The Brass Junkies

Tom McCaslin's artist page, with the full transcript: https://www.brassjunkies.com/tom-mccaslin Get something interesting from the world of brass every week in The Brass Junkies Newsletter: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter Tuba interviews, masterclasses, and resources: https://www.brassjunkies.com/tuba An Encore of TBJ85 with Tom McCaslin (1978–2025), former Principal Tuba of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring a new introduction from Andrew. On This Episode of The Brass Junkies: Andrew's new introduction to this Encore, and the transcription software that heard the three of them laughing so often it decided there was a fourth person in the room Andrew and Lance speak with tubist Tom McCaslin, who was finishing his second season as Principal Tuba of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra The question Lance asked a car salesman on a test drive, with his boss in the back seat Lance's pitch to Ford for an SUV even bigger than the Excursion The bandmate who left his pants in Sarnia, Ontario, and the lesser-known Tony Bennett tune it inspired Growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, and how often Americans ask a Canadian if he knows their friend What it felt like to win a major orchestra job in his home country, in the city where his brother lives Why Tom says his ears had to catch up before he could win the job he wanted The 84 hours of recordings he made while preparing for the Calgary audition, and what he listened for Trust, and the little voice backstage that wants to play the excerpt just one more time The A list and B list system he and Sam Pilafian built while preparing for the Boston Symphony audition The randomizer app built for teachers that he used to run mock rounds, and Mike Roylance's envelope system The first-round excerpts he played every single day so they would be the best in the room Lance's juries at Carnegie Mellon and the trombone student whose excerpts got called in the one order she never expected Tom's audition-day "cocoon," and why he listened to sports podcasts and pop music instead of excerpts Why there's no magic solution waiting for you on the drive to the gig The lesson Lance gave a George Mason euphonium student on how he prepared for the Air Force Band audition, which Andrew recorded on his phone Sam Pilafian's Travelin' Light, the CD his father brought home from a business trip to Toronto that hooked Tom for life The marching band scholarship that kept him from studying with Sam as an undergrad, and the late-night listen to his audition tape Arriving at Arizona State expecting a studio full of Boston Symphony hopefuls, and what he found instead Teachers who aren't running a "tuba factory," and how Sam and Rex Martin taught the student in front of them Making both of his solo CDs with Sam, and the moment Tom started hearing what Sam heard The first thing Sam told Andrew about producing a recording session Christmas Day 2002: two Bach suites with Sam in Tom's living room, followed by a lesson in preparing a turkey What Tom looked for when recruiting students at East Carolina University, and the student who saved up four questions Why Lance stopped worrying about studio size, and the students he tells "I'm your guy" The studio class Tom took from Sam and Roger Bobo, and the one rule every comment had to follow His year studying with Roger Bobo in Switzerland, with 13 tubists from around the world and studio classes that ran four hours Rex Martin's first-day speech to the Northwestern tuba studio every year Andrew's very strong opinions on cologne in brass sections What Tom missed most about full-time college teaching, and the clinic work he was doing in Banff The ITG premiere in Banff, Lance on bass trumpet, and the piece that left Andrew and Chris Castellanos sliding down the back wall in silent tears Joe Alessi, Jens Lindemann's Porsche, and the drive to Lake Louise Tom's advice for Jens Lindemann: "sweat out the bad" Poutine and eh Links: The TBJ Tuba Page - interviews with great tuba players, masterclasses on video, and the best tuba resources on the web Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on YouTube Lance's lesson on preparing for the Air Force Band audition

