So Long 2012!

Merry (post) Christmas everyone!

The New Year is just days away. I've been having a very lovely break with my family. Hope it's been lovely for all of you!

New year turnovers are always the time for resolutions and new inspirations and motivations. Look what I've been eyeing this afternoon!

Mmm, yes. Beautiful new mouthpieces. These are Paxman mouthpieces. I used to play on a 2B that I bought off a fellow horn player (for £20, woop!) when I lived in Liverpool. Unfortunately it was lost almost year ago; I have a feeling I absentmindedly left it in one of the schools I taught in. 

That 2B was a great little mouthpiece, and there was something comforting about having an all-Paxman getup. Therefore today I took the plunge and found online a 2B mouthpiece and no. 2, 3, 4 rims to experiment on. 

Currently I use a Moosewood B mouthpiece (C backbore) with an M5 rim. A bit straight down the road in terms of size. It's not that this one isn't working out for me, but I'd like to spend a little time on a Paxman mouthpiece again. You'll run into horn players that are always looking for "The One" - the holy grail of metal that we stick on our faces. I don't know if such a thing exists. I'm more interested in finding my "Old Reliable." I played on a Lawson mouthpiece for 10 years. I'd like to find one I will be happy to use for the next 10 years. 

I'll keep you all posted. Mouthpiece work is fascinating, and it certainly makes a difference in the sound you get out of your horn - and all brass instruments for that matter!

One final thing.....

New Year's Resolution(s)? I know one right off the top of my head: I need to start getting some videos up here. That'll be something I experiment with in 2013....

Twelve Things I Learned in my First Year.

I have entered my second year of being self employed, so I thought I would share some of the things I learned in my first year. Enjoy!

In my 'office'.

1. Try to keep from explaining yourself. This equals a shut mouth and very open ears. You learn a lot that way. People say you'll be considered wiser than you actually are. 

2. A lot of would-be problems or potential sticky situations get solved by letting time pass. Be patient. Let things unfold.

3. You can almost turn anything into a money-maker if you pitch it right. I know 'money' is sort of a bad word these days, but it sure is necessary for people who are self-employed or own their own businesses. How else will you make rent?

4. When all else fails, teach what you know. It's an efficient way to earn a living, and you provide a good service for people who need to learn!

5. On that note, I'll go one further: Identify the thing that came easy to you in your life. Do it, spread the knowledge of how to do it to others. It may be the one thing you master in your lifetime. You owe it to yourself and the world to offer up something you've mastered. It'll fulfill you. You will also be giving a gift to the world with your unique talent. For whatever reason, the thing that came easy for me was horn playing. 

6. Write emails. People don't know you exist until you make contact with them. That's how stuff happens - people need stuff done and you can do it for them. But you can't do it for them if they don't know you exist. 

7. Always show up to stuff. Don't presume you're not needed until you find out first hand in person. Be that faithful person that always comes through. DON'T be a flake. Flakiness is a good way to not succeed.

8. "Blood of diligence, wounds of disappointment". I have these words written on a white board in my living room. Success takes time to build up, and guess what? There's a lot of failures, mistakes, and unfortunate circumstances along the way. Tomorrow is a new day. Try again. One day one of your 'try agains' will eventually gain you traction and move you forward.

9. Don't use social networks how most people use them. Definitely put them to use for your business - it's a great way to make contacts and keep in touch with the people involved with your business. However, if you really need it, have a very private sphere for your personal accounts. Rewire how you look at and use facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. Potential clients are not people with whom you want to share info on your bad days. 

I have realized that since I work for myself my business is pretty much always 'open' or on display for people. I have to be very careful with what I project to the world. It isn't difficult; it just requires me to think twice about what I say and do. Facebook definitely falls under that umbrella.

10. Keep the people you want to be like in your sights, and you will naturally end up being like them. It is like the flower that positions itself towards the direction of the sun. It grows towards its nourishment. Also keep tracking those you don't want to be like. It's not good to focus on negative things, but it helps to remind yourself of how you don't want to end up. 

11. Organization. Organization. Organization. Your life and business are messes without it. I know this first hand. Those who know me personally know what a huge statement this is. I'm naturally a messy, unorganized person. But if I want to see money in my bank account, I need to be on top of my game. I need to be organized.

