A Midsummer Night's Update

Alright, alright.  A few friends have been asking for a blog update- *cough cough* Daniel Western- and I'm sorry it's taken so long.  I suppose I'll stop promising to keep this more updated, because it's obviously not happening.  Things are warp speed out here!  So, updates will happen when they happen, and I'll try and jam pack them full of info as much as I can for you guys.

I'll try and run through the major musical events that have happened in the past two weeks.  First of all, Rick Baptist was our guest artist on July 2nd.  Rick is probably one of, if not THE most recorded studio trumpet player ever.  He's played on a bunch of John Williams movie scores, all the Disney Pixar movies, Family Guy, the Dancing with the Stars band, the Academy Awards orchestra, etc etc etc....Chances are if you've gone to the movies at all this summer, you've heard him playing.  Rick was a super fun guy, and had some of the greatest gig stories I've ever heard.  Hopefully he's going to help get us into a studio to see a movie scoring session, which would be really sweet.  Here's a picture of me and Rick:

By the way, Rick filled us in about how much money he makes as a studio musician, and let me tell you, it's REDONKULOUS.  I won't go into all the details, but he got a check in the mail about a week ago for the royalties he's received for movies and television shows that have been replayed or resold as DVDs or whatever.  Guess how much that was?  $185,000.  For things he's ALREADY been paid for.  Now imagine what he actually gets paid the first time, and you do the math.

Last week we had a clinic and guest performance with drummer Gregg Field.  Gregg is another one of these ridiculously talented, successful, and nice musicians we've met out here in LA.  He's played/worked with almost everyone, from Basie's band to Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, P. Diddy, etc.  He also is one of the top producers for the Concord record label, which he informed us has grown to become the largest independent record label in the world.

Gregg gave us SO much great information on how to approach time and how to really make a band swing.  Not only was everything he said great for personal practice (for all instruments, not just drums), but I'm sure it will come in handy for teaching jazz ensembles in the future as well.  His big concept involved, "spanking the beat from the bottom," which is very difficult to explain over the internet, but it basically all comes down to the crispness of timing of his high-hat on the drum set.  Playing with Gregg was an absolute joy- everything felt perfect and easy, and the band settled right in and sounded fantastic.  We played a concert mostly out of the Basie songbook, and it was pure fun.  I have to admit that my musical experience so far hasn't necessarily let me to play a lot of the classic big band repertoire, so I'm thrilled to be covering a lot of it with such a great band out here.

Did I mention that Gregg is married to Monica Mancini?  As in Henry Mancini's daughter?  Yeah, during one of his clinics, Gregg started off a story by saying, "My father in law, Henry Mancini..." and we all had to blink twice before that statement really registered.  What?!

Onward and upward...4 members of the sax section, including myself, traveled up to North Hollywood this weekend to have a lesson with Bob Sheppard.  Bob is a terrific saxophonist with many studio and record credits to his name, and he's also on faculty at USC.  Probably the coolest thing to me is that he's played with Steely Dan, which would be my absolute dream gig.  Anyways, Bob was welcoming and gracious enough to have us all over at his house for the lesson.  He has a home studio set up with a ton of cool stuff in it, including a larger collection of mouthpieces than I will probably ever own, and enough old reeds to replace popsicle sticks in a kindergarten craft closet.  

Bob had tons of great things to say, but the main point I took away from the lesson was that practicing music is supposed to be fun.  I know that sounds obvious and simple enough, but if we musicians are truly honest with ourselves, a lot of us will probably admit that we don't have fun practicing nearly often enough.  We get too caught up in academic assignments, and strict practice routines, and logging hours and taking notes, and competing with our classmates and peers.  None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but too often we can't see the forest for the trees; we get so involved in checking off items on our practice list that we forget to actually make music.  Bob reminded us that none of the players we admire mastered their art by working though tons of books- they learned by playing with other musicians.  You can't always wait around until you feel "ready" to perform or play with others.  Sometimes you've just got to jump right in and react, and as Bob said, "You've got to try, and you've got to fail."  That's how you really learn and improve.

I think I've decided I need a little more failure in my musical development.  I need to stop worrying so much about "sounding good" for others and just aim to challenge myself to the point where I really improve.  I need to take more risks in my practice and playing.  And I have a hunch that these changes will make my practice more fun.

Speaking of fun, I had a blast this past weekend while my mom and brother visited.  They came into LA on Friday, and they caught all of our sets in the park on Friday and Saturday.  I was ecstatic to say the least.  Performing for guests is always fun, but when those guests are family, it's really something special.  It was really wonderful to finally have family from Alabama meet and interact with my band "family" here out in California. 

