Earlier I wrote about Brad, my trumpet teacher from high school. I met with him this past week again. The next morning, I met for breakfast with Phil Holm.

Phil was my concert and jazz band director from 7th grade to 9th grade. He also helped out with certain aspects of my high school band experience as well. When I was in 5th grade, all the students took a day trip to Valley View Middle school, where all the band instruments were out there to try. I couldn’t make a sound on any reed instruments. It might have had something to do with a yet-to-be-corrected overbite. Phil was at the brass station, and told me that he played trumpet and that I should think about it as well.

From that point on, Phil was always a source of encouragement. He was very passionate about music and education. He introduced me to the music of Frank Zappa. I think at one point, he found a big band arrangement of “Chunga’s Revenge” and had us try it out. That was a long time ago, but I’m sure the results were nothing less than catastrophic.

Phil has been a member of the Casablanca Orchestra for many years. They played George W. Bush’s 2004 inaugural ball. Regardless of one’s politics, that’s a pretty cool and high profile gig.

I try to meet with Phil a few times a year, just to catch up and see how he’s doing. He doesn’t teach band anymore, and has had success as a realtor, which is good because he has 4 kids to eventually put through college.

Phil and Brad are the two main reasons I decided to pursue a career in music in the first place. Talking with both of them usually reengergizes me into feeling excited about music and my future.