So here we are at the African Land Forces Summit, a huge gathering of senior Army leaders from the United States and most African nations. This annual event is organized by the Southern European Task Force—Africa, a two-star U.S. Army command, but the host nation varies from year to year. Since the overarching theme is …
So the website has a different look now. I did a long overdue update to some new php thing which I don’t totally understand, but there you go. Because of an unfortunate mishap over the course of the migration, I basically had to rebuild the site from the ground up again. So for the very …
Music and the military are not exactly two things most people would consider compatible. After nearly 18 years in the Army, even I wonder how they get along. Music is a tool that brings people together and builds bridges; the military is first and foremost an organization that blows stuff up. They don’t call ’em the …
Great pieces are inevitable. Let me explain what I mean by first explaining what I don’t mean. I don’t mean that if a composer, artist, or writer sits down and creates something that it’s certain to be a masterpiece. Oh, if only that were true. No, I mean all great pieces have a sense of …
So some ESPN sports commentator named Jim Rome tweeted: …and among the tweet rebuttals from band directors, students, and band enthusiasts was this one from the U.S. Army Field Band: …which garnered enough attention across the country that Fox News interviewed a representative from the band. I’ve been thinking about it enough in the last 24 hours that (gasp!) …
You often read about artists and composers who are inspired by nature or their surroundings. Many are convinced that the quality and the type of art they create is a direct result of the environment in which it was created. If this were true in my case, the music I’ve written lately would be brown, …
The jar has 540 kisses. One for each kid. Three per day for 180 days. When the jar is empty of Daddy’s Kisses, Daddy comes home. Well that’s the happy ending we’re all looking forward to, but let’s not dance around the subject: leaving home this morning was a horrible experience. Saying goodbye to my …
Once again, I saw fit to update my website, and this time it’s the closest to what I think I always wanted when I began the process. Finally, here’s the blog properly integrated with all the information on the music. Finally, here’s total control over the layout and style, even though I’m still learning how …
So maybe the reason I haven’t had time to blog is that I’ve been in command of an Army band,which (guess what?) is a full-time job. But maybe I just might have three minutes to write about the few pieces I’ve been able to eek (eke? eak?) out during this busy time. The most significant …
See? The last time I posted something was in 2009. TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO. Sheesh. Oh, well, I just logged into WordPress and guess what? I actually remembered my username and password! That was one of the highlights of my day. And I’m positive reading this blog entry was yours.