Here's a video of part of our train station set from last Saturday.  My mom makes a star guest appearance around 8:08!  She'll be a youtube celebrity in no time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DLV0e6usLA

On my off days this past weekend, I spent time with my family exploring the Southern California coast and LA.  We spent bajoodles of time in the car and stuck in traffic, and I've concluded that driving is just riskier out here.  Hardly anyone uses turn signals, merging onto the highway is a death defying stunt, and pretty much 100% of people think they have the right of way 100% of the time.  People refer to freeways as "The 57" or "The 405", rather than just "Highway 405".  As my good friend and California native put it, "We're just really personal with our traffic around here."  I haven't really developed that bond yet, and I'll take crappy Tuscaloosa drivers over SoCal drivers any day.

I think I officially have 1 month of shows with the band left after today.  It's insane how fast time has flown out here, and I'm sure I'll blink again and it will be over.  I'm doing my best to make everything and every day count.  Fortunately, I feel like once this program ends, it's only going to be the beginning of great things to come.  I've had a lot of doors opened this summer, and I've made a lot of friends that I plan on holding onto long past August 14th.  

If you've stuck it out through this wickedly long post, you're a trooper!  Gold stars for you! There will be a quiz later ; )  Peace, happiness, and love to all.

(Hardly) Working for the Weekend

So it's officially been one month since I arrived in California, and I think I can safely say I love it out here.  My job is awesome, the weather is awesome, and the people I'm surrounded by are awesome.  Don't get me wrong- I love Alabama- but there are several factors out here that make California some pretty tough competition.

The band has finally gotten into a regular routine now that we've completed a full work week in the park.  Honestly, the first full week was a little rough for me personally.  I caught some sort of cold bug around Wednesday of last week, and it still hasn't gone away.  I'm pretty sure I performed shows between Thursday and Saturday while running some sort of fever, and I've had a terrible sore throat and chest congestion.  I literally lost my voice sometime around Friday or Saturday, and it's just now starting to come back little by little.  It's weird to think that you could catch a cold out here when it's 77 degrees and sunny all the time, but I guess high-fiving hundreds of little germy kids in the park will give anyone's immune system a challenge.

We also had our first guest artist/clinician this week: it was Steve Houghton, a great jazz and studio drummer who teaches at Indiana University.  He's also an AACB alumnus.  Steve was pretty harsh in some instances, but honestly it was probably exactly what we needed.  His biggest critique was that we all need to improve our sightreading, which I know is definitely true in my case.  I thought I was a great sightreader at school, and then I came out here and realized I still have a ton of work to do in that department.  The game really changes when new charts are thrown in front of you every day, and you're expected to perform them near-perfectly on the first or second read.  It definitely requires a more intense level of concentration to pull that off, so I'm trying to improve that every day on the job.

Our concert with Steve was on Saturday, and it went well although it was a bit stressful to get through it.  The saxophone section had to haul our horns and about two doubles each over the the Plaza Gardens stage (where we perform our jazz sets) and then get everything set up before we started.  Once we actually began playing, the wind really picked up, and music started threatening to fly off the stand.  At one point I was playing one page, holding another with my hand, and stomping on yet another with my foot to make sure it didn't fly away.  We had stand clips, but it's tough to clip everything in place when you're reading a 90 mph chart that's 8 pages long, and you constantly have to turn pages.  We managed to make it through with no major disasters, and Steve played great.  Saturday was just one of those examples of doing whatever it takes to get our job done.  Sure, we could have used a little more rehearsal on the music.  We could have used more time to set up so we were more comfortable and prepared.  We could have not been playing soprano sax, flute, and clarinet with no time to tune them all.  But that's what the gig called for, so we did the best we could to make it work.  As I discussed with one of my friends in the band, sometimes the biggest lesson this band teaches is adaptability.

Despite some scattered moments of stress and chaos throughout the week, most of the time this job hardly feels like work at all.  Every day I wake up and think, "I'm getting PAID to play SAXOPHONE in DISNEYLAND for people who actually WANT to hear it?!" We literally make kids and adults smile every day, and for all the happiness we create, we get a whole lot back.

