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John Wacker, In Pen

The trumpet community, the music education community, a whole lot of college music students, and a beautiful family were all laid low today. John Wacker—Professor of Music at Western State Colorado University, trumpet player, and dear friend—was killed this morning in a head-on collision. When Ward called today with the news that John was dead, […]
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Birth-Day

Right now I’m in a delivery room in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, listening to my unborn son’s amplified heartbeat, hours away from being a father. I’m writing this between contractions and nurse drop-ins, a paragraph at a time as Elena and her mother try to grab the briefest of naps. I imagine I’ll […]
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0 Days Since Our Last Accident

I’m a musician for the Army. It’s a good job, and I like it. Gives me the chance to wear a lot of hats. I get to play and compose music, write stories about our band and the stuff we do. Another job I get to do is load the trucks after concerts. Me and […]
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Where We Were

I haven’t experienced many “Remember Where You Were” events. I wasn’t around for the Kennedy Assassination, or John Lennon, or the moon landing. I do remember where I was when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded (Mrs. Stuart’s 2nd Grade classroom), and when OJ Simpson was acquitted (Mrs. Perdew’s Problem Solvers class). And, of course, the […]
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Baltimore Recharge

My last few months have been a clinic on sleep deprivation. Not in the “I sure could use a nap” kind of way… more of an “I’m starting to see things that aren’t there” kind of way, and I’m not kidding about that. I felt my limits creeping up on me all summer, but saw […]
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My Fall Tour Playlist- New Faces, Self-Loathing in McDonald’s

Fall Tour 2012 is over, and I didn’t write a single post from the road. In the immortal words of Disney employee Han Solo: “It’s not my fault!” This tour was the busiest tour I can remember. We all did our best to stay on top of things and do our jobs as well as […]
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Aurora, Alex Teves and Why We Need Superheroes

On July 17th, 2012, without evidence or provocation, a high-profile pundit went on record trashing The Dark Knight Rises as a politically charged propaganda piece. As a Batman devotee, I was annoyed, maybe even a little offended. When I said so, a friend told me to lighten up. After all, he said, “Batman is just […]
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Listen, Stupid

When I was a college freshman, my school’s music department brought in acclaimed jazz trumpeter Marvin Stamm as the guest artist. As an 18-year-old trumpet player who barely knew which end to blow into, hearing Marvin changed my life. One night that week, Marvin hung out with the trumpet studio at a local bar and […]
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Comic-Con, Hall H and the Line From Hell

Comic-Con International 2012 took over the city of San Diego last week, drawing more than 130,000 patrons. It ran from July 12th through July 15th, with July 11th as a bonus “preview night.” But people were lining up a lot earlier than that. Seating 6,500, the infamous Hall H is where all the biggest panels […]
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