12. To some extent, you don't need anyone's permission to do what you want to do. I draw this thought from two specific artists I really like: Bill Callahan and St Vincent. Both in their careers have had to record at home with very limited resources and equipment. Their limitations never stopped them from doing what they really wanted to do - create music. 

When I was in college, there were many things I wanted to do (like becoming a really proficient musician and writing my own music). One day this past year, I was playing with a group of friends in my home. It was only a jam session, but it was a lot of fun and what we were playing wasn't even that bad. I remember saying, "I wish I knew I could have done this in college." My environment never looked like how I expected it to, and that stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. Life will never be perfect, and it's probably not going to be ideal for most of the time you're alive. Just get up, do, and don't apologize for it (unless maybe it's really bad). 

Catching friends Stacy and Darren at Mutemath's show. 

Necessary. Doesn't that look delicious?

Bought an old mellophone off of ebay recently.

Crooks for the mellophone.

Old Faithful. Used it for 10 years.

New Faithful. Using it since this summer.

The cat.

The dog.

The workspace.

I have some more posts coming up - All Region related! Stay tuned.

Videoh!

Video of me at the bottom of this post: http://sucrediaries.blogspot.com/2012/06/memories.html

:)

Forgot to post that a long time ago.

Texas French Horn All-State Material 2012-13

Here it is:

And here they are:

Etude 1: #21 - the accuracy one

Etude 2: #46 - the slow and lyrical one

Etude 3: #38 - the fast and technical one

At the top of this post you'll find recommendations for tempos. Some of you out there may have the Kopprasch book or will get legit copies of this from your high schools. But for those who want them now... here they are. Just right click (or ctrl click) and save to your computer. Print 'em out and practice them up! 

If you want lessons, send me an email, message on facebook, text, or call. Check out my Lessons page to see what days I'm teaching in your area. Or you can always come to me in Dallas!

In awhile I might stick up recorded portions and suggestions on how to approach the etudes. So stay tuned.

All State Audition Material...

All State etudes for high school will be posted July 19th, just over a week away!

Go here for specific information. Right now you can find out what books selections will be made from.

And straight from the horse's mouth...

All the All State material is from the Kopprasch book this year! 

We're in for super technical-focused year.

4th!

Happy Fourth of July! 2012! Woo!

Currently I'm sitting in an airport awaiting to travel with my family. I had forgotten today is our Independence Day - so much rushing around lately. 

I feel tempted to do a long sappy post about how much I love my country. Battery depletion and lack of time prevents me, but I will give a quick thought: 

I've always admired people who are their own bosses. There are a few people I look at regularly for inspiration, and to keep this short I'll name a couple. 

My Dad... he started his business Omega about 20 years ago in our living room. This year he's opened up a fully refurbished building. He is successful, has many clients, and is still going strong. From so little he began. He has traveled a long way. 

Dad and his faithful crew!

Sherri and Max Bemis (of bands Eisley and Say Anything)... they don't exactly have a business together (unless you count being married). But each of them have begun small side businesses profiting on their personal strengths. Sherri is a brilliant artist and she runs her site when she's not touring - selling prints of her work. (www.sherrisink.com/) Her husband Max does the same, but sells personalized songs for people who are fans of his work. (www.merchdirect.com/songshop/) They might be smaller enterprises, but I'm certain they bring in a nice income from things they love to do in their free time. 

Jeremy and Elsie Larson. Jeremy and Elsie are fantastic entrepreneurs. Elsie runs her successful vintage shop Red Velvet, and Jeremy has his studio situated right above. The perfect setup, I think. They work hard and support each other in their careers. I know they are doing what they love, but there is a fantastic bonus in that what they do gives great gifts to people out in the world. 

My point in all of this is that America is the place you can do this stuff. We are free to pursue what we want - the work we want, the education we want, the faith and lifestyles we want. Here in America, life can be the way you dream it to be. 

I love it. Happy Independence Day America. God bless this country. I'm thankful to be an American. 

A star (Paul) and stripes! Get it?

Fort Anthropologie.

