My First (and Best) Band

"Hazelwood West High School, from Hazelwood."

Many of you know at least something about me being a musician. Having "been in bands" and "things like that". But I wonder how many of you know just how deeply my musical influences are tied back to my first band, the Hazelwood West Marching Wildcats.

Now, the 2008 HWMW went all the way to The Gator Bowl, but I like to give a lot of credit to the folks that got us the decent placement in competitions in the years leading up to 2008. I started playing in marching band as a freshman in 2004 at 14 years old on the marimba and vibraphone.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/7d8acb_d155a1acd0eb4296ab5a3c621495f990/480p/mp4/file.mp4

My greatest pride is the 2006 Hazelwood West Marching Band. The show and the instrumental arrangements were exquisite featuring songs selected from Cirque de Soleil. Mr. Jackson, Mr. Walsh and Mrs. Duelo knocked all of the drilling out of the park. The "line up" was stacked. We even got to sing on the closing number of this show, so so cool.

I'll always be biased towards this show, and I think I have valid reasons to be, I will be honest. The show being titled "Cirque du Soleil" meant something to me because, and I know Devon, I know, but see the thing is... Devon was one of my best friends and her mom? She was one of my mom's best friends. She was also my french teacher, and my mom was Devon's flute teacher. It was quite the relationship. I look back on it now, and I really do not feel much differently toward them than I do my own family, in review. Devon's mom, Devon, my mom and I all went to see Cirque when they came to town, it is an incredible memory. The 2006 HWMB show features Devon living out why Cirque was relevant more than just french class - Devon is a gymnast, not just a flutist. In the video I will share you will see Devon literally doing backflips on the field. I see this year's show and remember how cold it was some days... You are a soldier, bro.

I don't have to name everybody, nor could I remember to try... but a few good people like Katy R, Hayley A, Fee, Kyle GoSki, Emily A, Emily D, JT are out on that field. Abby Long, girl, we were killing it: if you look back at any of the 2008 footage you are like actually dancing from marimba to vibes like a salsa dancer. Both Sarah and Rachel owe me a wedgie still for dating both of their brothers in high school, me marching alongside all four of them, Joey and Kevin included: bless all four of you for not just TP'ing my house, to be real... Then, there are the not one, but two now married couples are out there on the field together, Abi & Glen S. The like high school sweetheart idols I know John and Caitlin Geier are both out: John a featured soloist and Caitlin the Drum Major. And there are folks that came after the 2006 lineup, Alex, Alex (yes, both of them), Cammie, Madison... I know I'm missing like dozens and dozens of folks. If you read this and feel like tagging people, go crazy, heh.

The thing is, if you've ever played with a group of musicians you know... It can be hell, or it can be magic. It comes down to a stew of talent, commitment, willingness, agility and a shared love of the music above all else. If you've ever marched? You know it takes all of that plus electrolytes, a snack, deodorant, ear plugs, the ability to turn off your sense of smell on the bus to and from competitions as well as mark time, lateral slide, listen backwards, forwards, left-right and walk backwards on tempo while playing dynamically. SOOOOOO, when I say this was the best band I've ever played in we have to take these things into account.

The arrangements, the dedication to the shows. The sheer fucking talent on the field. The real and long lasting love that came from this group of individuals making music together. It is inarguable. The 2006 HWMW has to go down in my personal history book as my best band. The Hazelwood West Marching Band does go down as being the first band I ever played in, and them are just the facts.

If you'd have asked me at 14 if I thought I would be sitting here writing a blog about this when I have opened for Of Montreal and John Maus? I would have said, "you mean some guy named John is from Montreal and I opened something for him?" 14 year old me was not cool enough to know what opening a show meant, as I was not allowed to attend concerts unless they were at Powell Hall or The Fox. Jokes aside, I think I would have been really surprised to find out just how much I would end up valuing my time playing in a group like this and that it means just as much as the "cool" stuff, too.