Tonight the VCMA is playing at Kingston of Vermilion Nursing & Rehabilitation Services for our final christmas concert.  I’ve charged the camcorder and packed up up the tripod, so I should be able to get some video of the concert.   The last concert footage I’ve posted online was the Alumni Band Festival,  I’m next to positive I still have a VCMA summer concert that I haven’t posted yet, so that may be coming also.

The real reason this is interesting is after this concert I’m taking a break from both community bands I play in.  Because the babies birth should occur around the same time that both bands start up again for the spring season, my priorities for the spring have changed.   I should be back for the summer season of the VCMA, but the Ashland Community Band doesn’t have one, so I won’t be back with them until next fall.

It took alot for me to get back into music and playing with bands.  I’m really hoping that a vacation doesn’t put a lull over me that causes me not to return.  I guess I better return to the VCMA since I am vice president of the organization now.

Now as soon as my kid can hold a cornet, he’ll be learning how to play it.   That’s the plan anyways.  My luck he’ll be a woodwind player.

Tonight the VCMA will be having it’s final summer concert at the Lorain County Fair.   It’s been a wonderful summer season and I appreciate everyone that has come out to watch us perform.  I only missed one concert this season (though I did manage to arrive in the middle of the first song at one of our concerts).    The only concerts I have until the winter season are next month.  The first of which is September 16th playing in the Ashland Community Band at the Ashland County Fair.   The second is September 27th at the Vermilion High School Stadium playing with the Vermilion High School Alumni Marching Band at the high school’s annual marching band festival.

Hope to see some of you around.

Picture from here

Traditionally (since I’ve been with Xie) we don’t normally go to county fairs.   Of course there have been brief dabbles, a single visit or so to the Lorain County Fair or visits to the Lane County Fair when we lived in Eugene, but nothing planned ahead of time, more of a whim of the moment.  Somehow this year is different.

Growing up the county fair was a yearly ritual.  We would look forward to it, when we could make it down to Greenville we would go to the Darke County Fair, and visit the other county fairs around us.  It was a family event where we would all do things together.   I was never allowed to ride fair rides because, “They were death traps”.  I still managed to enjoy it anyways, I wasn’t a fan of the animals or plants, but I enjoyed it somehow anyways.

Why did Xie and I never go to the fair?  I don’t know.  It wasn’t cool enough.  It cost too much for what we got out of it.   It wasn’t a high priority of ours.   All of the above.  Whenever we talked about going to the fair it was more of a meh kind of thing.   So if the opportunity came up on a whim, we went.  It was never ever something we planned out and said you know what we should do next month, we should go to the fair.   To be fair (pun not intended) we do most of our stuff on a whim.  I think we planned the Crater Lake trip we took 2-3 days before we went (since we needed reservations).

Last weekend however we managed to make it to the Richland County Fair (man their website sucks goats).   It was the first day, and none of the rides were setup and some other things were still be constructed when we visited.  Being the first day and early afternoon we gave them some slack; that and it was only one dollar per person to get in.  However, it was a Sunday, you would have thought they would have had everything setup the day before.   Must be something in the Ohio water that breeds laziness.   We did manage to eat some fair food, look at all of the animals, vegetables, and crafts.  I can say I have a different eye when looking at photography now, though it’s not the same eye as Xie – other wise we would have to trade through out the today to get anything done.   We also managed to get to see another community band (I missed which one), and listened to some one else play some of the songs that I play with my band.

Next on the agenda is next Thursday, I’ll be playing at the Lorain County Fair with the VCMA.  This will be my first trip back to the Lorain County Fair in at least eight years (maybe longer).   There is a chance I’ll run into my kindergarten teacher, my family always ran into her we went growing up.   Yes she should know who I am, she only taught for one year.  It should at least be interesting and I have free tickets.

On September 16th I’ll be playing with the Ashland Community Band at the Ashland County Fair.   Now I can say that the last time I visited the Ashland County Fair was when I was in college, so that was back in 1994.  It’s been 14 years since I’ve been to this fair, and the first time I’ll be playing with this group in this type of venue.   It should be interesting to say the least.   Band practices start on September 2nd, so we’ll have a whopping two rehearsals before the fair.   We’ll see how it goes.

The 2007-2008 season of the Ashland Community Band is over.   It will resume back up in the Fall (September 2nd) but for now the musicians receive a reprieve and a break from the weekly practices.   It is interesting, I originally joined community band to get back into shape for my high school Alumni Band which lasts only one day a year.  What I found was another experience.

I am a member of two community bands, the Ashland Community Band and the Vermilion Community Concert Band.  Neither one is really better then another, they are both different and have their own strengths.   The Ashland Community Band is lead by my college band director Leonard Salvo (pictured above) so I have a feel of consistency there.  I can say playing music from a theory perspective, jumping to different keys, improvisation, and playing by ear that I am about 60-75 percent from where I was 13 years ago when I stopped playing.   My range is fairly solid now but at a loss of an octave that I had back then.  What I have gained is better tonal quality then I ever had, better tongueing technique, and I’m sure some of my past band directors are happy I don’t puff my cheeks out as much – though I don’t really think that ever had any bearing on my playing.

I’ve also gained a new group of people that I have gotten a chance to know.  I’m playing regulary and I am enjoying it.  It’s not normally like it was back in high school when i would push and get a “high” for lack of a better term, but it’s still kind of there.   I don’t have the ambition to practice hours and hours every single day, though I should.

Ashland’s final concert of the season took place last Sunday, and Xie stated it was a good concert, but we did not manage to get it video taped this time around.  So as I look forward to September when I play with the band again I leave you with these video clips:

Previous stories I did on the Ashland Community Band:

Concert Number Two Complete

Ashland Community Band’s Spring Concert

Ashland Community Band Concert 4/27/08

Luckily this time the camera work for the video should be better.   A tripod was used and there was no cuts in the performance.   We only recorded the community band, so while it was a dual performance with the Ashland University Concert Band performing second, that was not recorded.

Next week we don’t have rehearsal, so rehearsal will resume on the thirteenth of next month. Our next performance is a Father’s Day Concert in the park at the Ashland Amphitheater. The last performance of the summer will occur the week of the Ashland County Fair, which the Ashland Community Band has been asked to perform at.

I hope you enjoy the show.

If in the crossposting the video does not come through either go to www.creeva.com to view it, or you can view it on Google Video right here.

Part 1 (really really short) Larger Version Here

Part 2 (mostly short) Larger Version Here

Part 3 - Larger Version Here

Part 4 – Larger Version Here

This Saturday (December 1st) 10:30am-12:00pm – I will be playing at Exchange Park in Vermilion, OH with the Vermilion Community Band.

Next Tuesday I’ll be performing with the Ashland Community Band at the Ashland Univ at University Campus at 7:30 PM – it is a joint concert with the Ashland University Jazz Orchestra.

Next Thursday I’ll be performing with the Vermilion Community Band again at the Inn at Chapel Park at 7:30 PM.

Finally next Saturday I’ll be finishing the winter concert season with a performance again with the Vermilion Community Band for a Concert at Midway Mall in Elyria, OH. The concert starts at 7:00 PM.

I’ll be playing third trumpet in all the concerts. This is no longer high school so it’s not anything derogatory anymore. I really have no interest in playing first part in any of these bands. I can say getting back into playing my tone and tonguing have greatly improved. Probably better than when I was playing in high school or college.

I’m certain I’ll be sticking with this going forward since I had forgotten how important music is to my life.

UPDATED

December 1st’s concert is recorded here.