Still, it's nice to have off days from work at the end of the week.  We get every Sunday and Monday off to do whatever we please!  I'll fill you in on just a few of the things we've done so far:

Sometimes on days off work, we actually go back to Disneyland- but this time as guests and not employees!  We get into the parks for free, so it's fun to ride everything and see all the shows.  You would think working at the park and knowing how things operate behind the scenes would ruin the magic, but for me I think it actually enhances it.  It's cool to know exactly how things work, but then still be completely blown away by the production.  One of my favorite moments so far this summer was watching the fireworks show with some other AACB members.  We went on a night when Shelly, our choreographer, was going to be a part of the show.   If you've never seen Disney fireworks, one of the big moments in the show is when Tinkerbell flies in over the castle.  Well, Shelly was Tinkerbell that night!  When we saw her fly down, we screamed so loudly that people around us probably got weirded out.  I literally got goosebumps seeing her do that- I felt honored to know the woman behind the magic!  Here's one of my more successful pictures from the show:

Other days, we head down to the beach, which is only about 20-30 minutes away.  We've been out there twice now, and both times it's been perfect!  The weather is always gorgeous, though the water is pretty cold for this Southern girl.  Today, Corinne's family (she's one of my roommates) actually was gracious enough to have a barbeque on the beach for the whole band (they're from California).  It was a blast, and I made s'mores over a fire for the first time in years!  Here's a picture of the beach from the pier that I took the first time we went, just so you can see the whole California vibe for yourself:

Eventually I'm hoping to branch out some and get more into L.A. on some of our off days.  I'd really like to check out some local music clubs.  I'm already in the process of scheduling some lessons with some major L.A. players while I'm out here.  The great thing about College Band is that we have access to contact info for all these incredible musicians, and fortunately most of them are actually willing to talk to us!  I'm doing my best to take advantage of every opportunity for musical growth while I'm out here.  I don't want to miss anything.

I guess that's enough for now- there's tons more to share with you, but it's probably best to keep it in manageable doses!  I'll try to be better about updating this a little more often to keep everyone in the know.  I'm having an incredible summer, and I wish I had enough money to fly everyone from home out here to see me!  Trust me, I think you would love it here too :)

Have a great week, world!  

Bri

All Night, All Day

So it's begun!  We opened for our first day of shows in Disneyland today, and it was truly one of the most exciting days I've ever had.  But first, I must tell you how we got there...

Monday night was our infamous ALL NIGHT rehearsal.  While it sounds like cruel and unusual punishment, it actually serves a very practical purpose:  it's the only chance we get to run our sets in the park before opening day, and we have to do it in the middle of the night because no guests are there.  We got picked up by the shuttle bus at 10:15 PM, and our night/morning ended at 7:00 AM or so.  It was probably the most unique experience I've ever had as a musician or performer, and it actually ended up being a blast.

Disneyland is a strange and busy place in the dead of night.  There are workers everywhere cleaning lightbulbs, laying down concrete, moving trash cans, checking sounds systems, etc.  The most mindblowing thing to me is that they actually replant a lot of the flower beds every night.  No wonder their flowers look so fantastic!  Ha, I'm probably not even supposed to be telling you all this, because it's revealing the magic behind Disneyland.  Just promise not to tell ; )  I certainly couldn't take any pictures!

Our wonderful manager and "den mother" Lori had tons of goodies to give us at the start of our all nighter.  Most of the food and drink was intended to keep us awake, so it was all a lot of delicious junk food: M&Ms, candy bars, goldfish, coffee, sodas, and cheez-its.  I haven't eaten that much candy in a REALLY long time, so I had quite the sugar rush.  Miraculously I managed to stay pretty awake and energized for the entire night. It was really surreal to run our sets in the park for the first time, even if it was dark and empty.  There was a certain energy in the air just knowing that in a few more days we would be performing for real.

The band's momentum finally worn down at about 6:00 in the morning during flag retreat rehearsal.  Flag retreat is our patriotic set around the flagpole as security removes and folds the American flag.  It's a pretty cool set when guests are there to enjoy it, but it's somewhat miserable when we're just rehearsing it without an audience.  It doesn't help that I'm on clarinet for the whole set.  We literally watched the sun come up as we played around the flagpole, and by the time we were done, everyone was really spent.

Fortunately we had a couple days of recovery after the all nighter, so everyone was fresh and ready for opening day!  I was almost too excited to sleep all the way until my alarm went off.  We rehearsed for a short time this morning, and then it was off to costuming!  My costume actually fit better than expected- definitely not the most feminine look ever, but not clown pants either!  Have I mentioned our awesome shoes?  They're really nice New Balance walking shoes, and they're super comfortable.  We actually get two pairs, so it's possible I'll take a brand new pair home at the end of the summer.  Score!

