On the bus home from town yesterday (after our final bank visit) Sarah started crying.  To say that these 10-months have been transformational for the two of us and our marriage would only scratch the surface of what the time has meant.  While Sarah was not able to do any work here as a midwife, she has indeed enjoyed her time away from working 100 hrs/week.  And we have discovered a new and greater understanding of each other, what we want out of life, why we do indeed love each other, that we also actually LIKE each other, and how we want our life in America to change.  Just imagine waking up and realizing (after 18-years) you did in fact marry the person of your dreams, and you can get a sense of how nice it has been.  Very cool indeed.

While I can’t speak for Sarah, I can report that this sabbatical has changed me as a husband, father, bandsman, cornet/trumpet player, musician, educator, and person.  At my core I guess I’m the same, but I can’t go back to living the way we did, driving everywhere, having a crazy schedule, playing every gig, being driven to make money, and in general living to work rather then working so that we can live.  Constant exposure to great brass players, brass bands, and brass music while not having a TV or car has been a personal revelation.  Walking everywhere and taking public transportation while living in a small flat, has had a profound influence on our family, on the girls, and our relationships with each other.   In short we come home to Glassboro different people and a different family then when we left 10-months ago.

Indeed the good-bye to Lindley, Huddersfield, and West Yorkshire is not forever.  In the coming months and years, we will see a steady stream of our new UK friends coming to visit South Jersey, Tromba Mundi will be here in Dec. 2011 to play with Lindley, and I’m working to get B&R over to Rowan for a brass festival in about 18-months.

So long for now, thanks for reading, for your support, and for the comments.  It has been fun to write the blog in an attempt to give you a little taste of what this has all been about.

For those of you from ABB who are reading:  I’ll see you @ 6:30 on Sunday

For my Rowan students:  Rowan Trumpet Boot Camp II is 24-27 Aug.  Will you be ready?

For the rest of you:  Is there anything we can do about the sorry state of the american “beer” industry?  I’m already getting withdrawal shakes……

Cheers,
B-

We were to be spending 4-days in Switzerland with JC Dobrzelewski (Asst. Prof. of Trumpet at West Chester University) and about 10 US trumpet students but our flight on Thursday night was cancelled. By the time we got to the front of the EasyJet line to get another flight, everything from the north of England to Geneva was gone and so were the flights to Zurich. No joy!

For a minute we entertained the thought of an all-night bus to London which would have arrived around 6AM or so and then waiting at the airport for a 5PM flight but we wouldn’t have made any of the rehearsals and wouldn’t have made it to our destination until about 9 or 10 PM and wouldn’t have slept for 2 days. For 2 1/2 days in Switzerland we didn’t think we could make the kids do it. So we had to cancel the whole thing. I’m really bummed not to see JC and be able to play in his trumpet ensemble shows over there. Sarah and the girls were really excited about the trip too.

So we are just staying local and decided to rent a car for the weekend. Today we went to a museum called Magna. It is actually a converted steel mill that has become a science center. It was fantastic. If you are interested: http://www.visitmagna.co.uk/

Of course you’ll all know the World Cup started last night and today England played the USA. I bet several of the B&R boys that the USA would win. Since it was a 1-1 draw I’m not sure I’ll be able to cash in on the beer winnings. England will consider it a loss but the American’s played very well. The lone goal for our side was of course the botched save by the English goalie. Poor guy. My favorite quote by the announcers: when the final American sub came onto the pitch “Here is the American substation. He was born in Aberdeen (Scotland) to an English father and Scottish mother who immigrated to Texas. He says he is playing for 2 countries today, The United States…..and Scotland.” Ha!

No more shows while I’m here. I’ll do rehearsals with Lindley on Monday and Wednesday (could have played their York Races gig today but since I had agreed to be away with the family I didn’t feel I could back out on that time) and have my final reh with B&R on Tuesday.

Of course this experience has changed me and the entire family in numerous ways which will take a very long time to understand and realize and for which we are VERY grateful. In addition, it appears both bands were happy to have me included in their groups for the year. Lindley presented me with a Black Sheep pint glass etched with the Lindley logo and “Cheers Bryan”, a Black Sheep bar towel, and a Black Sheep tee-shirt. Wonderful!

