed Christian music for millions of fans.  In January of 2017, their single “Feel Invincible” topped the Billboard Christian Song Chart.  The album was Grammy nominated last year.  They will be performing on March 3 at Winter Jam in the Fed Ex Forum.

Matt Wigton – Matt was also a trombone player in the band as well as a fine athlete.  His senior year, he was a bass player in the National Grammy Jazz Band as well as the Tennessee State champion in the Discus.  Matt went on to attend the University of North Texas and to play in the One O’Clock Lab Band.  For those few reading this who understand what that means – Wow!!!  After graduating, Matt moved to NYC and spent his time getting established as a performing and recording jazz bassist.  He has performed on 2 Grammy nominated albums and has toured with the likes of Englebert Humperdink, Christopher Cross and Jo Dee Messina.  He moved to Nashville and, through the Nashville Jazz Composers Collective, he released a Jazz Christmas Album this past year that was entitled “Sleigh What?!”.  On that album, he worked with Jeff Coffin, saxophonist for the Dave Mathew’s Band.

Jake Ingalls – Jake was a member of the front ensemble and indoor drum line while in band.  I know it is different when it is your life, but to the rest of us, it always appeared like Jake had no pulse.  He was as calm and laid back a teenager as I ever knew.  My biggest memory of Jake is forced on me every time I go to a band directors meeting or convention or meet someone relatively new to the profession.  You see - Jake was the kid with the guitar on top of a smoking tower playing “Freebird” in our 2008 marching show.   His guitar work made me into a sort of hero for what I call the band counter culture (not taking ourselves too seriously).  Jake is now a keyboardist and guitar player for THE FLAMING LIPS.  They will be playing at the Beale Street Music Festival on May 4 – 6.  He is also the frontman for his own band, SPACEFACE.  I knew Jake had hit the big time when I saw him on Letterman and again on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and again on Colbert.  He has also performed with Miley Cyrus (as a member of the Dead Petz) and with Sean Lennon to name a few.  I really knew he had made it when my Facebook feed had an ad for J Brand Jeans with Jake as an endorser.  And they don’t make them in my size.  Oh well…..

Tim Jones – Tim was a tenor drummer when he was in band.  Tim came along at a time when we needed an adult in the line, particularly since I set such a poor example in that regard.   Tim (or Timmy or “The Duke”) is a drummer and keyboardist (?) for the band FOR KING AND COUNTRY.   They are a Christian Band and I first took note of them in 2013 when they were the K-LOVE “Breakthrough Artist of the Year”.  In 2015, For King And Country won 2 Grammy Awards but my phone really blew up the night they appeared on Jimmy Kimmel.  In the “Boy, it really is a small world” category, For King And Country will be touring this spring with Skillet.  Tim and John were never in band at the same time together at Houston so guys, I hope the memories are fond ones!

Nathan Dugger – Nathan was also a tenor drummer when he was at Houston and had maybe the quickest hands of any drummer I ever taught.  Nathan caused trouble with the girls in my band (not because he had fast hands).  The girls found him good looking but Nathan never seemed to notice or pay them any attention since his mind was always on music.  He did, however, escape the dark side (drumming) and is now a guitar player with DREW HOLCOMB AND THE NEIGHBORS.  2015 was a good year for band alumni performing on television as my phone also blew up that year the first time Drew Holcomb appeared on Jimmy Kimmel (I believe they have been on Kimmel a couple of times now).

Will Caviness  - Will was a trumpet player in band.  He knew more about jazz music, artists and performing than I did the very first day I met him in 9^th grade.  Will suffered through my inadequacies and even did a great job with the “legitimate” trumpet playing but his heart was always in the jazz world.  We made a recording of him playing “I Remember Clifford” with our jazz band his senior year that is still one of my favorite things to listen to.  Will went on to study jazz trumpet at North Carolina and at the New England Conservatory.  Will moved to NYC and began to perform regularly in jazz clubs and with a great number of prominent jazz musicians.  In 2016, his group, the WILL CAVINESS SEXTET, released its first album entitled “A Walk”.  It received rave reviews from Downbeat Magazine and reached #8 on the Jazz Week National album chart.  It is bop style jazz ala Miles Davis. 

