Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Perfect Tuba: Sam Quinones on Purpose, Band Culture & the Sound That Holds It All Together
0 Plays2 seconds ago
Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts.
This week, journalist and award-winning author Sam Quinones (Dreamland, The Least of Us, The Perfect Tuba) joins the OAWB team to explore how the tuba—and the marching band itself—can teach us everything we need to know about purpose, community, and fulfillment.
Host Christopher Rutt leads the conversation alongside Nicole Younger and Trish O’Shea, diving into the meaning behind The Perfect Tuba and the resilience of the band world. From addiction recovery to the discipline of rehearsal, Sam shares how musicians, directors, and everyday band kids are quietly shaping stronger communities through focus, collaboration, and hard work.
NEWS SEGMENT
- Lois Rogge, a 58-year-old mellophone player, joins NC State’s Power Sound of the South—proof that it’s never too late to march.
- The Alabama State Honeybees receive national support after an offensive “Ozempic” comment from a rival announcer.
- Detroit’s Cody High School brings back its marching band after a 20-year hiatus, celebrating a new era of school pride.
Plus, the Peak Group Travel Tip of the Week helps you plan your next performance adventure with ease.
WATER WE DOING?!
The crew calls out habits that need to go:
- Nicole: “Stop hiding behind your shako—perform with your face.”
- Chris: “Directors, pick age-appropriate, culturally sensitive show concepts.”
- Sam: “Why are bands trying to be football? Remember, it’s about the sound, not the size of your props.”
GUSH & GO
- Sam celebrates his new book, The Perfect Tuba.
- Chris moves to Virginia and settles into East Coast life.
- Nicole launches her full-time coordination business.
- Trish honors her friend Mike Alicourt, remembering his incredible spirit in the marching arts community.
LISTEN & CONNECT
Find The Perfect Tuba wherever books are sold or visit samquinones.com.
Follow the full OAWB crew:
@spintronixguard | @o2bnpjs | @trishdish1002 | @onawaterbreak
Got a question or story idea?
Email: onawaterbreakpodcast@gmail.com
DM us or fill out our guest form—link in bio.
SPONSORS
Brought to you by Peak Group Travel (@peak.group.travel), helping you navigate your next adventure, whether it’s across the country or your next competition.
And supported by Guard Closet (@guardcloset), your one-stop shop for gear, consignment, and design.
Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with your favorite band friend.
We’ll see you next rehearsal—On A Water Break.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Preview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, and welcome back to On a Water Break. This is the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal, On a Water Break. This week, we are talking about an instrument that rarely gets the spotlight, but without it, the music would collapse.
00:00:16
Speaker
You guessed it, it's the tuba. We'll also find out what made Nicole... Listen, if you are this taken by a marching band, you need to go on tour with a drum chord.
00:00:28
Speaker
And why Trish said... He was a cadet. He was in Pride Cincinnati. ah Field of View. He was in Patriots. He was in a lot of really good world world-class programs.
00:00:39
Speaker
All this and more on this week's episode of On a Water Break.
00:00:46
Speaker
Ate off the mat and go. Welcome to On a Water Break. The podcast where we talk everything marching arts.
00:00:58
Speaker
Everyone, bring it in. It's time for a water break. Hey, everyone. It's Chris. We have a great episode this week. We have a special guest who is an accomplished author ready to tell us about the importance of the tuba.
00:01:14
Speaker
But before we see who's on the sidelines this week, go and subscribe on your favorite listening app, write us a review, share this with a friend, and... Do you have a question or a good topic you want to talk about?
00:01:26
Speaker
Email us at onawaterbreakpodcast at gmail.com or find us on social media and DM us if you want to be on the show. We even have a form now for you to fill out if you want to be a guest.
00:01:39
Speaker
Check out our link in the bio.
Marching Band Updates and Personal Stories
00:01:42
Speaker
All right. So who's on the sideline this week? Trish. My good friend, Trish. I know. Chris and I go way back, but yet we have not done a podcast together. And I'm super excited.
00:01:54
Speaker
Chris and I were brigadiers back in the day together. right are we were. We hung out a bunch of times because he was sort of in our New York, New Jersey crew. yeah so it's great to be on a podcast with you.
00:02:08
Speaker
love it. Like old times. e How is your marching band season going? It's going really well. It's going really well. Both of my teams, I have one that I'm with full-time, Northern Valley, Old Japan, and I have another one that I'm with only on Thursday nights. The Thursday night crew had a competition this past Saturday. They won, so that was exciting.
00:02:30
Speaker
Nice.
00:02:33
Speaker
And the but full-time team comes back out this Saturday in Wayne Valley, so I'm super excited about that. All good. All good over here. Fantastic.
00:02:44
Speaker
Oh, and by the way, I will be judging on the 25th of October in Hillsborough, New Jersey. I will be in Ridge. I wonder if my other team will be there.
00:02:56
Speaker
will definitely find out. Yeah. Oh, would have been cool to see you. Okay.
Interview with Sam Quinones: 'The Perfect Tuba'
00:03:00
Speaker
well And we also have Nicole. Nicole. but top It was so good to see you for like 32 seconds.
00:03:12
Speaker
In California. In California this summer while I was announcing the Drum Corps show. Katyn was great. I loved it. I loved that show so much. you. How are we doing? Doing well, man. Like just doing the judge thing. Literally, I went up to Arkansas late. It was a late assignment.
00:03:29
Speaker
ah But it was a music for all show. Great show. Nice. Saw some bands, did the thing. um But I did ah the weekend beforehand, go to the Collegiate Marching Band Festival that was in Allentown.
00:03:42
Speaker
Yes. Man, that was cool. Nice. And also just, I mean, I never did the college marching band thing. So seeing all those bands come up and just do their shows just for giggles.
00:03:54
Speaker
i write Right. but You know, you're like going out there and just having fun. I was like, oh my goodness. And then we still wanted to like do their hype stuff afterwards. It was like 90 degrees. Yeah.
00:04:06
Speaker
It's fall y'all. It is fall y'all. It's also band Tober, but you know, Yes. Check in on your friends, please. It's Bantober. Check in on your marching arts friends.
00:04:16
Speaker
I judged the show last weekend and it was so cool. It was in Southern Virginia and I had to wear a sweatshirt at the start of the show. It was amazing. I'm jealous of you.
