I'm posting, I'm posting, yea!

Oh my... it's been a while since I've written anything. I should remedy this post-haste.

For starters, I should mention that the premiere of Tony Malone And His Skeleton Band went extremely well, and I'm already getting inquiries from directors about ordering the piece for their choirs. Many thanks to Patrick Walders and the Louisiana All-State ACDA for making this happen! Hopefully I'll be getting a DVD/Blu-Ray copy of the performance in the mail sometime soon, and when I do I'll put a recording of the piece up for you all to see and hear.

I have a few new projects in the works right now, all of which are quite exciting. I'm working on a piece for the Augusta County Honor Band called Skyline; very funky and rhythmic, should be a good time. There's also been some talk about reviving my rock opera, The Darkest Day, this next spring and making a studio recording of it, so that's quite cool. There are a fair number of revisions I would need to do (including one song that I would scrap entirely and re-write as a lengthy epic), but it would be great to get a few more performances out there and have the whole thing available for purchase in iTunes. I trust you'll all be up for some Lenten headbanging, yes?

Lastly, the VMEA convention was this past weekend, and it provided me with some much needed musical rejuvenation. It was great to see so many JMU alumni over the course of the weekend, proof that - yes indeed - talented and motivated people really can make a career in music. It was a fun weekend of going to sessions and seminars, then going to bars and pubs, and hearing saxophone superstar Dave Pope play the ever-living crap out of John Mackey's "Concerto for Soprano Saxophone" with the JMU Wind Symphony. Also, one of the booths on the floor was selling plastic trombones. I kid you not: full-sized, fully functioning trombones. Have a look see -

I kind of want one...

~James B