Find everything Natalie Colegrove has done with The Brass Junkies: https://www.brassjunkies.com/natalie-colegrove Get something interesting from the world of brass every week in The Brass Junkies Newsletter: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter Please note: This episode includes a brief mention of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US). On This Episode of The Brass Junkies: Andrew and guest co-host Mike Roylance, Principal Tuba of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, speak with euphonium player, social media manager and baker Natalie Colegrove How many Brass Junkies episodes Natalie listened to during the pandemic, and the one she went back to again and again The audition prep schedule she learned from Mike's episode and used years later for military band auditions The weekly Zoom hang that brought together tuba and euphonium players from 20 countries, and how Mike got to know Roger Bobo through it Moving from California to Texas for her senior year of high school, and why the first band rehearsal back made her cry The Artist Solo Competition at ITEC in Valencia that went so badly she was ready to quit the euphonium The phone call from Chris Buckley that came the very same evening Why she stopped taking beta blockers, and what has changed in her playing since Choosing Paul Reade's Suite from The Victorian Kitchen Garden for her solo with the Army, and why the tuba and euphonium world needs more beautiful music The 1987 British gardening show the piece comes from, now her favorite TV show (and the kittens) The five-month search for a dress that represented both her and the piece How her interpretation kept maturing over 10 months, with major musical decisions still being made a month before the performance Natalie's synesthesia, and how she uses color to notate where the music breathes in and breathes out Why seeing every note as a color is both a blessing and a curse (G major is a problem) The fifth-grade math class where she found out nobody else saw the colors Mike on Marcel Tabuteau's numbering system, and Andrew on learning it from Ray Still How she spent the day of the performance, and the sandwich she eats whenever she travels Her micro bakery, 40 loaves of sourdough a week, and the most perfectly timed prop in Brass Junkies history Her first sourdough starter, which did not end well What baking bread has in common with getting better at the euphonium Why she used to call herself "an underbaked brownie" Mike's audition prep book and the math behind four minutes of glory Why she sets a theme for each year instead of making a New Year's resolution, and what this year's theme has changed in her How her faith shapes everything from her preparation to her priorities Running social media for about eight organizations and artists, including ITEA and Mind&Melody Why she stepped away from posting her own playing, and what has to happen before she posts again The biggest mistake she sees people making on social media right now Why she's biased against AI, and what she's watched it do to a colleague's creativity Mike's advice for learning a new piece in the YouTube era Her life goal, which has nothing to do with music Touring with Brassology, and how they found her The lo-fi tracks she recorded during the pandemic, and the email she sent Lance about them How the euphonium gave her a voice as a kid, and the very Cupertino reasoning behind picking it in middle school The bonus episode: life on the other side of the microphone, a from-scratch kitchen that goes well beyond bread, the "G lesson," Mike's crusade against vented valves, airplane window shades, Minecraft vs. Monopoly and what all three are trying to get better at Links: Natalie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misseuphonium/ International Tuba Euphonium Association: https://www.iteaonline.org Mind&Melody: https://www.mindandmelody.org TBJ146: Mike Roylance: https://youtu.be/S3NGuxtaNGw TBJ Euphonium Page: https://www.brassjunkies.com/euphonium TBJ Tuba Page: https://www.brassjunkies.com/tuba