Sucré was back in Texas last week. Some buds and I helped out with the brass support. Boy was it nice to see the gang again (minus Darren). I'm always reminded how much I like that crowd whenever our paths cross. You hear a lot about how those DuPrees are classy people. I'll add to the hype because they absolutely are very sweet people. I had a nice long conversation with Stacy's dad Boyd (@boydd57 on twitter) Eisley's former manager and probably number 1 fan. While we talked, I thought of how much of a fit this family is for the industry - being just a small town family from Tyler, Texas! I liked that. Eisley will be around for awhile. We'll get more stuff out of Sucré. The future of music looks good in my eyes. 

This was a very interesting show to do. I walked away with many notes in my head about future ones. I don't think any of us were expecting the setup that we got. It worked, but it was a little tight space-wise. There also weren't enough mics for the brass, so we had to just go and blow for it. From where I was sitting, it sounded like the low end of the brass chords were lost. There's videos on youtube of the gig. I don't think you can hear the full chords on them either. 

That being said, I got so many comments that night about how much the brass added to the show. On different occasions Jeremy's commented to me a bit about how much he can get out of brass verses what he gets from strings. I'm still of the opinion that strings are a lovely fit for a live Sucré show, but hands down... brass matches their volumes very easily. 

We change things though... and we can't help it. Give this video a watch: 

To me, this doesn't really give a good impression of how this song is on the record. Don't get me wrong... I think this performance is lovely! But it is different. Brass just naturally adds a sort of pep to things (perhaps a couple centuries of marching bands have conditioned us to that pep). No amount of me saying in rehearsal "sound as much like string players as you can" would ever guarantee that we could actually achieve that sound. We're brass. And that's that. 

Rehearsal at my house.

This isn't bad a thing. I just didn't realize that this is how it was. The whole ball game that night was a little different than what I experienced on tour. Now I'm thinking about what four horns might do live, or if we had low brass, maybe one trumpet instead of two, or what things would be like if the four of us had mics in our bells. This world is a little different, but I'm thankful to be experimenting with the acoustics of it.

I am still new at this, but if you're a local Dallas or Fort Worth band that wants a nice brass addition to your live show shoot me an email at sarahreno@gmail.com. I love doing this stuff - not just playing but writing arrangements as well. I think this world could use a little more brass. 

The picture up top is from the blog A Piece of Toast. DFW Style Daily also has a review up and there's a cute post here at this little blog.

Videos you can watch of the show: Light Up, Cliff Waltz/Stampede, Hiding Out, Say Something

I think Elsie (Jeremy's wife and blogstress for abeautifulmess.com)
snapped this one.

Summertime

Hello there dear readers. 

It's been a little while since I've given an update. The Sucré tour was a lot of fun and just a whirlwind of good times and experiences. May was a busy month - wrapping up the lessons taught in schools, interviewing at new schools, and preparing for the summer. Creatively I have a couple projects going - some writing, some playing. It's shaping up to be a good summer. 

A snap I took from the Sucré soundcheck in Austin.

Lessons have officially kicked off for the summer. I'm located at a couple of high schools on Monday and Tuesday. I have some time open in the rest of the week for lessons in my home - so if you're here at the site looking for lesson info, send me an email. We'll get it all sorted. 

Hm, I'll update the lessons page today. Go and have a look at that for my schedule a little later on. 

Ah, also some great news: I'm officially hired on the lesson staff for Lake Highlands schools. After chatting with the head band director, I'm so pleased I will be working for this cluster in Richardson. I feel we look at music experiences and instruction the same way. This means I'm doing a lot of teaching at Lake Highlands, Garland, and Mesquite. This coming school year will be a good one - but very busy!

Currently I'm in the process of planning a recital in the fall with a dear friend, Katie Wolber. Katie and I were in undergrad together at SMU. She does a lot of freelancing in Dallas and Fort Worth. She's a great player! We're looking to put together an interesting program that features each of us as players as well as the two of us as a duo. I'm very thankful we're back working together in the same town! It's a great thing to have a friend close by to sharpen your musical skills.

What collaboration can look like.

In a little while, I'll do a post about my experiences on the Sucré tour. It's overdue, but I feel I should put something online about how it all was for me. Stay tuned.

Some of the eats we got on the road.