Our first was in front of the castle, and everything went pretty well, all things considered.  The biggest hiccup we had was a carrier malfunction in the percussion section, but Mitch (the victim drummer) was a trooper and stayed in character even while his drum was on the ground!  Other than that, it was a really fun performance for everyone!  It was crazy to see how many people showed up to see us.  We were completely surrounded by guests on all sides, so it was fun to interact with everyone during the show.  There were some really adorable kids, including one little shy girl who Ron brought up to take a princess bow.  There were also several APs (Annual Passholders- more Disney lingo for you!) who were super psyched to see the band on opening day.  Most of them had cameras and video cameras, and there are already photos and videos from today popping up on the internet.

In fact, here's a video of our very first tune of our very first set on our very first day.  You should feel special that you get to see this!  It's like you were there too :)  Keep in mind that it may be a little rough around the edges, but it's sure to only improve throughout the rest of the summer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBohEnjYOrs

Did you catch my sweet dance moves?  Betcha didn't know I could do that!  Me neither, until a couple weeks ago!  Additionally, here's a really awesome picture of my taken during my intro.  I'm in the middle of a big heel click!

We had four other sets throughout the day, and it seemed liked our performance gradually improved throughout the day, which is good.  We ended the day with our Earth, Wind, and Fire medley, which is super high energy.  It was so high energy that at one point I ran up to a small kid in the crowd and accidentally scared the crap out of him.  I'll have to either work on friendlier facial expressions, or pick out slightly larger children in the crowd...

I can't even explain in words how amazing this job is.  I get to wake up every day and go play my instrument for huge, enthusiastic crowds.  I get to dance and jump around and act like a fool in a ridiculous uniform all for the sake of making kids happy and excited about music.  I work and live with 20 of the most talented, fun, and generous musicians in the country.  And don't forget that I'm doing it all in beautiful, low-humidity Southern California!  I'm seriously grateful and humbled every day to wake up and remember that this job is a reality.  I only hope I can give as much back as it's given to me.

For any of you musicians out there who have ever felt burnt out, I'm here to report that music does still matter.  I saw it matter to a whole street full of people today who I high-fived.  I saw it matter to a child whose face lit up when I played to him.  It's easy to get cynical and dark in a career where our skills often go unrecognized and under appreciated.  Although every gig can't be perfect (and I've played some that are FAR from it), as Ron says often, we always need to be "striving for perfection."  We can't ever act like it doesn't matter, because then the audience won't think it does either.

Maybe I'm simply the eternal optimist, but everything I've experienced in my short career so far makes me believe that music was the right choice.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our performances, check out photos of me on my facebook.  There's one  photographer who takes a ton of pictures, and I'm trying to tag myself in as many as possible so you can check them out too!

Thanks for reading, and come back soon!  As we like to say around here, have a magical day! :)

Crunch Time

Hey world!  Sorry for the delay since my last post, but things have been crazy here for the last couple weeks.  I have a lot to share about how rehearsals have been going and about what life is like out here in SoCal!

So we're currently about a week and a half into our rehearsal schedule leading up to opening our shows in Disneyland on June 16.  Most of you may be wondering exactly what we perform in the parks.  I'll admit that describing our shows is kind of confusing, because when asked about it I usually say something like "Well, we're basically a jazz ensemble instrumentation, but we play a lot of movie music and Motown stuff, and we dance sometimes."  Not the clearest picture.  So, here's a link to the band from last year performing the Disney Movie Medley:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMon9LASK3E&feature=related

Consequently, we're also doing that same medley this year.  It's a pretty fun one.  The guy counting off the tune at the beginning is Ron McCurdy, our director.  Did you see the uniforms I'll have to wear?  Pretty sexy, right? ; )  When I got fitted for my costume this week, the pants were literally about a foot too long.

Our show schedule will run Tuesdays-Saturdays, and each day we have 5 performances.  3 shows are similar to the style of the video above, 1 is a flag retreat set with all patriotic music (where I'm on clarinet), and one is a sit down jazz set.  Don't be fooled by the sometimes goofy choreography and abundance of high fives- all of the members of this band can really play.  I've been absolutely impressed with everyone's level of musicianship since day one.  The majority of the band members are really great jazz players, and I can't wait to actually sit down and play some tunes with everyone- when our daily 9:00-5:00 rehearsals are done!