Then on Tuesday B&R presented me with a photo of our performance at Brass in Concert which was signed by the entire band. AND they gave me a B&R tankard engraved with the B&R logo and “Presented to Bryan Appleby-Wineberg in appreciation of services to The Brighouse and Rastrick Band September 2009-June 2010″. Just stunning!

I’m sure all of the above are going to find their way to prominent display positions in my office at Rowan. Might have to use the pint glass on occasion though…..

Cheers,
B-

Roger has a Ph.D. in Psychology and while he understands all aspects of the the mental aspects of brass playing, he has simplified them down into 2 issues that have been a great help to me just in the last 2-weeks.  Here is what he said:  ”When thinking about performing on a brass instrument there are 2 things that are most important and will take care of almost every performance problem anyone ever encounters.  They are:  1-Breathing and 2-Concentration.  Get these two things under control and almost everything else takes care of itself”.

Cheers,
B-

3 non-musical but stunning developments on that Friday (28 May):

1-there was a car accident near one of the contest towns that closed a major road and caused “band route planners” to totally change their plans.  The accident also resulted in 3 deaths.

2-When we were marching up in Greenfield, we were stopped 1/2 way down the street because 2 spectators had been hit by a bus just 100-yards in front of us.  One had crawled out but the other was trapped under a wheel.  We stood in the street for a while and were then taken a back route to the field where we played the test march.  The last we heard both victims survived.

3-The last contest we did was Upper Mill.  This town has a very well earned reputation for being rough.  Lots and lots of mounted police on the streets.  When we were marching down the street some very drunk “fans” decided it would be a good idea to walk the wrong way through the band.  Stupid, stupid, stupid……B&R is not made up of people you can push around.   I was in the very last row of the band along with the other 3 solo cornets and Alex (rep).  What we saw turned out to be hysterical.  As the “fans” started drunkenly trying to get through the band, they were punched, kicked, elbowed and hit with instruments by the B&R boys.  By the time they got back to me and Alex the idiots were just trying to cover their heads and get out of the way.  I’m sure they were battered and bruised when they woke up the next morning.  We then walked around the corner and won the competition over the other 60+ bands.  Ha!

Cheers,
B-

We have just returned from 5 nights in Scotland. My “take away”: The difference between big cities in Europe and big cities in America (not including Boston and Philly):
Cities in Europe: Small cars, bike lanes, and aesthetic beauty because it matters.
Cities in America: um……….next question……

Cheers,
B-

Lindley played yesterday at the Spring Festival in Blackpool. The contest is in 3 sections and features 60 invited bands. We competed in the lowest of the 3 sections (The Senior Trophy) and came 14 out of 20. Though far from perfect, the band did play quite well. Richard Jones, my friend and colleague at B&R, was there reporting for The Bandsman and picked the correct top 5. He also said we could have come between 8 and 12 so it wasn’t all bad.

For the first time in 4 contests we were not drawn #1!!   The bottom 6 bands in the section get kicked out of the contest and 6 bands from the waiting list (which I hear is about 10 years long) get put into the contest for next year, so Lindley do indeed live to fight another day.

After the show we had a nice meal in around the corner in Blackpool which is sort of Ocean City meets Atlantic City meets Gatlinburg, TN. Kind of an odd place. Wish I had remembered my camera so you could see what I’m talking about.  You can see results, commentary, and photos at 4BR. http://www.4barsrest.com/default.asp

By the end of the section, Richard was sick of the Lalo and ready to drive us to the B&R concert back in Rastrick. Show went OK (I could have sworn I knew how to play the Ab section of Gaelforce…..guess I was wrong).

It was indeed a very long day. Ian Culross who is playing lead for B&R for the month also played at the contest (and rode back with us in Richard’s car). His solo on the evening didn’t sound like he was tired at all. May have even been better then the last time I heard him play.

Cheers,
B-

I really can’t describe all we are feeling at the moment.  We are trying to put off thinking about it, but planning for the summer and the start of the fall keeps getting in the way.  What has really brought us back to reality is that Sarah has been in contact with the head mid-wife where she works, and now has her schedule for the first week we are back.  We arrive in the US on Friday and Sarah will be in the office early that Tuesday morning and on call for 24 hours 1-week later… welcome back!