00:04:27
Speaker
A little bit. Jealous of that weather. but Also joining us on the sideline this week, we are honored to have National Book Critic Circle award-winning author and journalist, Sam Quinones.
00:04:43
Speaker
How doing, Sam? I'm doing great, Chris. It's really great to be on with you guys. It was wonderful. Here's my books. Perfect tuba. It is so great to have you on the show. We're going to talk about your book here in just a second, but right ah we do have a recurring segment on this show for all of our new guests called the 32 count life story.
00:05:05
Speaker
rachel Tell us everything about your life from beginning today 32 counts. This might be harder that. About from what I've seen your show several times, and it seems like that's a,
00:05:19
Speaker
Metronome came about 125 or something like that. Pretty good. hundred thirty ah yeah yeah That's pretty fast, man. Oh, no. You got this. You got this.
00:05:30
Speaker
All right. Well, you're ready for my best shot. We'll see how he goes. All right. Here we go. Can we get the met up? Just tell me when to start shouting. And you're in. Go.
00:05:43
Speaker
I'm from California, a reporter for 38 years, crime reporter for a long time, covered 200 murders, quack, gangs. Moved to Mexico where I wrote my first two books. Came back to work for the LA Times where, among other things, I wrote two stories about the popularity of the tuba in Mexican l LA. Left the Times, wrote two books about our national opioid epidemic, OxyContin, heroin, fentanyl, and meth.
00:06:06
Speaker
And finally, after that, The Perfect Tuba, which is about tuba players and band directors because I wanted a change. Dude. How'd I do?
00:06:17
Speaker
You did it. Locks by, man. Like, first I'm going to cross-ride by now. Most of our guests will go past, will play past the ending here. But you nailed it. That was great.
00:06:33
Speaker
Don't know how to do that, but I'm glad to hear it. So let's talk about your book here. So this is called The Perfect Tuba, Forging Fulfillment from the Bass Horn Band and Hard Work.
00:06:46
Speaker
Right. So you've written powerfully about community and meaning in America from dreamland to the least of us in your nearly four decades of journalism.
00:06:57
Speaker
yeahp What drew you to write this book? Well, as I said, when I was at the LA Times, I wrote two stories about the popularity of tuba in Mexican LA and it's about the banda world, banda music and all of that. And tuba is a huge, huge, important instrument and all that. Okay. So as after those was two stories were done, for reasons I cannot properly describe to you, Chris, I just began interviewing two players, mostly because I think I found them to be people who were doing what they were doing because they loved it. It was not from any a motivation of wealth or fame or acclaim.
00:07:34
Speaker
They were just doing it because you love it. And generally speaking, as a journalist, I have learned that if you follow people
The Impact of Band Programs on Community
00:07:40
Speaker
who truly love what they're doing, you're going to find some great, great stories. And so...
00:07:46
Speaker
I began to do that at the same time I was embarking on the books that you see behind me, the Dreamland book, which is about the opioid epidemic, and then The Least of Us, which is about fentanyl and methamphetamine spreading across the country.
00:08:00
Speaker
I was done with those books, and I wanted to do something more... I wanted to get away from the topic of addiction. I want to get away from people trying to find happiness through something they buy, but instead work on things within them, develop their own capabilities, their own talents and skills and learn through that what they were capable of.
00:08:22
Speaker
And my agent said, you know, you should see what you could do about this tuba project you've had in the back of your ah computer for so long. And I thought, actually, it's a great idea. And so I just began to interview tuba players again.
00:08:36
Speaker
And the project just became, just came alive. It was beautiful. The stories were the main thing. But along the way too, I began to include band directors because I realized that band directors and tuba players have a lot in common.
00:08:52
Speaker
You can't really name a tuba player. Most band directors are not famous either. They're doing it with enormous amounts of hard work. Huge amounts work. It's just incredible.
00:09:03
Speaker
The band directors that I got to know. Why? Well, they love it. they one They live to see the light go on in the eyes of their kids when their kids get what they're doing.
00:09:15
Speaker
And it's they're all about they're about community enhancers, right? You cannot have a football team without a band. You cannot have band without a tuba player.
00:09:26
Speaker
they bring both Both the band but director and the tuba player kind of bring the band together, right? And to me, that was a very, very important thing because addiction is really about isolation, right?
00:09:39
Speaker
It's really, you know, you're using your dope. You don't give a crap who who is, you know, anybody, any other relationship doesn't matter unless they can help you find your drugs. And so to me, finding people who were about community enhancement and where was especially important. And then also it got to some of the essential habits and customs and values that I think are so important in sustaining community.
00:10:05
Speaker
hard work, postpone gratification, discipline, right? Focus in a time of just incessant babbling distraction. It's about quiet focus. So the band, band in general,
00:10:20
Speaker
tuba playing for sure is about, is about all of these kinds of things that help us as a country sustain community, which is the main bulwark against drug addiction. And then along the way, of course, you are finding, finding people who are discovering their purpose.
00:10:37
Speaker
Right. And right addiction is, is a life with, is kind of like fill my void with, with drugs. This is different. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's interesting.
00:10:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:52
Speaker
The studio audience is always good. They're the best. They're really good. The ego boost. Well, it's interesting that you bring all that up because like after reading the book, um I noticed that there's a theme of people striving for mastery in obscurity.
00:11:09
Speaker
Yes. Why does that idea of working hard without fanfare resonate so deeply with you? That's a ah really good question. And perhaps it's because we live in a culture in which the only kind of endeavor that's worthwhile is one that you get massive applause for.
00:11:29
Speaker
and And the truth is, that's kind of an empty pursuit. It's very much like trying to find happiness from something you buy, like a piece of heroin or fentanyl or whatever. and To me, I loved it because also tuba players, most tuba players do not want initially to play the tuba.
00:11:51
Speaker
They are usually linked. They are usually late for band class on the first day of seventh grade. All the other instruments are taken, and trumpet, drums, whatever.
00:12:04
Speaker
and And so those who stick with it, the reason they stick with it is through hard work, they come to develop their skills and they learn. This is very important, I thought.
00:12:16
Speaker
They learn what they're capable of. And when you can teach a kid who, especially a kid who's thought, I'm not, I'm no good at anything. Nobody really values me.