If you are keeping score, that is Kimmel, Colbert, Letterman and Fallon.  That is also an awful lot of quality music.  It is not, however, the only mark Houston Band kids are making in the world of professional music.  LAUREN TINGLE – was a mallet player for us but is now working with CMT (Country Music Television) in Nashville.  She turns out an amazing number of quality articles about country music artists and the Nashville music scene in general.  Her life has allowed her to meet and interview the likes of Willie Nelson, Shania Twain and Taylor Swift.  She has, in many ways, my dream job.  MIKAELA ALLEN – graduated from Berklee School of Music in Boston.  She now works for TIDAL.com, a music streaming service based in NYC that is partly owned by JAY-Z.  Her job (as I understand it) is to manage their social media and to work with artist promotions.  Exciting stuff and a long way from playing a flute in the Houston Band!

            I am sure to have forgotten someone I meant to remember, to have gotten a fact wrong, and to have misspelled a name or two.  People who went into music as a profession are special to me for all the obvious reasons you would imagine.  I never had the talent any of these folks had with respect to either performing or the business of music.  I do, however, have the ability to appreciate all they have accomplished.  Read the title again – and know that I really am proud of you all.

Happy Holidays

            The holidays were my favorite time of year as a band director.  Marching season (and the stress that came with it) was over and All West, Concert Festival and Spring Trip worries were far enough away to procrastinate the concern.  I have a whole host of favorite band related holiday memories.  Some are very specific and some are just overall impressions.  Here are a few of the most memorable.

            At my very first Holiday Concert, (December of 1991?), we played a tune called “Christmas Favorites”.  The song called for a solo trumpet player to hold a high b-flat until I brought the rest of the band in on the next section.  I was really feeling it that night and held the note out for an extremely long time.  Granted, it is easier to hold my hand up than it is to play the note but, like I said, I was feelin’ it.  Steve Stires was the solo trumpet player and, just after bringing the rest of the band back in, I heard a noise from the trumpet section.  I looked back and there was no Steve Stires but there was a Michelle Ticer waving frantically and pointing to the floor next to her.  It seems Steve had passed out.  Before I could wrap my mind around what was happening, he popped back up and we finished the song.  Steve was a heavyweight wrestler and sort of a beast.  He and I each broke a finger once battling it out in a game of mercy (if you don’t know, don’t ask – not sure about statute of limitations on broken kids).  On the other hand, I have never passed out in a concert so I got him on that one.

            During the “Year of the Tornado”, we spent the end of first semester practicing at the GPAC.  We had school in the afternoons at Germantown High School but practiced in the mornings.  When it came time to have our holiday concert, the GPAC was booked solid and, of course, we had no school.  My principal was John Clayton and, as I am sure you would expect, he was overwhelmed with “rebuilding the school” details.  He told me to “just find a place”.  I got on the phone and called every school that had an auditorium within 30 miles.  Finally Briarcrest told us to come on and we could use their facility which was down near the 240 / Poplar interchange (this was before the new campus).  Briarcrest was run by Joe Clayton, the brother of my principal.  What I did not know was that the 2 of them had not gotten along together (like not spoken) for several years.  On the morning of the concert, MY Mr. Clayton called me in and told me to find another place to have the concert.  We loudly discussed the issue for about 10 minutes at which time it was agreed that I was an idiot (at least Mr. Clayton agreed to that) and that the concert would have to be at Briarcrest.  Whether or not I would have a job after Christmas was an open question.

            In the fall of 2012, we did a marching show entitled “The Giving Tree” based on the book of the same name by Shel Silverstein.  The centerpiece of the show was an enormous tree.  The tree was very lifelike and even had leaves that would move in and out of the branches.  It was designed and built by a Hollywood company that also designed the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.  Not only did it look great, it cost $9,000.  I told myself at the time that we would find other uses for the tree or sell it to recoup some of the cost.  The market for a used $9,000 fake tree is smaller that you might imagine.  That having been said, I was left with finding other uses.  For the next few years, we would get the tree out of the storage building at Thanksgiving and decorate it for Christmas.  Not sure it was the best-looking tree in Germantown, but it had to be the most expensive…. and in Germantown that is saying something.