I'm Hittin' the Road!

I was keeping this one under the hat, but since it's a few days away and definite plans are being made I'll let it out now:

I'm hitting the road with Sucré!

This wonderful trio asked me to do horn stuff for a few shows on their tour. This is very very very exciting. I think it may be worth mentioning that this will be a new experience for me. Certainly I have done live, non-classical shows. But never before have I done three in a row - and traveled in between to get to each one! [boy, does that make me sound like a goof or what?]

As the plan currently stands, I'll gather with them in Houston on Sunday, play with them in Austin Monday night, and then head right back up to Dallas for a Tuesday night show at Club Dada. I'm pretty excited for these upcoming performances and to have a chance to hang out with my wonderful musical friends Jeremy, Stacy, and Darren again. 

You all probably don't have any idea how hard these three are working to make Sucré and this tour happen. This is just like any new business endeavor: not the most easy climb to make. However, they are determined! (But I really don't think they will be disappointed with the reception they'll get. They've each got the fans, and the music is good stuff.)

Therefore, if you've enjoyed A Minor Bird and are free the night they're in your town, I'd encourage you to trek out for the show. You may be witnessing a good (and definitely fleeting) point in the big histories of these people!

Here are the dates that I've clipped from Sucré's website: 

But for more specific information, you'll have to check out the site for yourself.

http://sucreofficial.com/#/tour/

For the few days I'm on the road I'll try to blog along the way. Last time I was working with these people, I was very reserved with documenting stuff about the experience - since it was the first time I had ever met any of them. But hopefully they will be ok with me taking a few snaps here and there. 

Hope to see you at a show!

A Minor Bird

Ok. You've already heard mention of Sucré by me. It's been a few days [oops, nearly a week] since their album A Minor Bird has come out. I, like the rest of Eisley/Mutemath/Larson fans out there, have been DRINKING the new album in since last Tuesday. If you haven't bought it yet, hopefully this post here will encourage you to do so!

You can listen to the whole album right here: http://sucreofficial.com/#/news/listen-to-a-minor-bird/

Please do check it out. For those wondering, you can hear my horn (/brass) stuff on tracks 1, 4-8, 10-11. 

A Minor Bird was released in April 2012, but it will always make me think of November-time. Jeremy sent the unfinished tracks for me to get familiar with as I drove up to work with the trio. Probably around the 5th listen through the album, the November sun was fading away into gray air. Oklahoma was dark and cool, but "Stampede" and "The Cliff Waltz" powered me up for another few hours of driving. "Chemical Reaction" made my heart drop the first time I heard it. And of course "Endless Sleep" ...well, that built  up my own icy Fortress of Solitude around me. 

The album also makes me think of the time spent at Jeremy Larson's studio - in dark days short of light. We sat and listened for good holes the horn could fill. I played; they recorded and head bobbed in the other room. We drank coffee and ate chocolate and crepes. It was a good few days up in Springfield. Happily for me, the album will always make me think of that pre-Thanksgiving week.

I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity they gave me. Stacy, Darren, and Jeremy took a big risk in inviting me up to do some work for them. All they had to go on was an email I sent Jeremy a few months before! Hopefully they feel like the risk they took is paying off for them.

Alright. That's it. Just go and buy the album. I'll be back within the week to write about some other fun horn stuff coming up. 

Oh yes.. piece of trivia for you: I used this horn for "No Return" (which is battling to be my favorite track on the album).

Poor Chester!

One of my dear friends, Sarah Nolen, is an excellent puppeteer. I met her when we were randomly paired to room with each other my junior (her sophomore) year of college. We had a most excellent time with each other, working at the radio station, watching bad movies, laughing at bad puns, and getting pancakes at our favorite pancake place Sunday mornings. I even worked on the audio in some of her films. 

Sarah is one of my all-time favorite people. I was pleased to get a call from her this week and even more pleased to get to help out with another project. 

Meet Chester... He's up for running in the DCHTV.net comedy short film contest. If you love it (I did. The vacuum part had me in stitches) then give it a vote at the bottom of the page!

Short Film by Sarah Nolen
Music by me. :)

A Wave is Coming

I am amped up!