00:12:26
Speaker
When you can teach a kid, you are capable, you are, this is something you are good at. I'm telling you, that's the best antidote to drug addiction you could possibly find.
00:12:39
Speaker
Absolutely. It's a great question. Oh, please. Oh, please. ah No, but i mean, that's kind of why I wanted to find people who found purpose, even though they weren't going to get much acclaim, because that's the narcotic of our culture last numerous years, seem to me.
00:12:59
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and so because of that, so later on in the book, you talk about the Roma High School, Texas yeah high school band program, but that was such a powerful story. Thank you. What did you see in that community that captures the heart of the book?
00:13:18
Speaker
Well, I found the band director, Al Cortinas, who himself was tuba instructor, but understood, you know, it's important for your readers to know that Roma is a tiny town on the border with Mexico in Texas.
00:13:35
Speaker
No one in Texas knows where Roma, Texas is. Okay. It's really isolated and far away. That's one. And so, and yet it's competing in band competitions with the wealthy suburbs of Dallas, the wealthy tech suburbs of Austin and Houston, and this tiny town, 11,000 people.
00:14:01
Speaker
How did that happen? And the way it happened was that one band director who believes deeply, deeply in this salvation power of band, his own life was saved because of band. He believes in it.
00:14:15
Speaker
was in another district years before, and he understood that two things were happening in ban he had to save his kids from. One was the Mexican drug cartels were expanding, and a lot of the kids right there on the border were getting involved in that because it's easy money and all that.
00:14:30
Speaker
The other was that Texas band in competition was changing so that bands were no longer just judged on like a number system, one to five, how well they march, that thing.
00:14:42
Speaker
they were now judge as pitted against each other and kind of one would win, one would come in first, second, third, that kind of thing. He thought that pretty soon his band bands would never be able to compete if they didn't get much better.
00:14:56
Speaker
um And that would mean that if they weren't much better, that they wouldn't keep kids. And then he would lose out in this very desperate competition against the drug cartels. Because after all, The cartels were offering money and trucks and all the rest.
00:15:12
Speaker
And what was he offering? Hard work, postponed gratification, you know? all the things. He institutes this system and in Roma, Texas, that these are kids who cannot afford, can barely afford instruments and cannot afford music lessons.
00:15:29
Speaker
And he institutes a system that the district very wisely goes along with investing in many more band directors so that each director can be a teacher as well as a marching band instructor.
00:15:41
Speaker
So you have one teacher who teaches all the kids in the district from sixth to 12th grade in, say, the clarinet. And then there's one for the saxophone. And then there's one for the French horn. And then there's one for drums and the tuba and all that.
00:15:54
Speaker
And through that, he is able to recognize and then nourish and cultivate the talents, the dormant talents that were there in those kids that was not being developed.
00:16:06
Speaker
And it's through that over the years that this tiny town... has been able now to compete head to head with, again, the districts in Austin, the districts in Dallas. It's a little bit, don't know if you've seen the movie Stand and Deliver that was about the East Los Angeles math teacher.
00:16:26
Speaker
Very much like that. It's like Stand and Deliver for the band world. But I'm glad you brought up. Yeah, it's a great story. In your researching and writing with the Texas bands, did you have a chance to go see a Texas marching band competition? Oh, I sure did. I was there finals Alamodone football stadium in 2023, 5A. nice. Yeah, it was, you know, it's the thing. i had never, as I said to you earlier,
00:16:57
Speaker
I and don't play the tuba and I was never in marching band in my high school. And um it was a world that was kind of foreign to me. I never really paid it much attention. And so now I'm trying, i'm out there looking at it, trying to understand it. I thought it was fabulous. I thought there were some things wrong with it, which we could talk about later, but it was this, I mean, what I thought was amazing was I saw these bands from the Leander school district in near Austin, for example,
00:17:27
Speaker
The top three bands to win that year were all from that one district. They always are. I used to teach them. They always are. Yeah, right. And here is Little Roma. You know what was cool, Chris?
00:17:38
Speaker
This one was great. A week after that show, on Facebook, I see that someone has circulated a map.
00:17:50
Speaker
of Texas, each with 12 stars on it. Each star is a high school that was a finalist in that competition a week before. And see, for me, this was enormously helpful because it was exactly why I wanted to go see this, tell this story.
00:18:06
Speaker
yeah it each So the stars were, there were six around Dallas, Fort Worth, right? In the suburbs. ye There were four around Austin.
00:18:18
Speaker
Leander and maybe one other, I
Exploration of Band Culture and Values
00:18:20
Speaker
think. There was one near Houston. And then you could miss it very easily. But all the way down at the very bottom of the map was this little star almost down to the Gulf of Mexico. And there was Roma.
00:18:35
Speaker
There it is. Yeah. And to me, it didn't really matter. They came in, I think, 10th out of 12. I thought, you know, but here's the thing about band. When you place way too much focus on winning, there was ah there's this story that goes, the band directors asked, how'd your band do this year? And the band director goes, too early to tell.
00:18:58
Speaker
Talk to me in 10 years. Band is about winning later. Yeah. It's what those kids end up doing. And in fact, I ended up interviewing kids who had been part of the Roma team, the band in 2003. So it was 20 years later. And they were all, I mean, they were doing wonderfully well. The entire low brass section, I interviewed all of them from that one year. Many of them were band directors.
00:19:23
Speaker
Others were involved in, you know, one guy was a paramedic. So, This was a district where the dropout rate was very, very high, yet the the graduation rate at the school among the band seniors was like 100%.
00:19:37
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. You know, we have long said that kids that stay in band go on to do great things later on in life. You know, and band makes you smarter. You score 10 to 15 percent higher on tests.
00:19:52
Speaker
It uses both sides of your brain at the same time. And it is a language that you will keep with you your entire life. Just, you know, music is a language just like Spanish or French or German or Japanese.
00:20:04
Speaker
It is a universal language. They could travel all over the world, go play with someone that doesn't speak their language, and they can still be able to communicate. So absolutely. You know, one of the things I don't know if you...
00:20:17
Speaker
I don't know if you have any thoughts on this, but I have come to try to estimate what percentage of the American population was once in band, either junior high, high school or college.