In the mean time life here has been near bliss.  My mother took the family to Paris the first week of May.  She flew over and met us, paid for the trip, and managed to get both of her wallets stolen on the Paris subway.  Lost drivers license, passport, LOTS of money, and credit cards.  Folks at the Police Stations were eventually helpful as were the folks at the American Embassy.  Funny point of the week was going into the Police Station to report the theft where Sarah said to the policewoman at the front desk (in French) “Excuse me Madam, do you speak English?”.  The response:  ”No.” And no further movement.  Zero reaction, nothing.  Sarah asked “Anyone?”.  And eventually the policewoman motioned to another officer who helped translate.  But watching her “drop the shade” after saying NO was funny (or will be funny in coming years).  Mom was able to get a temporary passport 2 mornings later and though it was a bit of a downer to have that violation we were still in Paris!!!!

And, Hannah turned 14 while we were there.  In the photo section I have uploaded a few Paris photos and one of her on her birthday in Paris.  She seems so old….shudder to think how that makes us seem.

On the banding front we are in the midst of lots of work with both bands:  This weekend is the Grand Shield Spring Festival in Blackpool.  Lindley is competing in the lowest of the 3 sections and our test piece is Lalo’s Le Roi D’ys  (The Kind of Y’s).  Very nice pice but of course some very nasty bits.  Huge euphonium solo near the end that goes up to several top D’s.  Our euph. Ian sounds really good.  Then it is on to Whit Friday and then a recording.  I’m excited about the recording project as I’ll be doing a solo on the disc.  Also, for Whit Friday, Atlantic Brass Band flugel player Jack Deal is flying over to play with Lindley.  He’ll be here for the Thursday night rehearsal and then heads back home on Sunday.  This is actually quite helpful to Lindley as our flugel Nicola has just announced she is pregnant and really doesn’t want to march all over Yorkshire Cheshire/Lancashire (in the West Pennines) until midnight on 28 May.  Since we have not seen Jack since August it will be great to reconnect.  We are hoping to take him to York for the day on Friday.  He’ll be heading to Wales to climb Snowdon on Saturday!

For B&R, I’m still playing 4th man through the start of June.  We played last weekend in Bridgewater Hall as part of the Brass Festival.  King conducted and we played with 3 guest soloists.  Show was actually quite good but a bit of a “lip bender”.  After the show Amy Gilreath, Professor of Trumpet at Ill. State U. came back stage to say Hi!  So cool to see her and chat for a bit (she also pointed to my lip and said “Looks like you bruised it” Ha!).  She was there soloing with Laylend and was hanging out with Murray Greig who pointed out I was playing with B&R.   B&R has a show this weekend (I’ll run over after the contest with Lindley), a show up in The North (The Sage in Gateshead) next weekend, and then Whit Friday.

The family also has a couple of trips yet to do.  After Whit Friday we’ll head to Scotland for 5 days.  We’ll be sure to post some photos of Loch Ness and the steam rail journey from Fort William to Mallaig (The Jacobite).  It is rated the most beautiful rail journey in the world and featured in the Harry Potter film where the flying car was almost hit by the train.  Then just before we come home, the 4 of use will do 4-days in Switzerland to hang with JC Dobrzelewski and some American trumpet folks from West Chester University and one from Rowan.  We’ll do a couple of trumpet ensemble concerts and then head back to the UK for our last 4-days.

Just can’t imagine where the time has gone and what a mad rush it seems to the end.  I also can’t believe what an amazing time we have had.

Cheers,
B-

In celebrating Ian’s long tenure with the band it was very interesting to see former colleagues from the 30-years return for the meal and to talk in often glowing terms about their time in the band and sitting next to Ian every Tuesday and Thursday.  Some of these former B&R players have not performed with the group in 20-years.  But while they were involved, it was the focal point in their lives.