So since two Wednesdays ago, most of our rehearsal time has consisted of learning choreography for the sets with movement.  Our choreographer is a woman named Shelly Nichols, and she has more enthusiasm and energy than almost anyone I've ever met.  She's been really great to work with, and she's really patient with us even when we're super tired and not so patient with her.  Shelly has taken me from thinking that I'm a horrible dancer to playing Stevie Wonder and doing some pretty crazy dance moves at the same time.  Okay, I may still actually be a horrible dancer, but I'm pretty coordinated when moving and holding a saxophone.  Maybe I should advertise this new skill set!

Right now is kind of crunch time for the band.  Since we open on Thursday, we're all doing last minute cramming of music and choreography memorization.  We have one more regular rehearsal tomorrow that will be mostly a review session, and then Monday night is the infamous night rehearsal!  We'll rehearse from when the park closes at night until it opens in the morning.  The reason for this is that it gives us a chance to run our sets in the park when guests aren't there.  It should be quite the experience to catch the sunrise when we're on our 5th or 6th hour of rehearsal!  Fortunately we don't have anything during the day on Monday, and we have Tuesday and Wednesday off completely.

Throughout these past two weeks, it's really sunk in that being in this band is a pretty big opportunity.  We've been introduced to several people who work in the higher echelons of Disney, and several of them were involved with the College Band at one point or another.  Some alumni have gone on to be film scorers and composers, arrangers, or studio players.  Others work in management positions in the entertainment department or work for companies like Yamaha.  The really cool thing is that all of these people are willing to meet with us, give us career advice, or give us lessons just because we're in the College Band this summer.  Ron has demanded that we take advantage of every contact and opportunity we have this summer, and I certainly plan to.  I'm humbled to be surrounded by such an impressive network, and I hope I don't blink and miss anything while I'm out here.

I'll leave you with a picture of a float from a parade in the park that we got to see.  It's called the Soundsational parade, and on this particular float Mickey is playing the drumset (he's actually playing too, not just miming it!).  The picture doesn't do justice to how gigantic this float was.

Starting Thursday, I'll be part of the magic too!  I'm really looking forward to it.  I'll do my best to keep you posted on how everything turns out.

Hope everyone is doing well!  Hugs to everyone in Alabama- I miss you guys.  You'd love the weather out here!

-Bri

We Create Happiness!

Hello again, friends!  I've been in California for three days now, but I'm just now getting a chance to update you all since everything has been so busy and new and exciting here.  It's been a blast so far, and things are only getting started.

The All-American College Band is being housed in an apartment style dorm at Cal State Fullerton for the summer.  They are decently nice dorms- no frills, but plenty of space and they've got everything we need.  Each suite has three bedrooms, and each bedroom contains two beds.  We also have two bathrooms, a full kitchen, extra storage space, and a large living room/dining area.  This is what my room looked like right after I unpacked:

That picture looks pretty sparse, but the room actually feels much more homey now since my lovely roommate Corrine moved in and brought many more colorful things than I did.  One thing that's cool is that the dorm staff does a linen exchange for us, so we don't have to wash our sheets and towels- we just exchange them for new ones every week.  So even if the sheets are a little scratchy and not fitted to the bed, at least we get CLEAN scratchy, unfitted sheets every week!

The campus here is beautiful in it's own way.  It's not a traditional looking college campus at all because everything is fairly new.  However, it has a lot of trees and flowers all over, and all the buildings and sidewalks appear to be really clean.  California smells great so far- just walking around campus, I could smell what I thought was honeysuckle (I don't know if that's what it actually was, but it was pleasant).  The weather is actually significantly cooler than I thought it would be.  I don't think it's gotten past the low 70s for a high temp yet, and it's kind of chilly in the mornings and at night.  I'm definitely enjoying the low humidity level though- SOOO nice.

Today we had our first day of Disney orientation.  It was what they called their Traditions class, and they basically educate us about the history, mission, and expectations of the company.  It was definitely a LONG day.  Our shuttle picked us up at 8, and we were done at 5.  Despite the repetitive and drawn out nature of any and all orientation processes, what I was most impressed with today was the company's consistency and attention to detail on every level.  We got somewhat of a tour through backstage (employee only areas) AND "onstage" (any area inside the park where guests are), and nothing in the park is there by accident.  Every small detail, from the flowers to the trashcans to the pavement, serves a purpose within its specific area and theme.  While Disneyland is a really crowded park, the place is about as squeaky clean as an amusement park can be.  You never see trash on the ground.

