The Summerglen Files

This week has been pretty hectic, one of those weeks where you have an endless list of things to get done, and the more you do, the more you still need to finish. Each day I played music all day, and arranged, and went to networking meetings, and researched for workshops, and came home absolutely [...]

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Not many adults come to me for trombone lessons, and many promising ones quit, often before they play a single note. But kids come here and excel, and quickly! I’ve wondered what the difference is, why kids come in and show the trombone who’s boss, while adults (who may very well be the boss at [...]

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If it’s too hot to go outside this afternoon, why not fill your day with some good reading? Here are some interesting blogs about business, passion, and spirituality that you might enjoy: Startup Spark – These folks just wrapped up The Great Blog Off, during which they posted 24 blog posts in 24 hours. If [...]

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Something very, very, very cool has happened this week, something that truly moves me and sparks a jolt of excitement at the same time: My first student trombone choir is all girls! Now, many people may wonder why an all-girl trombone choir is such a terrific phenomenon, so here is some background story. I began [...]

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In yesterday’s post, I described my somewhat clumsy journey into marketing as a musician. However awkward the journey, though, I’ve found several approaches to promoting my musical services that WORK! Here are my top five, in no particular order: 1. Go out and play – Generally, when people read a description of a musical group [...]

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The blog has been a bit of a ghost town lately, because I’ve been out in the heat of the North Carolina summer, learning. When you get a music degree, or even when you get -two- music degrees, there’s actually not much class time devoted to daily life as a musician. In my studies, there [...]

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Last month, the fine folks at Skirt! Magazine dropped by Summerglen to interview me for their June issue, which they were dedicating to female musicians. Faith Dwight, the interviewer, and Beth Riley, the photographer, were really cool people, and the interview had the feel of “hanging out and enjoying a coffee with the girls”. (Maybe [...]

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In times of trouble, I’ve found that expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to keep myself moving in the right direction. It’s the opposite of being jealous of others, and quickly staves off even the biggest case of the “poor me’s”. As a musician, it can be easy to whine. Especially when you’re [...]

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Whew! I haven’t been blogging as much as usual lately, because I’ve been running all over Raleigh finding places to play. For the past week, Andrew and I have packed up our instruments and scouted out different places and times to play free outdoor concerts during the summer. It’s been quite a learning experience, and [...]

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One of my favorite things to do with music is to share it with others. Whether the sharing is through playing a concert or just talking to someone on the bus, I enjoy helping others learn more about music. A few months back, I stumbled upon several business blogs extolling the value of educational articles…because [...]

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