Being a military musician boils down to 2 things: passion and service. We love music, we love our country, and we want to give all that we have to encourage the military and the community with the skills we have. We are Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors and Coast Guardsman serving and representing each one of you with music. Military Music is important. Military musicians are currently stationed around the world in harms way… away from their families serving where we...read more

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Your 9th Army band is busy performing over 50 musical missions this month. We are playing for Soldiers and families all around Army Alaska. This month we are taking time to enter our schools to participate in Music in our Schools Month, as well as a few other activities that have us in front our Nation's future leaders. You may ask why we do this? It's simple, we are Soldiers serving and representing Soldiers. We serve our country with music. We hope by our...read more

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I have been extremely fortunate to have outstanding mentors throughout my life, but sometimes you forget or place aside thoughts of how important an individual may be to you. COL Finley Hamilton was a man that has impacted my life in many ways. He had a direct impact on hiring me and pushed me to become a Warrant Officer. He was even in the audience when I graduated the Army Bandmaster Course. COL Hamilton hated early mornings but loved the Army and making music. I loved finding...read more

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Each Army unit usually carries with it a motto or song that describes what it does, what it is proud of, and what makes it unique. This is especially true where I work in Alaska. We are "Arctic Warriors". Many years ago my colleague Chief Warrant Officer 5 Aaron Graff penned this simple march, Keepers of the Northern Watch. It's words ring with each of us everyday and the song is song by all of your Arctic Warriors at the conclusion of all of our...read more

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A couple of weeks ago, I had a nice article written on my team in Alaska. The best pull out quote was when I said , “You know something’s important to the Army when an Army Band is there.” It is about service and building team. This can be tough work if you aren't prepared... You ever heard of a "Diva". This can be a very bad stereotype for a musician or a person( I remember the recent Snickers commercial with Aretha Franklin and Liza Minnelli) I figure...read more

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I wish each of you could have been on the delightful Baranof Island in the city of Sitka, Alaska last week for the Alaska Day celebration. This week long event commemorated the peaceful transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States in Sitka on Oct 18, 1867 and was themed as “Celebrating Sacred Ground.” It is an important event for the country and Army Alaska, so your 9th Army Band was in attendance ready to serve. During our brief 3 days in Sitka, we led the parade...read more

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It's always nice when you end up positively in the news. Below is a very solid article on your 9th Army "Arctic Warrior" Band and Army Bands done by Reba Lean of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. It includes a quick view of what we do as Army Musicians and includes a multimedia link to a video of the article from youtube. It is great to be part of a community that understands Soldiers and values what we do each day. Thank you, Ms. Lean. This is a shot by...read more

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Most musicians have dabbled with a wide variety of equipment to try to “perfect” our performance. Arguments and preferences for equipment switch routinely as we settle in on what we like. I am amazed to look back on my college days and reflect on how much money I wasted on all those mouthpieces, ligatures, and reeds. Most of us major on minor issues. In the end, we usually go in circles back to where we began. Fortunately, we all get older and wiser. I can...read more

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Have you ever heard the old axiom, “If you want to get better at something, you just have to do it." I was thinking about that this weekend as I recovered from the 9th Army Band's semi-annual 20-K Ruck March up here at Ft. Wainwright, AK. In order to ensure success, my Soldiers had to train-up and do multiple short ruck marches to get ready for the main event. Just marching, or running, or walking or lifting weights wouldn't equal optimum success. Muscles are...read more

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I had a chance to discuss Army bands in an interview for our local Alaskan newspaper. As I talked to the interviewer and showed her around our building, I stumbled upon 6 of my musicians that had just returned from the Rifle Range. They were eating lunch and cleaning their assigned weapons. As I introduced them, I mentioned what their primary instrument was … I naturally found myself introducing the 2nd and 3rd instruments they played. Everyone in the room had a double. As I...read more

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