I did something last night that I haven't done a lot for a couple of years: I went to a live show. (Live music performance, if that helps some of you.) Ever since I left home for college, I've been real keen on seeing as much live music as I can. Even when I was a teenager and still at home, I'd get a very big kick watching live performances on TV or DVD (we didn't have youtube back then - I know. I'm old.)

However, since I've moved back to Texas in August 2011, I've been really preoccupied with growing work for myself. I've had a lot of early mornings (getting up at 5am) which forces me to go to bed early as well - and a lot of great music happens late at night!

But last night I went to a show that was a part of 35 Denton, which is our northern version of Austin's South by Southwest (SXSW). I saw two of my favorite artists: Doug Burr and the fantastic John Vanderslice. Neither performance disappointed me!

Couple examples for you kids.

As I was enjoying that show, I felt a surge of encouragement and excitement. I like these people and I like this world. I deluded myself in college because I was so sure that this kind of world wasn't possible to work in. I was very certain that my situation was a get a job in a symphony orchestra sort of situation. And I'm sorry to say, while I enjoy performing with very large symphonic ensembles, I'm not sure I want a full time job in one. (I'll probably discuss that a little later.)

All I could think while John Vanderslice was on (besides, "This is FANTASTIC!") was that I really wanted to do work for him someday. After the show he hung out with his audience, so I approached him, gave him a hug and told him that I would like to work for him one day. He said, "You never know! Send me an email." 

So yes, you never do know. I have a long way to go in my horn playing career, but I am definitely enjoying the ride. 

It was speculated to me this year how new and uncommon the french horn sound is in the 'rock'/'pop'/'nonclassical' world. I agree, and I feel I am here to fill a need in that world. Nothing against either Doug or John, but they go to very accessible instruments: strings. Doug's lineup behind him on stage last night was drums, bass, and violin. John's Magik Magik Orchestra seems to be string-centric. No offense to string players, but I almost want to say they are a dime a dozen. This isn't meant to be a slam on them - for string players work really hard at what they do. I just mean there are so many of them. 

But who uses a brass quintet? Who goes to a horn player before they get that hot cello chick to play on their stage? Perhaps it's been overdone. Perhaps it's time for a change. 

We'll see. I'll keep you updated if that change happens.

Business Cards

In another life, I might've been a designer. I really love color, space usage, and line design. 

But in this life I turned out to be a musician. 

Anyway, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'm looking for ideas for business cards - since I need 'em. I have done a search on Pinterest for ideas...

Some really lovely cards out there. Too bad I don't have enough time to just sit and look at them. Maybe later this afternoon...

When We Were Young video

Sucré's first video is up and out there:

(yes - there's an ad. Sorry people, can't do anything about that!)



For those who don't know, I did some brass work for this upcoming album. It's absolutely gorgeous stuff. If I had to describe it, I'd probably call it cinematic pop - and yes I know 'pop' is such a dangerous words these days. Trust me on this one.

You can find all about Sucré here: http://sucrediaries.blogspot.com/

Get the album - you'll enjoy taking your mind, heart, and ears to new places!

I could do that.

I watched this amazing video of this 'aerial artist' last week. I really found this very beautiful and quite amazing. Looking at the folks gathered below her I thought to myself, "I wonder how many people down there filming and capturing this are thinking 'Oh I bet could do that.'" I wonder how many people who have watched this youtube video think, "Yeah, I could do that."

Human beings are remarkable. I believe it is true that we are limitless, which is why I enjoy playing and teaching an instrument that is limitless. The only limits on the French Horn are ones that directly correlate to the limits of the person playing it. This may be an exaggeration but not a very big one.

Our limitlessness (or limitation) begins in our heads. In our heads we can do anything.

We are surprised when that isn't true once we physically sit down to do whatever it is we think we can do. We are disappointed with how hard stuff actually is. I've seen this in some of the kids I've taught. I've seen it in other musicians I've played with. I definitely saw it in myself at times.

We should all realize that it takes a little while for our body to catch up with our brains. Our brain may understand things and know how to do stuff, but sometimes our bodies need "learnin'." That's why it's called muscle memory. The application of the process is needed. We can't live our lives in a world of thought and theories. I've seen many would-be musicians that are like that: believing that they are already great or would have been great if the right opportunity came their way. 