00:20:28
Speaker
And I have to think, I don't know, i'm I'm surely biased because I'm looking for it, but it seems to me like a third or something like that. I think it's very high. Every time you ask someone who is like a celebrity right now,
00:20:40
Speaker
they have all gone back to like, oh yeah, when I was in high school, I used to be in band. So it's very hard. Oh yeah. And I found in, in, in along the border there, know, city councilmen, engineers, lawyers, dentists, doctors, they all, and I, and you know, speaking at my conferences, I do a lot of speaking on, on drug trafficking and all that judges.
00:21:04
Speaker
I met a number of judges who were in band, Of course, we're talking 30, 40 years ago now, but it's a remarkable thing. And that's what I also what brought me to this, which is that you've got so many values and skills and habits that are inculcated in band.
00:21:22
Speaker
And again, it's about developing those skills that that really sustain community. It's such an important thing. Absolutely. 100%.
00:21:32
Speaker
one hundred percent If you could leave listeners with one image or sound that captures the soul of this book, What would it be?
00:21:44
Speaker
um Well, I think it would probably be, let me think. That's a really good question, Chris. I think, ah okay, I think it would be the sound of one of the so-called perfect tubas. There's two tubas in this world that are considered perfect.
00:22:01
Speaker
I was hoping you were going to say this. there were both They were both... They're both owned by the Chicago Symphony, both built in the 1930s by the York Musical Instrument Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and both considered the holy grail of tubos by all these tubo players. Like, unbelievable.
00:22:21
Speaker
It's got this, the reason they're so well thought of. The reason they're so well thought of is because they are, again, they are the perfect community enhancers. The Chicago Symphony Brass Sound is world famous in good part because of these tubas played for the last 80 years by two guys.
00:22:42
Speaker
Right.
00:22:45
Speaker
but cornine but more than that it's a sound of the way i use it in the book as you know if you read the book is that the perfect tuba it becomes a metaphor it's a sound for finding something in your life each of your lives All those people listening to us now, band could be a big part of it, obviously, but doesn't need to be. Tubic playing could be a big part of it, but doesn't mean to be.
00:23:11
Speaker
I used it as this way of saying the way we best find our way forward and develop a real strong, solid personal lives is finding something that gives our lives purpose and fulfillment. And the only way we get there is hard work.
00:23:27
Speaker
is attention to detail, focus, and then all the rest, right? Exactly. So it's really the sound. The perfect tuba could be police officer wants to be a great cop, a guy who has a landscaping business, wants to be really good at that. It's finding that thing that you want to do more than anything else. And when you find it and you develop it, drugs are like this...
00:23:51
Speaker
Pointless thing you don't want to have anything to do with. So the sound of the perfect tuba is both one of those tubas from Chicago, but it's also the sound of people finding their purpose in life and finding a way forward.
00:24:06
Speaker
Perfect. Absolutely. Give three more.
00:24:11
Speaker
so after after So last question before we move on to our next segment. After completing this project and all the research you've done about the tuba, has tempted you to actually pick up the tuba and play it? No, it has not.
00:24:26
Speaker
I'd see. You're missing golden opportunity, man. I know, I know. I tried, I'm too old for it. And I tried to play one of those famous tubas in ah in Chicago. I'm so jealous, by the way.
00:24:38
Speaker
They're enormous. They're C-Tubers. They're just gigantic. It feels very much like you have a linebacker sitting on your lap, right? Wow. And it's big. And also it feels, I mean, I swear to God, man, it felt like almost life-threatening to make a sound. Like I would have to blow so hard, like I'd have a heart attack or a stroke or something.
00:24:59
Speaker
In fact, the one sound
Engagement and Upcoming Content
00:25:00
Speaker
that I was able to produce was sounded very much like your stomach growling when you haven't had enough to eat. you know It was like embarrassingly bad.
00:25:10
Speaker
but Look, I wanted to write about, i think this book achieved exactly what I wanted to write about, which was people not searching for happiness from something they buy, some piece of crap dr on the corner or anything else. We don't find happiness from stuff that we buy.
00:25:28
Speaker
We find happiness from stuff that we develop from within, right? That beautiful color air that produces happiness. From this horrible little sound of a lips on metallic mouthpiece, you go, it sounds awful.
00:25:43
Speaker
It goes through the tuba, bounces, ricochets, is tried and tested, long straightaways, and it comes out the bell, this gorgeous, brilliant, beautiful, bone-rattling sound.
00:25:56
Speaker
Yes. To me, that man, I wanted to write about that's life. If you think about it, we stumble, we trip, we don't do things well, but eventually we get good enough at something that we just are able to really make a mark whether or not anyone pays any attention to another question.
00:26:13
Speaker
But ah to me, that's what I wanted to achieve with this book. Exalting two players and band directors and band kids and all that. Kids who, here's the thing, we've all heard about the sports metaphor.
00:26:25
Speaker
Oh, all the value of sports. When I was doing this book, I used to play sports and I was a basketball player. Oh, sports are great, competition, all that stuff. It's true. But as I was doing this book, I realized actually the values that they're talking about are being lived by those kids up in the...
00:26:43
Speaker
Reacher, right? Exactly. That's the point. And I did that with this book. I'm very proud of it. And it was totally unexpected. I did not expect to say half of the things that I'm telling to you two years ago when I started it, but it grew on you. And that's the beauty of journalism, man.
00:26:59
Speaker
Well, it it was absolutely fantastic. Nicole, you had a question? Yeah. I was just going to say, listen, if you are this taken by a marching band, you need to go on tour with a drum chord.
00:27:11
Speaker
I have been around. you run for like You talk about hard work and like you're putting your hole into it. like You sign up to, like hey, take me wherever.
00:27:21
Speaker
Two weeks. yeah really ah Two weeks. Put him two weeks on tour. Oh, my God. The book he could write. man. Right. Exactly. i may I may now go back to writing about crime. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure this out.
00:27:35
Speaker
But right now, I'm not thinking about what I'm going to do next. I'm just living... This very weird idea that a guy who cannot play a note on the tuba and was never in band can write a book exalting both of those things and the qualities that both of those activities instill in young people.
00:27:56
Speaker
After writing about addiction, degrading addiction to drugs for 12 years, I needed this. This is what I needed more than anything right now.
00:28:07
Speaker
It's a testament to you as a journalist because reading the book, you would never know that you were never, you don't play an instrument. You never played one and you were never in high school band.
