About Me

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Atlanta, GA, United States
When I suffered a lip injury that ended my career as a classical trombonist, I thought my life as a musician was finished, but I fell in love with music all over again when Santa gave me a guitar for Christmas in 2003. Even as I was struggling with my first chords, I was planning a new performance career. As a trombonist, I performed with the Heritage of America Band at Langley Air Force Base, the Ohio Light Opera, and in pick-up bands for touring acts that included Rosemary Clooney, George Burns, and the Manhattan Transfer. Reborn as a jazz guitarist, I sing and play my own solo arrangements of jazz classics, am half of the Godfrey and Guy duo, and hold the guitar chair in the Sentimental Journey Orchestra. I have been a freelance music copyist since 1995, served as Director of Music at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation from 2011 to 2017, and currently serve as Contemporary Band Director at the same congregation.

Monday, July 22, 2013

UUMN Conference, Day 0

I never thought I would actually be excited about going to a conference. I guess there's a first for everything. Tomorrow, I'll be heading to Dallas for the annual UUMN conference. UUMN is the Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network. I've been music director at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation for two years. So far, the job has only been 10 hours a week, which leaves just about enough time to lead a choir and plan music for services. After this summer, the job will increase to 15 hours a week. Most of those five new hours will be devoted to starting up a children's music program, and the rest of the time will be spent on rehearsing a church band.

I'm excited about the new music developments at Northwest, and I'm also feeling the need to expand my own horizons so that I can grow along with my music program. That's why I've been looking forward to this conference. I'm also going to get to see my good friend, Sarah Dan Jones, current president of UUMN and former music director at Northwest UUC. I've engraved some UUMN publications and worked with a couple people over the phone. I'm looking forward to finally meeting them in person.

I'll be updating my blog as I attend the conference. I'm packed, the car is gassed up, and I'm ready to go! Tomorrow is a long travel day. It's 11.5 hours, according to the directions. As long as the traffic is flowing (knock wood), I'll add an extra hour for breaks. Wednesday is when the real fun begins.
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