And it was funny too.  The legions of B&R players and supporters made a toast to Zoe (Ian’s wife) to thank her for all her support of Ian and his banding life. She responded by saying “And I want to say Thank You to B&R because if you had not forced him to get out of the house on Tuesday and Thursday nights our marriage wouldn’t have survived these 38 years”.

As you may have guessed, the current and former members never let anyone take themselves too seriously.  While Stephen Howes was remanicing about Ian’s first years with the band he said “Ian came to us on first horn but at the end of the first year he either volunteered or was asked to move to 2nd horn”.  Almost immediately there was a huge cry from at least 10 different people in the banquet room “ASKED!!!!”  They all yelled.

Congratulations Ian!  If you can hang on, soon you’ll be the longest serving band member in B&R’s history.  To be honest I think you are the one who has been “Living the dream.”

Cheers,
B-

Of course, by the end of the evening most of us had a few pints in the system.  The photos below are of the people at our table and of Ian.

This is another installment on the Volcano (what’s its name?) Ash story from the local paper here in Huddersfield.

Hannah attends Salendine Nook High School.  About 30 of her classmates went on a school trip to Disney in Florida over the Easter Recess. Guess what happened?  They got stuck thanks to the volcanic ash/UK airspace shutdown.  They were supposed to be gone a week…..they are now in week 2 with at least another 4-days more.

Disney has given them free passes to the parks, unlimited drinks in the parks (just what those teachers need-kids with an unlimited supply of sugar and caffeine!) but the school has to continue to pay for the rooms and food.  Cost comes out to about 3,000 pounds/day extra.  So for those of you math whizzes out there, the current extra bill is (3000 pounds/day) X (7-days) X (exchange rate)) getting close to $33,000.  OUCH!  And it isn’t over yet.

Their airline is Continental.  For at least another week, there are no Continental flights out of Florida that will get the teachers and students back to the UK. That could add another $33,000 to the bill.  But it gets worse.  Continental has offered to fly them back to the UK this Sunday but OUT OF HOUSTON! Further, Continental has said “You are financially responsible for getting the kids and teachers to Houston” AND “We can not guarantee the HOUSTON flight won’t be cancelled due to new volcanic ash.”  You may realize reading this, that if the kids did indeed get to Houston and their flight was again cancelled due to UK airspace restrictions, they would be without a place to stay so they might end up in the airport halls……

And the final piece is this:  Since Continental has offered a “solution” that will actually get them home, they are bound to accept that solution or forfeit whatever Travel Insurance they had taken out to cover this whole mess.

Hannah’s reaction on the walk to school this morning was “Wow, can you imagine being stuck in Disney?  What a great experience!” We just laughed.

The other “close to our hearts” stories include Neville Young who is stuck in UGANDA!  Neville and Deborah went to visit their daughter there and of course can’t get home.  It appears they have been able to get a flight to Amsterdam today and will then make their way back to London.

AND Sarah’s parents get to spend an additional fortnight here.  They were supposed to leave on Monday but were able to come back down here on Tuesday to see all of us and attend our Lindley Band show at Town Hall.  They will head home on 3 May, but because they are here, Sarah gets to see them on her birthday (she’s 43 on Saturday but don’t tell you I told.  She not dealing well with this b-day at all) AND her Father’s birthday is on Sunday, so there is a bit of a sliver lining.

AND, the Lindley Band Flugel player  (Nicola) is stuck in Shanghai, China.  She went with her husband for a week long holiday.  Now they are in week 2 and won’t be able to get a flight back until 6 May.  We hired a flugel player for the Tuesday show but have a major contest on 15 of May and Nicola isn’t sure she’ll be up to the task only 9-days after she returns.

The good news is that the planes are flying again!  There was a story on BBC Leeds Radio about a small town near the Leeds-Bradford Airport where there was almost a traffic and pedestrian stand-still when someone stopped and pointed up at the first plane to go over the town in a week.  Everyone stopped, looked, and pointed like it was some sort of strange happening.  Kind of funny.

Finally:  The results for ABB at NABBA were not good.  Not to worry folks, we’ll do better next time.  Congrats to Fountain City and JMU on continuing to set a very high standard but you had better start looking over your shoulder, next April in Michigan may be a whole different story.

Hang in there everyone.

Cheers,

B-