00:28:19
Speaker
you the The way that you write connects to at least me as ah as a musician, as someone that's been around the block. you said all the You're saying all the words that that the musicians would say.
00:28:31
Speaker
You're talking about aspects of the instrument that we complain about. youre All the different things, you capture that, and so you sounded just like one you sound like one of us. so So technically, you're part of the band.
00:28:45
Speaker
ah My man! Thank you. So I'd just like to say we before we on to the next segment here, that this book really fans, this book is a reminder that greatness doesn't always sit in the spotlight.
00:29:01
Speaker
Sometimes it hums in the background, steady and essential, like the sound of a tuba holding everything together. Beautifully said. You can find the Perfect Tuba wherever books are sold. And to learn more about ah Sam and his work, you go to Sam Quinonez at, sorry, at samquinonez.com. So Sam. Right, that's my way website, samquinonez.com.
00:29:29
Speaker
Very easy to find, believe me. go check them out. um Okay. So we want to take this time to preview some amazing episodes and bonus content we have going on. So, uh, we have the, uh, October 4th, the collegiate marching band festival, uh, Nicole and Woody give us the scoop on the collegiate festival held in Allentown, Allentown PA along with Kelly Grumble from, uh, Vivace productions.
00:29:57
Speaker
And then um on September 28th, we have the symbols, costumes and color wheels. but Liam Reynolds joins Jackie, Trish, Grantis and Emily to explain the world of symbol lines.
00:30:08
Speaker
There's a book for you, Sam. Let's talk about the world of marching symbol lines. yeah I don't still don't understand what they are. okay well, listen to the podcast and you'll find out.
00:30:19
Speaker
There we go. Look at colors and uniform designs. but So we'll be right back after a word from our sponsors. Don't go anywhere.
00:30:40
Speaker
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Guard Closet was founded as a consignment shop in 2000. Since then, it has grown to become your one-stop shop for the marching arts. Do you need consignment uniforms and flags for your color guard, marching band, or drum line?
00:30:55
Speaker
We have thousands of sets of consignments in stock and ready to ship. Do you need show design and custom choreography? Our designers have years of experience in the marching arts. Do you need to sell your items and clear out your storage areas?
00:31:09
Speaker
We take in more than 600 sets of consignments each year and return hundreds of thousands of dollars to our consignors for their sales. Do you need to have your students order shoes, gloves, and other equipment?
00:31:21
Speaker
We can set up a microsite for easy student ordering of a wide variety of items. Do you need custom costumes or flags? We can help get you great designs from our team through top vendors like Shodee Designs.
00:31:33
Speaker
Have you listened to our podcast on a water break? Weekly episodes and bonus content keep you entertained and informed with what's going on in the marching arts. For over 25 years, Guard Closet has been here to help.
00:31:46
Speaker
Check us out at guardcloset.com or follow us on social media.
00:32:03
Speaker
All righty. So, hey, why don't we see what's happening in the news this week? So what's going on in the Marching Arts news?
00:32:28
Speaker
Love it. Love it. ah Who wants to go first? Let's have Nicole. Oh, great. Perfect. So we've been talking a lot about, ah you know, truly living out your dream.
00:32:43
Speaker
And we've been talking about Kenny at LSU. We all remember Kenny, right? Yeah. Six year old that went back to March. And he's so famous now.
00:32:54
Speaker
But but playing playing the tuba, mind you. Playing the tuba. never too never Never too young. yeah But this is truly a time to go live out your dreams. 58-year-old horn player at NC State, it's the power sound of the South, um is playing her mellophone. That's Lois Rogge.
00:33:14
Speaker
Lois started playing in high school. Actually, Lois did play in high school, mellophone, mind you,
Community Highlights and Announcements
00:33:20
Speaker
but started going to school at NC State last year.
00:33:24
Speaker
Her career is in accounting, so she went and she was doing her master's degree in accounting. And she decided that since she had two kids that were in marching band in high school, that she wanted to go back and do it in college.
00:33:38
Speaker
So now she's marching. Lois. Lois. lo What a great story. That's a fantastic story. She is yeah basically ah doing everything with them. she It was an empty nester. So she's got two kids.
00:33:56
Speaker
They're both in college. And she was like, hey, it's just me and my dog at home right now. So what do I do? Uh-oh. So she was like, hey, let me just go ahead and do these. Or get in here. um they She had to audition, though. It wasn't like, hey, I want to sign up and do band.
00:34:12
Speaker
ah so Wow. started I know, right? like she Basically, to get ready for her audition, she would... but You'll find this funny. Her mellophone was in her attic for a couple of years.
00:34:24
Speaker
And then she had taken it out of the attic and actually put it up on the wall as decoration. So she took it off the wall and started practicing for like five minutes a day or so.
00:34:35
Speaker
And then those five minutes a day into several hours a day. And then um she even said that when she went to go do her audition video that she put on a tank top so she could look more athletic and like she was in shape.
00:34:49
Speaker
So they wouldn't be like, no, you can't do it. I'm like, oh, man, that's that's funny that, she you know, that's the way you want to do it. A couple more things, too. Like when she is she has a couple of friends.
00:35:01
Speaker
Excuse me. Her son is a couple of friends has friends in her section. So like, wow. Yeah. I'm like, this is really cool. I love the fact that she's like, oh, I don't care.
00:35:12
Speaker
I mean, and she also does contribute the fact to when they started camp, like she's a runner. So if she wasn't running, this wouldn't be happening. Oh, for sure. Right.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yep. And she loves it. She's just like, they have videos of her, ah you know, just dancing, you know, through the tunnel with the rest of the marching band. She's literally living her best life.
00:35:34
Speaker
That's been fantastic. I love that. What a great story. yeah Beautiful. Love it. We need to bring her on the pod sometime. Yes, we Yeah, for sure. Trish Dish.
00:35:46
Speaker
Trish Dish. What have we got? We have a story about the um Alabama State um Honeybees. They're well-known plus-size dance team that performs with the mighty marching hornets.
00:36:05
Speaker
um They became the target of an offensive remark. As the Honeybees left the field after their performance, Florida A&M band announcer Joe Bullard called them the new face of Ozempic.
00:36:19
Speaker
What are we doing? the crowd yeah The crowd reacted with shock and disgust. I'm glad they reacted with shock and disgust. And there were some obnoxious like sports fans like, yeah, that's true.
