High School
The Horn Destiny
My Dad played trumpet in a couple different big bands before he got married so it seemed only natural that he would nudge us to follow his footsteps.
At home, we were constantly exposed to the old standards from Stan Kenton to Duke Ellington to Benny Goodman.
Being able to see first hand, how music affected my father and how much enjoyment he got out of it, was certainly a contributing factor to my early path forward.
So, my brother Todd and I were the first ones to stick our toe in the water and give it a shot. (At one time or another, most of my--eventually 6--siblings, gave it a shot.)
I started first in 4th grade, and I think brother Todd followed the very next year.
Todd stuck it out through high school--which was longer than any of our siblings lasted.
While I continued on for a couple years through college. But after that, I eventually lost the battle to the daily practice grind and ended up hanging up my spurs for good.
Roger Lauve
Although I didn't care for my time in Pine River (at all), I was fortunate to have a band director in my senior year that was a great mentor and coach (and just happened to be a great horn player himself!)
Bugler's Holiday
We played this at something like our graduation ceremony (I think). I played lead while the dude I had displaced in first chair played the 2nd part and Mr. Lauve, played the 3rd part. (I wasn't able to record the actual performance, but was able to bring in my big-ole Sony reel-to-reel to the rehearsal that afternoon and get this on tape.)