I took piano lessons as a child, not very enthusiastically, and sang in school choir and church choir. I wanted to try a different band instrument than my older brothers and sisters played.  Not sure why I picked trombone.  It’s a tough instrument to get to know—“fretless”, plus blowing, plus as a kid you can’t even extend the slide far enough to hit all pitches. My HS started a jazz band when I was a sophomore, which opened up terrific new music and some great performance opportunities.  I played in the Blue Band at PennState, re-discovered piano, and learned banjo and guitar and harmonica. 

After school I dropped trombone and didn’t play again for almost twenty-five years, when one day I bumped into a HS classmate who said he was getting a horn section together for a newly formed rock band—and did I want to practice with ‘em that afternoon!  Thank you, Chris Byrne, for that spring ’05 invitation.

Earliest:  Soloing in front of a packed Eisenhower Auditorium at PennState

Largest Audience:  Beaver stadium crowd—though really, who listens to the band at a football game?

Most unusual: singing Chichester Psalms with the Houston Symphony Chorale—conducted by the composer, Leonard Bernstein

Hottest:  Playing The Phyrst in downtown State College on muggy summer nights with the Daily Supplement