Greetings all!
As I write this first entry of the new year, it is hard to believe my previous entry was made while still in Africa. There was still much to do in the desert before returning- more traveling, more gigs, cleaning and repairing of instruments and gear, preparations for the next band's rotation, and, of course, preparing to return home.
The return home was a whirlwind and took place during the first week of the fall semester. We arrived in Baltimore. Baltimore to Dallas. I spent the night in Dallas and then returned to Albuquerque the next day, was met by Tracy and we made our way back up to our home in southern Colorado on a Thursday evening. I slept the next two days, had a gig with our Irish band, Tripping Upstairs on Sunday, and taught class on Monday. The whole experience quickly faded as new and important activities consumed my life.
To begin with, my studio grew with the addition of some great freshmen, I secured funds for, purchased, rehearsed, and staged a performance with my new and full steel drum band at the college (tentatively called the Rocky Mountain Pan Handlers- I am curious if there's a higher (as in, elevation) steel drum band in the nation (or world... hmmm).
The fundraising began for a new concert grand marimba for the school, while I patiently... ok, impatiently waited for Marimba One to finish building my personal 5.0 octave instrument. I hosted a guest chamber ensemble at the school, taught a section of music literature, percussion methods, ensemble, lessons, and two sections of hand drumming, while making a wonderful connection with a fantastic instrument builder right here http://www.rbidrums.com/ in the valley.
There were occasional gigs here, in Texas, at Don Richmond's studio, and beyond. PASIC was a treat, our newest faculty member (director of bands) is a great guy and amazing musician, and a trip back to the northeast was met with fun family times and a great trip to the Cooperman factory in Vermont. This trip led me to hooking up with Glen Velez in Santa Fe where Tracy and I had a wonderful vacation before returning to the midwest for the holidays (more on this later).
The original intention of this blog was to keep track of my travels overseas, but I now see it as a vehicle to keep track of my percussion life in general, with the occasional reflection on other things non-percussion along the way. I am scheduled to give a faculty lecture on January 30th regarding my thoughts and reflections from the trip, but it is all so fuzzy to me...
One thing that did keep everything in perspective was catching a Denver news story of Air Force guys returning to Colorado in early January from one of the bases we performed at in Iraq. Their deployment schedule would have had them at the base while we were there, and as I watched the story with hair that had not been cut since September, 25 lbs of extra weight, and a mindset of educator, not drum set player traveling overseas, the thought of those still over there from before I got there is something worth contemplating.
Enough on this topic for a while.
As I write this first entry of the new year, it is hard to believe my previous entry was made while still in Africa. There was still much to do in the desert before returning- more traveling, more gigs, cleaning and repairing of instruments and gear, preparations for the next band's rotation, and, of course, preparing to return home.
The return home was a whirlwind and took place during the first week of the fall semester. We arrived in Baltimore. Baltimore to Dallas. I spent the night in Dallas and then returned to Albuquerque the next day, was met by Tracy and we made our way back up to our home in southern Colorado on a Thursday evening. I slept the next two days, had a gig with our Irish band, Tripping Upstairs on Sunday, and taught class on Monday. The whole experience quickly faded as new and important activities consumed my life.
To begin with, my studio grew with the addition of some great freshmen, I secured funds for, purchased, rehearsed, and staged a performance with my new and full steel drum band at the college (tentatively called the Rocky Mountain Pan Handlers- I am curious if there's a higher (as in, elevation) steel drum band in the nation (or world... hmmm).
The fundraising began for a new concert grand marimba for the school, while I patiently... ok, impatiently waited for Marimba One to finish building my personal 5.0 octave instrument. I hosted a guest chamber ensemble at the school, taught a section of music literature, percussion methods, ensemble, lessons, and two sections of hand drumming, while making a wonderful connection with a fantastic instrument builder right here http://www.rbidrums.com/ in the valley.
There were occasional gigs here, in Texas, at Don Richmond's studio, and beyond. PASIC was a treat, our newest faculty member (director of bands) is a great guy and amazing musician, and a trip back to the northeast was met with fun family times and a great trip to the Cooperman factory in Vermont. This trip led me to hooking up with Glen Velez in Santa Fe where Tracy and I had a wonderful vacation before returning to the midwest for the holidays (more on this later).
The original intention of this blog was to keep track of my travels overseas, but I now see it as a vehicle to keep track of my percussion life in general, with the occasional reflection on other things non-percussion along the way. I am scheduled to give a faculty lecture on January 30th regarding my thoughts and reflections from the trip, but it is all so fuzzy to me...
One thing that did keep everything in perspective was catching a Denver news story of Air Force guys returning to Colorado in early January from one of the bases we performed at in Iraq. Their deployment schedule would have had them at the base while we were there, and as I watched the story with hair that had not been cut since September, 25 lbs of extra weight, and a mindset of educator, not drum set player traveling overseas, the thought of those still over there from before I got there is something worth contemplating.
Enough on this topic for a while.
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