            At the holiday concert when Faith was 2 ½ years old, the band had decided to give us an extra special Christmas Present.  I do not often get surprised but was certainly surprised that night.  Just before the final song, some of the kids called Faith up on stage and gave her a giant, stuffed Mickey Mouse.  They then told us they were sending us to Disney World for Spring Break.  Faith was absolutely thrilled.  Mom and Dad were just a little less thrilled.  You see, Amy was pregnant with Mary Ann at the time but we had not told anyone yet.  We went to Disney and had a wonderful time though Amy was 6 ½ months along and Faith was in the phase where she wanted mom to carry her every where we went.  Feel the Magic!

            I remember caroling through the neighborhoods near the school a few times.  I also remember the year the parade was canceled because of rain but we marched through the neighborhoods after we returned to school as it had quit raining.  We played for special ed. kids a number of times and provided food and gifts for them.  Flute, Clarinet and Jazz groups played at retirement homes.  We instituted the Santa Hat instead of a band hat for parades and soon after every band was doing the same thing.  Food covered my desk in the form of presents from band members.  Not that I got to eat most of it as it seems that any food in my office became community food.  I also remember the first time a parent gifted me a bottle of bourbon and, after hiding it in my trunk, looking up the rules of 180 day suspensions for alcohol to see if they applied to teachers (not that I could tell). 

            You were all special folks but seemed to become a little more special this time of year.  I hope that you and your families have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah (or any of the 5 other spellings), Great Holiday and a Wonderful New Year.

p.s.

            I still owe just over a thousand dollars for Sousaphone cases.  There is a donation button on the side of this blog.  Those two facts can be related if you wish them to be.

Trivia Help Needed!!!

HOUSTON BAND ROOM

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

7:00 P.M.

$10.00 PER PERSON

         I am in serious need of help with this venture.  A sign-up genius link is included below for those who can help.  While it is possible to sell tickets, sell concessions, set up and clean up all by myself, I would much rather share the fun.  If you can’t help with the details but can come to help raise money for equipment, please do.  If you can help but don’t and later develop a rash…. please know that I still have some powers.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0949adab2d6-trivia

Getting Trivial

On a cold and somewhat rainy night in November of 2007, we held our first Trivia Night in the band room at Houston.  My one certain memory from that night was Lori Tingle running to the front to hand me something and wiping out on the wet floor as she tried to stop.  On this, the 10^th anniversary of our first soirre’ into all things trivial, I remember how much fun we all had.  I hope to repeat that experience on this November 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the band room.  I am asking anyone who can help with this to checkout a sign-up genius list at:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0949adab2d6-trivia

I need help and, as I am sure you all know, I no longer have a band of folks who do things because I tell them to.  Now I am hoping you will all help out because I am begging and the cause (new equipment for the band) is good.  In case you are pre-2007 and don’t know how this works, the most important thing is to show up.  We will build teams of no more than 10 to a team.  There will be 10 rounds of 10 questions (one question each from 10 different categories).  We will have limited concessions (drinks, pizza, candy).  It all takes about 2 hours and cost $10.00 to play. 

There were also some lessons learned in the first 10 years of doing this sort of thing.  One night, I caught a parent looking up answers on their cell phone (a big no-no).  Our prizes are not large enough to risk eternal damnation for cheating on a question like, “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?”  My wife no longer buys tickets for our “Split the Pot” drawing.  Her name was randomly drawn the first 3 times we did this and, even though we donated the money back to the band, the optics were really bad.  The most prevalent problem was excited folks shouting out an answer so loudly that not only other people playing but also some people across the street would know their answer.  Sometimes that answer was wrong!  Once, Audrie Pleasants was running concessions and got so excited about an answer SHE shouted it out….. and she wasn’t even playing.  From picking team names (Nesvick’s Naughty Nose Pickers) to the exciting battle for last place, I hope all of you will join us on Nov. 10.

What is the only U.S. State to grow coffee?