Finally, at the end of the day after we were all pretty tired of smiling and cheering, we received our Cast Member IDs and name badges!  Mickey came out and presented them to us, which was fun.  Here's mine:

Pretty cool, right?  It was the thing I was most excited about getting today.  At Disneyland, one of the company mottos is "We Create Happiness."  As cheesy as that sounds, when you think about it, it's actually a big responsibility.  People come here from all over the world for different reasons, but they're all expecting to have a great time.  My job description actually includes making sure that happens for them.  I may just be playing saxophone and wearing a silly outfit, but I have the ability to literally make someone's day by performing for them.  That's a really powerful thing.

We also had our welcome meeting with the band's staff last night.  Everyone on staff is fantastic of course, and they've all gone above and beyond so far to make us feel at home.  Ron McCurdy, our director, gave us a little pep talked to get us fired up about the summer.  In his speech, he said that we all must have "a voracious appetite for greatness."  That quote really struck me, because it's how all musicians need to be if they really want to succeed.  You can't just wish for success and personal improvement; you must have a hunger for it so overwhelming that you can't help but chase after it with everything you've got.  The further along I get in my musical career, the more I realize this simple truth: There is no secret formula to success, only hard work.  That's true here as much as anywhere.

There are a lot more stories and pictures I need to share, but it's all too much for one post.  I'll get to everything bit by bit.  Thanks for following, and stay tuned!

Roll Tide, 

Bri 

She packed her bags last night, pre-flight...

I hate packing.

I hate packing so much, I'm procrastinating it by writing about packing.  What a loser I am.

Seriously though, no matter when I start packing, I'm guaranteed to still be throwing something in my bag two minutes before I leave the house.  I have a hard time committing to the limited amount of stuff in my bag.  Therefore, by the time I'm done, my luggage typically looks like a bloated disaster waiting to happen.

The night before a big trip always makes me really antsy- it's a mix of excitement, anxiety, and the feeling that I'm forgetting something major.  It's hard for me to sleep in this state, and so I usually only get a couple hours of sleep before hopping on the plane.  Fortunately, I am world champion at sleeping in ANY moving vehicle, so I usually nap like it's my job for 80% of the flight.  People have told me before that I nap with my mouth wide open when seated in an airplane, and I'm sure it's absurdly unattractive...but then again, who ever looks cute on an airplane?

I do have good reason to be excited and a little nervous.  I'll be gone from May 27 until August 14 for the job with the Disney Band.  I've never been in California longer than a few days, so I have to somewhat pack and prepare for the unknown!  A girl's got to have clothing options, and a saxophone player has to have 45930 mouthpieces and reeds...since I fall under both these categories, you can see why this process is a tad stressful.

I said farewell to the South in the best of ways tonight: with FOOD.  Mom decided to take me out for a farewell dinner, and we chose Greenbrier Barbeque, a local favorite with a definite southern menu.  My meal looked like this:


And of course, I drank sweet tea :)

So, I suppose I'll get back to doing the last of my packing.  My flight leaves Huntsville a little after 8 tomorrow, and I'll be in L.A. by early afternoon!  The adventure begins!

I'll do my best to keep everyone posted over the next few days.  Sleep well, world.

Here we go.

Hello world!

So I've done it.  I bit the bullet and started a blog.  Despite my previously held opinions about how lame blogs are, I've been sucked into this virtual world.  I guess no one is safe.

I AM here with a purpose though- at least to begin with.  For those of you who don't know, I'll be in Anaheim, California starting on May 27th until August 14th.  I made the Disneyland All American College Band and will be performing with the group in the park all summer!  Many of my friends and family members have requested that I keep up with them while I'm gone, so I figured this would be a handy way of doing that.  Plus it's an excuse to let my closet writer come out!

For those of you who aren't that familiar with me (if you aren't and you're reading this, you probably need more hobbies), here's a little background info:  I'm a girl from Madison, AL who loves music, specifically jazz.  I'm a jazz studies student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and I play the saxophone.  I'm doing my best to make a career out of music somehow, and along the way I've met a lot of great and strange people, traveled to some pretty cool places, and built an impressive collection of bizarre gig stories.  Other fun facts:  I'm definitely a dog person, and will never own a cat.  I have a love for cute coffee shops.  I pretend I like to run, but I really hate it.  I can probably eat more than you.  I have a song to learn how to spell my last name, and yes, I will teach it to you if you ask.

This blog's beginning reflects a lot of new beginnings happening soon in my life: a new job, new musical experiences, and new friends that I'll meet.  I'm flattered by anyone who follows my journey, and I hope you can learn something from it, or at least get a good laugh.  Music definitely tells a story, and I'm excited to share mine with you.

See you soon!  Love to you all.