Road Band in Tillamook!
I just got done with a strange night in the life of a musician. I got a call Sunday afternoon for a gig at the coast. The Glenn Miller Orchestra was between piano players. They had a guy to take care of all the California dates and a new guy coming on the band in Bremerton, WA, but they needed a piano player for Wednesday at Tillamook High School. It was easy enough for me to free up my schedule and drive over to the coast, and I figured it was a unique opportunity.
Now, the Glenn Miller Orchestra has been operating as a ghost band since January 1945. Some of these charts were very old, and many had old faded pencil markings indicating what I was actually supposed to play, instead of what the ink said. For some reason we didn't play Chattanooga Choo-Choo or American Patrol, but we got the rest of the big Miller Band hits (In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, Kalamazoo, Tuxedo Junction, Little Brown Jug, Danny Boy, etc.). I got to wear a band uniform, and I got the loudest applause when the audience found out that was from Portland. And I also had to go on the bus for a second. The bus smells.
The bus doesn't smell as bad as the city of Tillamook. The High School is right next to a mill, which had a pretty unpleasant smell, but the whole city is surrounded by fields of cow manure. I was able to make it to the cheese museum for a second and pick up a scoop of white licorice ice cream. That flavor isn't packaged and shipped to grocery stores. I've only seen it at the factory and at an ice cream shop in Newport. They had a lasagna bake at the high school (band mom special), as well as brownies and grape drink. It was a high-cal day for sure.
One of the horn players asked me if I was going to do the Washington dates too. I said, "No. I'm going to go home and sleep in my bed." I think he understood.
Today is a day for taxes. Hopefully it's the last for a while.
Now, the Glenn Miller Orchestra has been operating as a ghost band since January 1945. Some of these charts were very old, and many had old faded pencil markings indicating what I was actually supposed to play, instead of what the ink said. For some reason we didn't play Chattanooga Choo-Choo or American Patrol, but we got the rest of the big Miller Band hits (In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, Kalamazoo, Tuxedo Junction, Little Brown Jug, Danny Boy, etc.). I got to wear a band uniform, and I got the loudest applause when the audience found out that was from Portland. And I also had to go on the bus for a second. The bus smells.
The bus doesn't smell as bad as the city of Tillamook. The High School is right next to a mill, which had a pretty unpleasant smell, but the whole city is surrounded by fields of cow manure. I was able to make it to the cheese museum for a second and pick up a scoop of white licorice ice cream. That flavor isn't packaged and shipped to grocery stores. I've only seen it at the factory and at an ice cream shop in Newport. They had a lasagna bake at the high school (band mom special), as well as brownies and grape drink. It was a high-cal day for sure.
One of the horn players asked me if I was going to do the Washington dates too. I said, "No. I'm going to go home and sleep in my bed." I think he understood.
Today is a day for taxes. Hopefully it's the last for a while.