The Brass Junkies

Trombonist Michael Clayville from Alarm Will Sound and Visiting Professor at Lawrence Conservatory Michael Clayville is a musician who is passionate about drawing audiences deeply into the art of sound. His abilities as a trombone soloist, chamber musician, and improviser have taken him to prestigious venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Barbican (London) and the...

Jonathan Dorn has played tuba for everyone from Leon Redbone to The Philadelphia Orchestra and got to hang out with John Belushi in the 70s, 'nuff said. He shares incredible (and hilarious stories) from over 50 years in the business. Some of the crazy things he shares in this interview: How he got started on the tuba as a kid and worked his way through the ranks in Philly What it was like taking l...

TBJ70: Listener's Choice: Where Andrew & Lance share stories related to questions submitted by YOU! This is the first in what may become a recurring episode type (depending on whether you nice folks like the format.) We get lots of questions on a variety of topics and thought we'd try answering some of them. In this episode, we talk about our early influences and share stories from our formative y...

TBJ69: Bass Trombonist Brian Hecht on Playing with the Atlanta Symphony, his Audition Preparation Strategy and Subbing with Almost Every Major American Orchestra by the Age of 32 Brian Hecht is the bass trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony and is a former member of the US Navy Band in Washington DC. He grew up in Dallas and spent some time in the Navy Band in Washington, DC before hitting the orche...

Dr. Amy Horn, 29-year member of The President's Own Marine Band and Adjunct Professor of Horn at George Mason University joins Andrew & Lance to explain how to bloom where you're planted. A native of Ohio, Amy studied at Bowling Green University with Herb Spencer and played under legendary bandmaster Mark Kelly. We hear the amazing story of her audition for the Marine Band (including camping out i...

TBJ 67: Denise Tryon, low horn specialist and former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, joins Andrew & Lance and unpacks following your gut to pursue your dreams. Denise has had an incredible career as member of the New World, Columbus, Baltimore, Detroit, and Philadelphia orchestras and currently teaches full-time at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Additionally, as a member of the Taiyo Win...

IWBC President Joanna Hersey joined Andrew & Lance in her second podcast to spend some more time talking about gender issues in brass playing. Fresh off the 25th Anniversary International Women's Brass Conference, we spent a good amount of time talking about that tremendous organization, from the founding (by Susan Slaughter) in St. Louis in 1993 to the highly successful event in the summer of 201...

Alabama Horns trumpeter Ken Watters joins Andrew & Lance for a fascinating masterclass in the difference between the Nashville horn sound and the horn lines from Muscle Shoals. Ken currently spends the majority of his time recording with legends like William Hightower, Eddie Floyd, Smash Mouth and Billy Ray Cyrus. He explains how Muscle Shoals became such a hotbed for recorded horn sections and ex...

Pete Meechan, composer of "Song of Hope", joins Andrew & Lance to talk about, wait for it, composing! Pete explains how he went from working in the bar at the Royal Northern College of Music to writing pieces which have impacted countless listeners and has allowed him to work with and write for some of the best players and organizations in the world. We discuss music as a healing process, talk abo...

Boston Symphony trumpeter Michael Martin joins Andrew & Lance to talk his career as a player, and composer. Michael joined the BSO in 2010 and has had great success there, building on the training which began with his dad (Freddy Martin). We discuss his days at Interlochen and Northwestern, touring with his brother (Chris Martin) and the Chicago Symphony and how his composing career got off the gr...

Epic Low Brass Game of Thrones mastermind Andrew Bove, joins Andrew & Lance to talk about his life as a tuba player and recording engineer. From his parallel life coming up with Andrew Hitz (they met as  tuba-longs at Tanglewood and went on to study together with both Rex Martin and Sam Pilafian) to his opportunity to record the brass section of The Met, Bove also talks about recovering from a bro...

Mark Houghton, 3rd Horn with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Adjunct Professor of Horn at Duquesne University joins Andrew & Lance in a thoughtful conversation covering both the mental and practical sides of a career playing horn. Since joining the PSO in 2014, Mark explains how well the section clicks and the commonality of approach which helps them do what they do. He discusses the value of positive...

Joanna Hersey, President of the International Women's Brass Conference and one half of the JAM Duo, joins Andrew & Lance in a fantastic and high energy conversation about taking risks and following your dreams.   Joanna is a very busy musician. In addition to the above, Joanna is Associate Professor of Tuba/Euphonium at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Visiting Instructor of Tuba/Euph...

