At what age did you begin playing your primary instrument?
Age 9
What motivated you to become a musician?
I took a listening aptitude test in 5th grade - scored a perfect on it.
Do you have any favorite instructors or mentors who played a critical role in your development as a musician?
Don Snowden. I attended an honor band in 12th grade where he presented a trombone clinic. Where I went to school, lessons were not offered, so I never had a private lesson until college. I got to hear the trombone do things I had never heard before; that sealed it for me.
Tell us a bit about your advanced training. Did you attend college for your instrument? Do you continue to take lessons?
I attended Troy State University as a music major, earning my BME and MSE. I continued to take lessons after college from a person who had majored in performance and performed for a living. He taught me the fine art of performance, whereas college taught me pedagogy.
If you could have dinner with any one person, living or not, who would it be and why?
My father. He taught me all about work ethic, trust, responsibility, reliability, grit. I could go on and on. Also my identical twin brother, who was also a musician, who passed away in 2002.
Share a little about your family.
I am married, 40 years in August 2024. I have one beautifully tall daughter that lives in Hamburg, Germany. I also have a short-haired border collie named Oreo, who is an absolute bundle full of energy of joy.
Do you have any words of encouragement for someone who dreams of becoming a musician?
If you want to be a musician, get a teaching degree. As my advisor told me, you can't teach without a teaching degree, but you can play without a performance degree. Very few performance majors make a living performing. You can have five PhD's in performance, and still have to audition just like everyone else.
