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.

I’ve been thinking about who the most important people in my musical life have been.

I recently visited my home of Minnesota and spent some time with my high school trumpet teacher Brad Shermock. I began taking lessons with him during my junior year of high school. It was through him that I first learned about the UNT Jazz Program. He did his undergrad there in the late 80s and early 90s and played 2nd trumpet on the album The Translucent Two by the UNT Two O’Clock Lab band. He stressed trumpet fundamentals and we rarely (if ever) worked explicitly on playing in the jazz styles. Regardless, he made sure to warn me that UNT is an easy school to go to, but a hard school to stay at.

We hung out for about 4 hours, and I could’ve hung out for 4 more, but I was meeting some friends in St. Paul. Talking with him during my trips home usually encourages and re-energizes me about music. I’m ready for my sixth and final year at UNT, after which I’ll receive my Master’s in Jazz Composition.

So Brad is one mentor in my life, the second is Phil Holm. I think I’ll collect my thoughts and write about him soon.