Maynard Ferguson and Duke Ellington band lead trumpet player Steve Reid, joins Andrew & Lance about life as a lead player and diagnosing chop issues. Andrew & Lance were shocked to find a lead trumpet player who defies all the usual stereotypes. Until we heard about his Corvette. Anyway, Steve is a great player, funny guy and has played with an amazing array of  some of the best bands in the world...

Simpsons animator and Flaming Tuba artist David Silverman joins Andrew & Lance in a fascinating and hilarious exploration of The Simpsons, the tuba and animation. David has had an incredible career. He was one of the original animators on The Simpsons, directed countless episodes of the show, as well as the The Simpsons Movie. More importantly, he plays tuba! He started relatively late in school,...

Ryan Anthony, force of nature and inspirational mastermind behind Cancer Blows joins Andrew & Lance to talk about the upcoming Cancer Blows event in Dallas, Texas. Ryan was the first guest on The Brass Junkies a couple years ago and generously returns to the program to catch us up on his health, his gig in the Dallas Symphony and his new teaching position at Southern Methodist University.    From...

Zach Smith, Assistant Principal Horn with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Adjunct Professor of Horn at Duquesne University joins Andrew & Lance to explain that conductors are human too. Who knew? Zach unpacks his daily routine and details a complete reset of his embouchure some time ago with the help of Arnold Jacobs. He covers the importance of good rhythm and intonation in auditions and talks a bit...

Trumpeter and former Boston Brass colleague Rich Kelley joins Andrew & Lance in a fun conversation about life on and after the road. Rich dropped out of Juilliard, where he studied with Mark Gould, because he had too many gigs! He has played on Broadway, with Meridian Arts Ensemble and Boston Brass and regularly plays with the Boston Pops and the Brass Band of Battle Creek. Shockingly, he's also a...

Charles Lazarus, 4th/utility trumpet in the Minnesota Orchestra joins Andrew & Lance in an interview to discuss everything from producing concerts to Gestalt dream analysis. Charles has grown beyond the typical role of orchestra member to someone who produces concerts for the orchestra on a regular basis. We talk about the long and painful lockout experienced by the Minnesota Orchestra, the ideas...

JD Shaw & David Cutler join Andrew & Lance in a slightly chaotic exploration of the group Cones and Tones. Both on faculty at the University of South Carolina, JD and David also make up (along with Andrew & Lance) a new group called Cones and Tones. The group has had a couple performances and is heading into the recording studio in late Spring of 2017 to record an album which will attempt to cover...

Trombonist Billy Bargetzi joins Andrew & Lance in an interview that is both entertaining and powerful. Billy is a journeyman who has played with an incredible array of some of the most amazing players of our time. Additionally, he teachers at the University of Alabama- Hunstsville, which is celebrating 50 years of existence. Both his parents were avid opera singers and his dad was also a big band...

David Childs, phenomenal euphonium soloist, recording artist, teacher, publisher and magazine editor joins Andrew & Lance to talk about his career up to this point and where he's headed. We talk to David about studying with his father (Robert Childs who along with Nicholas, made up the groundbreaking Childs Brothers euphonium duet), inspiring younger players and his explorations into electro-acous...

Alex Lapins, Assistant Professor of Tuba/Euphonium at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Tony Tortora, a senior music education major and virtuosic vuvuzela-ist from Alex' studio, join Andrew & Lance to discuss what happened and why. The email subject heading was "Challenge Accepted" and referred to the offhanded comment made in the TBJ Joy Tartell interview. Blind auditions and vuvuzelas...

Mark Jenkins, Principal Euphonium and Section Leader in "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, in Washington D.C. joins Andrew & Lance in a fun conversation about euphoniums in the wild. We cover stylistic playing, the importance of sight-reading, his euphonium band excerpts compact disc (that is still a thing), and some guy named "Pineapple Paul." And he talks about his upcoming memoir,...

Scott Hartman, Lecturer in Trombone at Yale University joins Andrew & Lance to discuss his incredibly successful and diverse career. Scott has taught and played concerts throughout the world and in all fifty states. He regularly performs and records with the Yale Brass Trio, Proteus 7, the Millennium Brass, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, and the trombone quartet Four of a Kind. Mr. Hartman spends...