00:36:30
Speaker
so like Does that happen very often? No. Where you get an opposition a competitor band like that? Not in HBCU you ah environments because like the Honeybees are famous.
00:36:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. Like everyone knows who they are. And they here's the other thing, too. They know they're plus size. That's like that's yeah part of the allure of what they do. Right. But to have that kind of a remark made, like, honestly, I'm pretty sure if they have not fired that guy yet, they need to.
00:36:59
Speaker
Right. Well, the Alabama State University president made a statement, Dr. Quentin T. Ross, Jr., um He described the words as short-sighted and demeaning and stressed that competition cannot come at the expense of student dignity, which is a lot of what we've been talking about on this podcast. And, you know, these girls are putting their all in. And like, you know, like we talked about, maybe these dance routines are their perfect tuba.
00:37:27
Speaker
You know what i mean? And now, you know, to be well coming off the field and to hear announcer say that is, that's just... Not cool. Nope.
00:37:38
Speaker
That is definitely not cool. So, um yeah. So shout out to the honeybees. We got you, girls. We're behind you. We're with you. We stand with you.
00:37:49
Speaker
And I wish I could, you know, maybe go see them sometime and throw my support at them. Absolutely. Absolutely. right. I'll take the last one.
00:38:00
Speaker
ah This is a really great story. It's out of Detroit. Detroit High School. Detroit's Cody High School ah has celebrated a milestone this past Friday ah during their homecoming football game.
00:38:16
Speaker
The return of the Cody High School marching band after a 20 year absence. 20 years. Wow. Wow. um yeah this it after There was a ah grant, an arts grant given to the school and called the Out of School outof school Time Grant, ah secured by the Detroit Public Schools Community District Foundation, which helped rebuild the program.
00:38:46
Speaker
ah securing instruments and recruiting members. ah the They made their first performance at the halftime. some of they and in this interview, they they they interviewed a lot of the the student members and they were saying that they were really nervous, but they were so excited after they performed. yeah and they They were just wearing they ah school t-shirts.
00:39:08
Speaker
It said, Cody versus everybody. so very very much yeah Yeah, that's so great. I love it. and ah But they went out there and they did their thing. And hopefully this is the start of of a rich tradition that they build and up upon there.
00:39:24
Speaker
They said that they have ah they have some really ambitious plans in the future that they want to go to the... Martin Luther King Day parade in Florida next year. i sincerely hope that they do.
00:39:36
Speaker
And if if have any member from the Cody High School Margie Band is here, is is listening to our podcast, if you guys do a fundraiser, we will definitely, definitely, I will, I personally will definitely help out to get you guys down there. I just love
00:39:51
Speaker
when groups can come back. i just love it when when groups can come back Right. After that long too. Right. I watched that same clip ah of that.
00:40:03
Speaker
And I just could, and there's so many of those ah little performers, a little, they're high school kids, but like, they're like, oh, eyes are on me. That one color guard girl was like, all eyes are on me. It's like, yes, but it's just like, but you're doing it.
00:40:17
Speaker
yeah You are doing it. And honestly, to have that many kids, I mean, I think they said like 20 some kids were on the field. That's still a big deal. Yeah.
00:40:27
Speaker
You know, um hasn't been in the culture of that school for so long. I know. and It's just going to really help with the the entire culture of the school. And the football team will probably appreciate it well as well to have ah have the band cheering, ah to have the band playing their their fight song, the school spirit songs, to help their football team and when they go score touchdown. So I'm i'm all for it.
00:40:49
Speaker
You know, I'm wondering if that band marching band isn't a sign... wondering if that marching band is on the sign another sign of the return of Detroit. Detroit has been this bombed out, ah rust belt town for so long, and it's really showing signs of rebirth, and maybe the marching band is is is part of that.
00:41:08
Speaker
i you absolutely you know it would be great i wonder if any of the detroit lions football team uh people listen to the on a water break podcast and we could reach out to cody high school to get them to come play during halftime at at dan campbell where are you detroit lions football game i'm looking at you dan campbell yeah just saying anyway uh so uh so now it's time for your peak group travel tip of the week brought to you uh brought to you by our sponsors at peak group travel helping you navigate your next adventure whether it's across the country or just your next competition
00:41:52
Speaker
Hi everyone, it's time for your travel tip of the week with me. I'm Beth with Peak Group Travel. Are you traveling with delicate or oversized instruments? Be sure to check with your bus company or your airline for any extra fees that you may incur or any climate-specific needs you have for your instruments.
00:42:11
Speaker
A little extra legwork before you leave could help you avoid costly repairs when you arrive. Don't forget to like and follow Peak Group Travel on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
00:42:22
Speaker
And be sure to email info at peakgrouptravel.com when you're ready to start planning your next performance tour. I'm Beth with Peak Group Travel and your travel tip of the week.
00:42:45
Speaker
Ready to elevate your travel game? Welcome to Peak Group Travel, the ultimate adventure creators. Whether you're planning an unforgettable class trip, a once in a lifetime parade experience for your marching band, or a choir tour full of memorable performance venues, Peak Group Travel handles it all so you can focus on making memories.
00:43:03
Speaker
From breathtaking international destinations to amazing adventures right here at home, Peak Group Travel customizes every journey to your vision. We're not just planners, we're your partners for the trip you want for your students.
00:43:16
Speaker
Our online registration portal makes managing your pre-trip experience smooth and convenient. We even collect your payments if you'd like. Picture it, effortless planning, unmatched experiences, and smiles that last long after the journey ends.
00:43:29
Speaker
That's the Peak Group travel difference. And if you choose to partner with Peak on your next tour, and you mentioned that you heard about us on the On a Water Break podcast, you'll earn a $100 trip credit. Discover why groups everywhere trust Pete Group Travel.
00:43:42
Speaker
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and be sure to visit PeteGroupTravel.com today. You pick the date, and we'll make it great.
00:44:02
Speaker
It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time for everyone's favorite segment. What are we doing? What are we doing?
00:44:20
Speaker
What are we doing? This is the part of the show where we let loose a little bit or maybe a lot of it. and This is your chance to rant about something in the marching arts that just doesn't make sense.
