#29 - The Velcro Horns (and friends)

Horns!! Wanna know a secret? OK, it's not really a secret. I used to be a horn player. I played trumpet in school from fourth grade until my senior year when I played my last concert and then never picked up my trumpet again. (It wasn't that I didn't like it, because it did, it's just that I was never very good and I knew it.) So I have a soft spot for horn players.

There are some TMBG songs that are made so much better by the horns they almost shouldn't play them without at least one horn present (The Guitar springs to mind). And there are so many other songs that are made so much better by adding a trumpet or a sax or the whole bunch. There have been several incarnations of the horn ensemble over the years, but that's OK because I love them all. I must claim the current group (Dan, Stan, Curt and bonus point to Ralph) as my own though because they are the only ones I have seen live.

I love watching Dan on stage because he always looks like he's having so much fun even when he's just sitting and waiting for his turn to play. I love Stan's parade of flashy and exciting shoes. I love the endless ice cream mountain jokes about Curt. And even if it was only for one tour, Ralph's level of showmanship blew me away.

If it wasn't for the fact that I would miss seeing Dan Miller's intro to Istanbul I would gladly welcome horns at every show.








EUPHONIUMS FOREVER!