It's a great thing to start at the bottom and work your way up. The working your way up part gives you plenty of room and time to practice the application of your thought and theory. One day you'll notice you're at the top. One day you'll notice you're one of those people that others think they can do what you do. "Easy-peasy," they will say.

As for me, I've got a few things I'm attempting to apply in my life. There's a few stuff I've always believed I could naturally do, and I realized recently that I need to put my money where my mouth is. Time to work up some of this stuff! I might get some of that 'stuff' up here on this site. So we'll see. 

Part 2 to my "How to fix broken private lessons" is coming soon. Just wanted to put this post up. Something we all need to think about... and do something about.

And here is a picture of me putting my money where my mouth is.

Mending Broken Stuff - Part One

I love playing. I love my horn. I love music and being a musician. 

But, you know, I love teaching as well!

I like watching my students grow and figure stuff out. I like telling them things that opens their eyes and help them comprehend playing a little differently. I like the kids, I like the lessons. I like teaching. 

In this phase of my life I'm teaching more than I ever have before. I'm starting to see something that really is making my heart ache: broken kids. 

When I say broken kids, I don't mean kids who suck at the horn. I don't mean kids that have technical problems, ones who are out of tune, or even ones that can't count. 

What I mean by 'broken' kids are the ones who have heard enough of: "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE" and "That sucked." Or "You suck." (Which is translated from what's really said: "That's/You're not very good.") They've heard any of those phrases enough times that I hear and see the physical result of defeat. Defeat shows up in many ways: kid not practicing in between lessons, kid not playing loud enough, kid not bothering to read the music, kid not even bothering to attempt to play ANY right note at all, the appearance of the kid not caring, kid announcing they're quitting band next semester, the kid not trying at all.

I don't even know where to start. I'll take that as a sign not to rant on for 12 pages. I don't even want to rant for one page on this. I'll just say one thing: cut the kid some slack. 

I listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio when I'm driving around in my car. He says some pretty good stuff about money management. It mostly boils down to behavioral things that I think one could apply to many different areas in life. When recommending real estate agents or people who sell insurance to callers and listeners, he always says, "Find one that has the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman."

What great wisdom! Consider it: teachers have concern for those in their educational care; salesmen have concern for their commission. 

If you're a [music] teacher of any kind, I would digest these words very deeply in your heart. Again, for the sake of not ranting on for a million pages I'll be brief. Do not let your concern for your "commission" (your paycheck) tower over your concern for the students in your charge. If you do, I may suggest you find yourself other ways to make money. Why?

Because it matters. Because you are of great influence to that 12-18 year old. 

I think I'll do a Part Two later in the week. I said that the "NOPES" a kid hears tears them down, and I should address what you can do to work with a defeated kid (one that exhibits something in the list of defeat attributes above) and not be a teacher that tears down... but be one that builds up!

Stay Tuned!

Liverpool

I lived in the UK for two years: in a city called Liverpool (yeah the place the Beatles came from).

Originally I went over in September 2009 to do my Masters in Popular Music Studies. I finished that degree up by October the following year, and I wasn't quite ready to leave. I spent the next 10 months focusing on getting as many gigs as I could around town. By 'gigs' I don't really mean gigs because none of them payed. However, I was an aspiring musician, so I found myself in a 'say yes to anything' mode. I had the free time and could afford to play for free for any community group that wanted to have me. 

My playing and networking payed off: in January or February of 2011 I was put in touch with the Assistant Principal Horn for the Liverpool Philharmonic - Chris Morley. We had some good coffee chats, and he gave me some really great lessons. Around April or so he brought me in to fill in his spot as Assistant on a cute little opera by Mendelssohn. I had a BLAST. At some other point I think I played on a rehearsal or two for their Mahler 6 concert. 

Let me just say: what a fantastic horn section Liverpool has. All the guys are sweethearts and very good at what they do. Actually, that section is so good at what they do it's almost second nature to them. Their skills and abilities are that much embedded in them. Every time I was around them I could see they really loved working with each other. Very very harmonious section - even in their least harmonious moments. I loved seeing that. Made me desire to work with them and other musicians like them! 