00:44:34
Speaker
Maybe tradition that needs to go. Maybe it's a habit that performers can't seem to break. Maybe it's something that makes you think, why are we even doing this? Or why haven't we started doing this?
00:44:45
Speaker
Whatever it is, this is your moment to call it out. So who's got something that they need to get off their chest? Nicole. Hmm. So fun that you came to me. he think first I'm going to say,
Challenges and Achievements in Marching Arts
00:45:00
Speaker
Trish, what are we doing with you on the podcast and you not doing your own intro?
00:45:06
Speaker
Oh, you mean I should have done it live? would have loved that. That's not my what are we doing though. So I just wanted to say that. Because every time you're on, I'm like, oh, it's time for what are we doing? Trish, do it. Do the thing. Do the thing. What are we doing? yes But I think i i my what are we doing? And every time I can, I always go off of like either a show that I've gone to or where I've been, you know, ah to say something.
00:45:31
Speaker
um And I was in a different part of the United States this past weekend. And I think my biggest, water are we doing right now? and excuse me, I'll just apologize right now if I brought this up before, but we're getting into that part of the season where performance is everything, you know?
00:45:49
Speaker
um I can get it where everyone is trying to be very technically sound and you like point ones over here and like, hey, my horn pops up at this point too. And a lot of marching bands are doing non-hats and they're going non-traditional with what they're wearing for a show.
00:46:05
Speaker
Perform and let them know that like you're not going to be always hidden. Perform more. Projection is going to be key. And I call this your expressive window. Open up that window and let the sunshine in, folks. in and
00:46:23
Speaker
ah ah agree I'll also say too, like, if you're not going to wear a Shaco, if you're not going to wear your band hat, then you actually have to like use your eyes and try to connect with the audience, which is really hard for high school kids to do. So maybe put on, if you're going to wear your band uniform, put on your Shaco.
00:46:42
Speaker
Absolutely. That's just me. That's just me though. um I'll go next. I'll go next. What are we doing programming culturally insensitive programs?
00:46:55
Speaker
Oh, I'm just, I'm not going to name the, the, the name of the ensemble. ah but And I'm not going even name what they did. But let's just say that I got to see a show recently ah about a very popular Netflix show that focuses around contestants and games.
00:47:22
Speaker
oh Oh. What are we doing? And i've seen and here's the thing. that's not and it's not like it's... I saw one like that last year, not like your show, but you know, a culture.
00:47:35
Speaker
And then they came into critique and I'm just like, what are you doing? You know, what do you say? So no, I get that. I we get that. And I don't know if this was the band directors and the design team going to the kids to say, Hey, what kind of show do you guys want to do?
00:47:50
Speaker
And they said, this show and they thought oh that'd be really cool and like the costuming was there and they had props and the whole thing and they didn't actually glorify the outcome of said game of this netflix show which will remain nameless But still the idea of what that show entails was there. And I'm just amongst myself and my other colleagues, we were all, it was really hard to give comments because we were just so flabbergasted by that.
00:48:20
Speaker
So I think, what are we doing? Let's pick more age appropriate show concepts. don't know.
00:48:30
Speaker
Please. ah ah Sam, I know that you are not of the band world, but you have you have put yourself in that world to write. I am not, Chris, but I noticed one thing that given that I appreciate the contribution, communities and American culture of band, I would hate to see the essential elements that are so powerful of band be corroded.
00:49:01
Speaker
And when I was watching two now band championships, I got the feeling that band was becoming a little bit too much like football, meaning there was this ferocious feeling of we have to win at all costs.
00:49:18
Speaker
We have no time for anything but band and props. Now, I know that props have become the big deal in the I first time I saw props on a field, I was going, what the hell is that? Because I'm coming. and I don't know.
00:49:36
Speaker
I don't know. Right. But to me, props have nothing to do or very little to do. Someone have to explain it to me, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. The connection between props and playing your instrument well, creating a unified, beautiful, powerful sound and marching in, in, in, uh, together in synchronization with all your, uh, fellow bandmates.
00:50:01
Speaker
I find that to be in the work that goes into that is profound. I understand and should be, it should not be easy. But to me, it felt like watching these props. What it said was what it really says is our district has more money than they yours. don Oh my goodness. And to me, it was like, I don't see the point.
00:50:22
Speaker
Not wrong. I don't see the point. You know, I watched Roma on the field at this one. I won't say what other props the other teams had that would give them you know. yeah But Roma doesn't have a lot of money, right?
00:50:36
Speaker
And so it had, it played Rhapsody in blue, portions of Rhapsody in blue. And it had... panels of fabric that were blue, 20 foot long, four feet wide. That was it. That paled in comparison to the other props that were on the field that day.
00:50:52
Speaker
and my feeling is the more band tries to be like football, the more, and this is Texas. So we know Texas high school football is manic and band can be manic in Texas sounds like to me from what I've been told. ah Indeed. It tries to be like football, the more it risks losing what is beautiful, essential elements it has to contribute to kids' lives, to the community.
00:51:21
Speaker
And again, keeping in mind that we don't know how well the band did for another 10 years. Right. like That's the crucial, crucial thing. well Well said, said the non-ban person. yeah Right. And I watched it and I kept on asking, why you guys have these props? What's that about?
00:51:41
Speaker
I think we should get Sam in the judging community. I think he'd do really well as a G-judge. Shoot. Props, negative five. I'm going to go really quick. Okay.
00:51:52
Speaker
So... where we're in Winter Guard wins indoor percussion audition season right now. so Just do me a favor, please. Those of you who are listening.
00:52:02
Speaker
Okay. If you are not returning to the unit that you had performed with, especially more than one year and you're, contracted elsewhere.
00:52:14
Speaker
Congratulations. We're happy for you. That's amazing that you moved on. Send me an email or send the group that you were with an email and just say, i' decided that, you know, i auditioned for X and I accepted a spot there.
00:52:28
Speaker
Thank you for everything you did over the last two years or however many years you've been in the guard. It's just a good life practice. yeah It's just, you know, it's happening to me right now. It happens to other people.
00:52:40
Speaker
And I know somebody who did that. That person's now an amp and has been an amp for a couple of years. I don't mind shouting him out. He's such a great kid. When he left the group he'd started out with, he sent them an email and he was a captain of that group.