Find everything Denise Tryon has done with The Brass Junkies: https://www.brassjunkies.com/denise-tryon Get something interesting from the world of brass every week in The Brass Junkies Newsletter: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter Horn interviews, masterclasses, and resources: https://www.brassjunkies.com/horn Trumpet interviews, masterclasses, and resources: https://www.brassjunkies.com/trumpet On This Episode of The Brass Junkies: • Andrew speaks with hornist Denise Tryon, Professor of Horn at Indiana University and former Fourth Horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra, back on the show nine years after her first appearance • In the premiere of Career Corner, presented by Hitz Academy, Andrew speaks with Dr. Julia Bell, Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Texas Tech University and founder of the Magnolia Brass Quintet • Andrew's thoughts on the Phoenix Symphony suspending its season and laying off its musicians, and why your support should go directly to the musicians • On a scale of nine to 10, exactly how much Denise missed Andrew • Her brand new album, Borrowed Bach, featuring Bach Cello Suites 1 through 5 on horn, and the companion book • The first movement of the album that made Andrew stop working and say "wow" out loud • The childhood piano lessons where she only wanted to play Bach, much to her teacher's chagrin • Chuck Kavalovski introducing her to the Wendell Hoss transcription in college • The decision she made at 19 or 20 that became a lifelong, "somewhat nagging" project • The suggestion that led her to create her own transcription, and how she chose the key for each suite • Gail Williams's request that changed how the book is laid out • Why Suite No. 6 didn't make the cut • How the book is designed to encourage players to make their own choices instead of copying hers • Andrew's first lesson at Northwestern with Rex Martin and the two very different Glenn Gould recordings of the Goldberg Variations • The dance between technique and musicianship over a career, and the Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recordings she has her students compare • The recording sessions that COVID and a series of setbacks postponed for years, and why she's glad she waited • Her approach to the repeats: first time as written, then adding ornamentation the second time • The Gavotte from Suite No. 5 that had her wondering what life decisions led her to that moment • The advice Sam Pilafian gave Andrew before he produced his first recording session • Working with engineer and producer Paul Eachus, a bass trombonist formerly of the Honolulu Symphony, and his rare gift for saying anything without her getting defensive • Why her best takes came when she let go, and the instinct to drive with your foot hovering over the brake • What she did 15 minutes into that Gavotte to get herself to the finish line • The pizza place discovery she credits as her secret sauce for keeping her face fresh • Recording in a church in Nashville, Indiana, its tree of life stained glass window, and why they ended up using the microphones closest to her • Why Borrowed Bach is the recording she's most proud of • The post-project slump her husband sees coming every single time • Why all of her students now play out of Bach, and the composer she begged not to write in her every nuance • Teaching creative problem solvers instead of teaching to the test • Why your job in an audition is to sell people on you, and Andrew's first date analogy • The advice from a colleague in her 30s that changed how she thought about her career • Being comfortable being different, and making a slower tempo convincing • The difference between an earned slowdown to breathe and a convenient one • Her train analogy for breathing in fast Bach movements (and the one train stop not to emulate) • Breathing as a low horn specialist, and Andrew's recommendation that everyone be 6'4" • The next recording project she might already be planning for this summer • What Andrew loves most about Denise's approach to music and to life • Career Corner: the simple theme that runs through everything Julia has done in her career so far • How her goal of an orchestral career evolved during her master's degree • What she did once she figured out what a trumpet professor's job actually requires • How she started a brass quintet with four women she had never met • Why you should apply even when you're sure you won't get the job • Andrew's seventh-grade audition for the Junior Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble, and why you should never say no for other people • Why seasoned players can tell right away when someone is driven and asking the right questions • All seven of Andrew's conversations with Julia are coming to The Brass Junkies YouTube channel Links: Phoenix Symphony Musicians on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phoenixsymphonymusicians Musicians of the Phoenix Symphony: https://musiciansofthephoenixsymphony.org/ Borrowed Bach on Navona Records: https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6901/ Borrowed Bach on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mj5h5taGDvS7Gp1BND9ZaGO82tkrFb30o Bach Cello Suites I-V for Horn, Transcribed by Denise Tryon: https://denisetryon.com/product/bach-cello-suites-i-v-for-horn-transcribed-by-denise-tryon/ Denise Tryon: https://denisetryon.com/ TBJ67, Denise's first appearance: https://www.brassjunkies.com/episodes/episode67 TEM174: Sam Pilafian on Producing: https://www.tem.fm/blog/tem174 Dr. Julia Bell at Texas Tech University: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/music/aboutus/faculty/julia-bell.php Gail Williams on The Brass Junkies: https://www.brassjunkies.com/gail-williams Parker Mouthpieces: https://parkermouthpieces.com