For any young horn player out there wanting to do the horn thing, I strongly recommend living and playing abroad for awhile - at least six months. If you can, get yourself to somewhere in Europe. After all, Europe is where this whole Classical music tradition kicked off. Learn yourself the local language while you're there, too. It only adds good things to your scope as a musician. 

I only can think of wonderful things to say about the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Follow this link and you'll get a bit of what they're like. In this video, the Phil is performing the Finale from Mahler's 5th Symphony. Just... fantastic! I miss them and everything else in Liverpool!

Fixing Bugs

It seems my new little payment feature had some bugs. I tinkered with it - hopefully it's all sorted now.

Therefore if you're here because you are a parent or a student wanting to pay for lessons, click on the 'Lesson' tab to head over to pay. Simply follow the directions, and you'll be all payed up!

Catch Up

Saturday I had an opportunity to catch up with my friends from Sucré, which includes Stacy King from Eisley, her husband Darren King who is the drummer of MuteMath, and Jeremy Larson who is currently touring with Canon Blue. (FYI - Canon Blue is a great band. My friend and I had a blast during their show this past Saturday. Check 'em out!) MuteMath is currently on tour with Canon Blue as their opener so all three of them were in the same place this weekend. 

Darren and Jeremy filled me in on a little of what is approaching in the coming weeks. I'm very excited for them, not only because of what I know is ahead but because of what's now behind them. I believe this album's been in the works for a couple years. Jeremy and I emailed about horn stuff for 5 or 6 months before it happened. There's still another two and a half months to go before the album is actually out! The three of them seem to have incredible patience and endurance for this album. For me, that makes its release so much the sweeter. 

If you haven't heard the album's new single "When We Were Young," please do go check it out here: http://www.spinner.com/2012/01/23/sucre-when-we-were-young-song/

I ended up contributing brass stuff to 3/4s of the album. However, funnily enough, the single they went with was one of the few songs with no brass at all. Hmmph! Nah, only kidding. It's a great song - one I love singing along to. Hopefully it will whet appetites for more! 

At some point, I suppose I should post of the projects I have personally going with my own friends. There are a couple of really neat things in the works. I can't wait to share them with you!

Thanks for reading... listen to Sucré!!!!

Sucré

I'm very excited to make a post about the upcoming album by Sucré - solo project of Eisley member Stacy King. I have been a huge fan of Eisley and specifically Stacy since 2005. I was blown away by the opportunity to do some horn work for this album last November. The experience was amazing, not only because I got to meet (and work for) one of my musical heros, but I was given the chance to do a job I dream of doing full time. 

It was a dream come true, and I'll tell you how it happened: I wrote an email. 

I've been reading Jeremy Larson's blog for about a year now. He's a great writer and musician, and he's played and written for a lot of really great bands out there now. One day last June he published this post on his blog which included his contact email at the end of the post. Figuring that since I lived in another country and that I'd probably never run into this guy, I thought why not shoot him an email. I gushed a little about who I was and how much I enjoyed his blog. I believe I finished the email by saying he was the type of musician I wanted to work with. 

And you know what? He wrote back, like, the very next day. Not only did he respond quickly and positively, but he also suggested I do some work for Stacy's album - both things I was not expecting at all. We corresponded for a few months, and then one month it actually happened. I drove up to Missouri and spent three days recording horn and other brass stuff for their tracks. 

I had a good time, and the work seemed to go very easily for everyone. (Very important - if you're going to be a freelancing musician be the kind that is a pleasure for clients to have around.) The music they had written is gorgeous, and I was beyond honored that my brass sound would be a part of the album. 

This is the lesson, dear readers: write emails. Talk to people. Inquire about things. Get in touch and communicate. If you don't, the world will not know that you exist. Don't expect it to accidentally find out you do exist. Write an email.

Anyway, here is a teaser. Yup, that horn you hear is me. :)

The album is out April 10, 2012. For more info on Sucré:

Official blog for the project - http://sucrediaries.blogspot.com/
Jeremy Larson's site - http://jeremylarson.typepad.com/

A bit of the town.

Jeremy at work.

Darren King and Jeremy Larson working out
a complicated chord for a song ending.

Writing out a line for me.

What I look like in waveforms!