00:52:54
Speaker
And he sent them an email and said, I've decided to move on. Thank you for everything you've done over the past X amount of years. What? It's just good life practice. I can't leave my job tomorrow and go work someplace else without telling them that I'm leaving.
00:53:08
Speaker
To me, it's just a good life skill. you know it's still hurts. It still stings. You wanted everybody to come back, but at least you feel like you were respected and appreciated and everything that you did for that person was appreciated. Just short, quick email. You don't to go into detail.
00:53:22
Speaker
Just good life practice. Common courtesy. Yes. Yes. Goes a long way. Yes, it All right. All right.
00:53:34
Speaker
So now that we got that off our chest, let's go into our gush and goes. So welcome to gush and go. This is your chance to shout out. me.
00:53:43
Speaker
that was me was a quick intro. I didn't want to interrupt you there, Chris. That's all good. and This is your chance to shout out something awesome happening in your life, the marching arts related or not. i Maybe you're excited about a performance, a student success, a big life event, or just something really cool you will brag about.
00:54:00
Speaker
So no negativity here, just pure unfiltered hype. Who's got something they want to gush about? I'll be happy to. Go ahead, Sam. You got the floor. Writers, write when you publish a book, it's very much like you just had a baby. Okay.
00:54:17
Speaker
i'm i'm I've written five now. Okay. So I know. And so this new bouncing four pound bouncing baby book entered our lives last week. The perfect tuba, it is a labor of the most beautiful love that I had to give towards a project. I loved every minute of doing it and love getting deep into tu a player music.
00:54:43
Speaker
culture and band culture in this country and under and realized how important it all was so this book just came out and to me this is like that kind of dominated my life over the last week or so and will for the next month and as i continue to promote it and so on anyway just wanted to thank you all so much for having me on your podcast and uh this is my gosh awesome we We really appreciated having you on our podcast as well. Absolutely. Thank you so much. it was really, really great. I hope you all get the chance to read it.
00:55:15
Speaker
I'm going to say mine because I got to duck out of here. And my gush and go is it hey, I'm living in Virginia now. We made the big move from California and we are now in our house. Thank you.
00:55:29
Speaker
This is the new, new, it's still in progress. Don't, don't look over, don't look over there. We're, we have, we've made it to our new home. It is wonderful. We're having a wonderful time.
00:55:40
Speaker
And Virginia, matthew you have, you have, you have humidity, but you are beautiful. So it's great to be here in Northern Virginia. I'm three hours from my mom and just loving every minute of it.
00:55:53
Speaker
That's awesome. Virginia is for lovers and I'm originally from Virginia. So yes,
00:56:00
Speaker
go
00:56:03
Speaker
ah I guess I could say that my gush and go is pretty much, you know, I've just started working for myself and like doing basically program coordinating for a bunch of different groups.
00:56:15
Speaker
We're not even out of a marching band season yet. And I've already started with a handful of winter programs and starting that up. So yeah. It's really exciting when you can give so much of your life to this marching arts activity and then like have it be what you do full time.
00:56:32
Speaker
And anytime mean, I'm like, oh, but you're so busy. I'm like, this is the good kind of busy. It's okay. This is a good kind of stress. It is okay.
Conclusion and Listener Interaction
00:56:40
Speaker
So just gushing and going about the more people I'm going to meet and how many more shows we're going put out.
00:56:45
Speaker
yeah Excellent. Excellent. I have one Um, it's, it's a sad story, but I want to focus on the positive of it in my gosh, you go, got the news late last night, got a good friend, somebody Nicole knows, I think Chris might as well.
00:57:00
Speaker
My really good friend, Mike Allen court passed away last night. ah but I want to focus on the good things that he accomplished. And he was a cadet. He was in pride Cincinnati, field of view.
00:57:12
Speaker
He was at Patriots. He was in a lot of really good world, world-class programs. In recent years, he was famous for being the old guy dancing with Post Malone. And bye, Chris.
00:57:24
Speaker
And all righty. um He was actually on Ellen DeGeneres' show. he did a video. He was taking hip-hop classes later in life. A video that the studio made went viral.
00:57:36
Speaker
And he took him to Ellen DeGeneres. He had an audition with Amazing Race. I was out to dinner with him with a whole bunch of people from up here in New Jersey, He came up from Florida a couple of summers ago and we were at a Chili's and the waiter sent another person over to the table because he was too afraid to ask and said, my friend wants to know you, the guy in the Post Malone video. um So he accomplished so many amazing things.
00:58:03
Speaker
You know, he was, you know, he's at my house so many times because we marched bushwhackers and brigadiers together because he just wanted to be with all our friends and you know muckle we love you we're gonna miss you nicole and i've been chatting about you too privately she has so many fond memories of you from patriots and we love you why this is to you yeah man Of course, that was beautiful. that was Thank you.
00:58:30
Speaker
Thank you. Goodness. Well, I just want to say on Chris's behalf, thanks everyone for a great rehearsal this week. And thank you to everyone who was spending time with us today. Trish, always good to see you, Chris. Always good.
00:58:43
Speaker
Always good to see him too. Sam, can you just shout out your socials and where people can find and pick up your book? Sure. You can find the Perfect Tuba Amazon and any other independent bookstore all over the country. By now, bookshop.org is one place to go.
00:59:01
Speaker
Basically, you can find all my contact information at my website, which is just I'm on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and then la-di-da, all that stuff.
00:59:18
Speaker
But the best place to go to see all of that is probably my website. Perfect. Thanks so much again. ah So if you have a question or a good topic to talk about, email us at on a water break podcast at gmail.com, you can find us on social media. DM us if you want to be on the show. We have a form that you can fill out if you want to be a guest and we'd love to have people on.
00:59:40
Speaker
So just check that out. Our link is in the bio on all of our social media, or you could just take your phone out, make a video and send it to us. And you could find yourself in the shenanigans with us.
00:59:51
Speaker
on On A Water Break. One more thing. Don't forget that we are on YouTube now, so you can actually see us. um Make sure you subscribe and you can see everything there. um And before you close out of your podcast listening app, go subscribe, write us a review, share it with a friend or phone, and follow us on social media at On A Water Break. And we'll see you at the next rehearsal on A Water Break.
01:00:18
Speaker
The On a Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Reams. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit LidaMusic.com.
01:00:30
Speaker
And until next time, thanks for tuning
01:00:37
Speaker
she