Find everything Gail Williams has done with The Brass Junkies: https://brassjunkies.com/gail-williams Get something interesting from the world of brass every week in The Brass Junkies Newsletter: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter On This Episode of The Brass Junkies: Andrew and guest co-host Nicole Cash are joined by horn legend Gail Williams, retired Associate Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Professor Emerita at Northwestern University Why Gail will never write a memoir Her post-retirement obsession with photography and the promise she made to her late teacher, John Covert, that has her flying halfway around the world Doug Hill's line "don't be a should-er" and how it lands for Andrew in the practice room too The lessons she learned from John Covert (her very first teacher) and why they stick with her to this day Why she believes handing young players orchestral excerpts too early does real damage Growing up on a dairy farm, playing horn for the cows, and the discovery she and her brother made about echo inside a 70-foot silo How her mother, a K-12 vocal music teacher, shaped a teaching philosophy Gail still uses today, one Nicole remembers learning from her firsthand Her go-to trick for teaching embouchure to students who insist they "can't" The interaction that Gail had with Andrew's 11-year-old son at the International Horn Symposium that sums up her kindness and thoughtfulness Attending her very first horn workshop at 18, her jaw on the floor meeting legends like Barry Tuckwell, and why she misses the format those workshops used to have Why she left the CSO after 20 years: the tension between touring life and raising two teenagers, with her husband still playing Principal Clarinet in the orchestra The Phil Farkas line that stuck with her for decades and altered the course of her career What she actually misses about orchestral life, and what she very much doesn't Playing in the Lyric Opera pit for Pavarotti and Domingo, which she calls her real "post-grad degree" Posting her CSO resignation letter the same week she was set to solo with the orchestra, and how unkindly some colleagues responded Being the one who leaves the orchestra and not her husband, and the "peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the car" reality of motherhood in a male-dominated field Borrowing a concept from photography to teach horn students about balance Why "change is healthy" is her guiding phrase, and how it connects to Seth Godin's idea of "tension" Her Northwestern send-off: an 80-person horn choir spanning every class she ever taught, and two straight nights of backyard bonfires Asking her own former student and successor at Northwestern, Adam Unsworth, what he didn't get from her as a teacher Studying with Arnold Jacobs, and how his teaching gradually boiled down to one simple instruction Applying to college as a phys ed major to avoid the family business of music, and why she still coaches horn playing like an athletic skill A phrase of the late Sam Pilafian's that comes up more than once in this conversation Why two different mentors, Covert and Farkas, independently pointed her toward Chicago Nicole's second act as a decorated audiobook narrator, and the phone call from an old Dallas Symphony colleague that got her started Andrew's take on why AI could never replicate what happens in the moment for musicians Gail's blunt take on AI in the classroom, and the picture book about butterflies her granddaughter chose over a graphic novel The scales question her old teacher used to ask her, and the twist she still applies to her own practice The story of Gail "fixing" an emergency before Mallory Thompson's wedding (when Tim Higgins got COVID), and the surprise Empire Brass connection it turned up for Andrew

The Brass Junkies is back for Season Three. After 222 episodes and a long pause following the loss of my co-host and dear friend Lance LaDuke, the show returns with a new weekly format. Each week brings conversations with some of the finest brass players in the world, plus short Mini-Conversations you can watch any time. In this preview I share why the show went quiet, what's changing, and what's coming this season, starting with Gail Williams. And sign up for The Brass Junkies Newsletter for Five Questions with brass players you know and some you should, plus practicing tips and more: https://www.brassjunkies.com/newsletter

The Brass Junkies is coming back! Andrew announces Season 3 (launching spring 2026) with a new format, then reads a heartfelt tribute to Lance LaDuke covering his legendary work ethic, courage, teaching philosophy, impact on the brass world, and more. Also: An exclusive presale offer for the brand new course from Hitz Academy, Practice Room Mastery: The Four M's Method, plus updates on moving on from Patreon and what's next for the show. Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com Facebook ►   / pray4jens   Instagram ►   / pray4jens   The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media.

Andrew is joined by seven brass players who share thoughts about a musician they were thankful for in 2023. Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com Guests Giving Thanks: Sasha Romero (Principal Trombone of the Metropolitan Opera) is thankful for Claudio Sanchez (8:10) Rodney Marsalis (Lead Trumpet + Founder of The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass) is thankful for Terry Everson (19:04) Dr. Danielle VanTuinen (Professor of Tuba + Euphonium at The University of Florida) is thankful for Deanna Swoboda (27:51) Jeffrey Scott (Professor of Horn at Oberlin Conservatory and Former Horn Player and Founder of Imani Winds) is thankful for Carolyn Clark (36:34) Dr. Steph Frye-Clark (Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at East Tennessee State and Tuba Player of Mirari Brass Quintet) is thankful for Sarah Paradis (46:08) Ryan Little (Principal Horn of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) is thankful for Gail Williams (52:05) Hakeem Bilal (Professor of Trombone at West Virginia University and Bass Trombonist for C Street Brass) is thankful for Omar Lateef (58:13) Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/ The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew and guest co-host Dr. Michael W. Nickens are joined by trombonist Myles Blakemore of The United States Navy Band Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/ The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew and guest co-host Buddy Deshler are joined by trumpeter, coronetist, and flugelhornist Jen Oliverio Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/ The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media https://www.brassjunkies.com/

Andrew is joined by Ryan McGeorge, euphonium player for "The President's Own" Marine Band Become a Patron ► https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies/ Show Notes ► http://www.brassjunkies.com Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/pray4jens/ Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/pray4jens/ The Brass Junkies is hosted and produced by Andrew Hitz for Pedal Note Media https://www.brassjunkies.com/