on DRUMS, with John Simeone
This is a local Long Island Podcast given by a veteran drummer on the Long Island music scene. We have a variety of local professional musicians as participants. We joke, give insights and share stories about our over 4 decades of experience in the music profession.
on DRUMS, with John Simeone
Trumpet Tales and Teaching Triumphs: Ron Fox's Dual Journey in Music and Education
Okay, this is episode 25. I have my friend here today. This is On Drums. I'm John Simeone. I'm your friend, ron Fox. Say hi, ron, how you doing? And Ron is my first trumpet player.
Speaker 2:You're my first trumpet player and trumpet's easy, right, because you only got three valves yeah, easy, yeah, playing 50 years, and I, I'm still learning how to play the thing. 50 years, yeah, well, yeah, yeah, that's right, probably more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we've all been playing 50 years, but so the unique thing about you, ron and this is kind of why I wanted to have you on here You're like you know this podcast is about me griping about. It is like I just have all these fucking issues with music, with the music industry and stuff, right, and you're like one of the few guys who had a teaching career and still play Right, right, yes, mostly. Most of the guys in I don't know my circuit, in whatever circuit we're in, either do one or the other right, yeah, you know they dedicate their lives to being full-time or they teach. Yeah, right, no, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And only a few guys. You me, jason. Yeah, leland Pinter does it right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, play yeah Legitimately.
Speaker 1:Legitimately. I remember being hired as a teacher and there was three or four music teachers who taught instrumental music, and I did not know what their instrument was, because you know what I mean they just taught baritone.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. It was weird, right. So it's a different thing, because you're literally controlling two careers at once. You know the thing is I?
Speaker 1:I never really wanted to go into teaching.
Speaker 2:Yeah, being honest with you, I didn't want to go and I went to to college and got my bachelor's in performance.
Speaker 2:That's what I did and my dad was, was okay with it. He was a doctor, he was a chiropractor, but you know he was okay with it. He never tried to sway me away from it. I said I want to, you know, go and get performance degree. And I got my performance degree from university of miami and trumpet, and I came home and he was like well, now, what are you going to do right? And I said I'm going to play. He goes where you're going to play. I said I'm going to play, you know, and he wrote me. He said get certified, get certified, just have it something to fall back on. You should get it. Blah, blah, blah, you know. And he wrote me and I said okay you know that is bizarre.
Speaker 1:you just said because my father did the exact same thing really. I got a four-year performance degree at richport and I I loved, I hated leaving the school. I had so much fun there. All my friends were there and my father said to me all right, if you get your education degree, we'll pay for another year. Okay, and that's the same exact thing. Yeah, and then I was home for like two months, you know, hanging out in my room and he's like okay, let's go Right, you know it's not going to happen.
Speaker 2:Right and you know, he did the exact same thing. The same thing. He was like I go all right, dad. And while I came back to New York from Miami where I went to school, I moved back home with my dad and while I was home and starting to play and started to make connections and I got into wedding band and doing some sessions and different things and got involved with Funk Philharmonic eventually. But during this time I went to get my master's in education, because you have to, while I was doing it. Well, because I had a performance degree. So in order to get certified to teach, I had to get an education degree. So I went to do it on the master's level and I was going to take a class initially.
Speaker 1:Oh, I see what you're saying.
Speaker 2:Initially it was at CW Post and then I went to Dowling and I was just taking education classes. Nothing music, just education to get certified. But while I was home playing and doing stuff, I was going to school to get an education degree, Right, and then, you know, it was, like I said, not really music, you know just education.
Speaker 2:You were doing the other and then, of course, to get certified, I had to do student teaching Right and I went student taught and that's where, when I started the student taught, I found that I kind of liked it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, something I never really wanted to do, but when I was doing it I liked it. I said I could do this. You know, not now want to play, but in the I can, I could see myself doing this. And then what happened was um years ago. You know things have changed years ago. You know, you got a. You got a cq, which is a certificate of qualification.
Speaker 2:You might remember that that's good for like five years and then and then you lose, and then you'll certification, and then then after that, you know, after five years, if you don't teach, you got to change it over to a um, to a like a preliminary certificate and that's good for, like, another five years, and once that's done, you'll lose.
Speaker 2:You'll lose it you'll lose it yeah so like five years went by, I was playing and doing a lot of stuff, I was touring, I was, I went on the road with lionel hampton and I was touring something like that. So five years went past and I and I, I changed over that c of qualification to a preliminary provisional. I think it's called the provisional certificate.
Speaker 1:Provisional right and.
Speaker 2:I was still playing. This is going on now close to 10. And when it gets close to 10 years, like you said, you lose it. So I'm like, if I don't get a teaching job now, I'm going to lose my thing and I did it for nothing. And not only that when you're young, you don't care about having a steady income, you don't care about health benefits, pension, pension.
Speaker 1:You don't care about all those things.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know what a pension was. No, but 10 years into playing yourself, you start to think well, you know, I really should have a health plan. It would be nice to have a pension when I stop working, and certainly you know it would be. You go through months, like now, january, february, where there's no gigs and you're like you know, you're scuffling along till the busy season. So you know you finally decide. You know it'd be nice to have all those things a steady income a pension, all that stuff.
Speaker 2:So I started to apply to jobs and I started to do subbing initially, and then I had a couple of part-time jobs and eventually got a full-time job. And this way, you know my, I got my, got my permanent certification, I had a full-time job, right, but so, but when you were okay.
Speaker 1:So when you were teaching, what'd you start with? Where'd you start with when you started? I was teaching band well, initially I had some part-time jobs.
Speaker 2:I was an assistant band director at huntington high school and some part-time jobs. I was an assistant band director at huntington high school and I I was helped with. I was the brass instructor for the marching band.
Speaker 2:I had a big competitive marching band and I did their jazz ensemble and I also taught at suffolk community college jazz ensemble and and the concert band as an adjunct professor for a couple semesters. But when I got the job at, the first really full-time job was at east isaac, where I just retired from and I was I was banned from the beginning and I was high school for 15 years, and then I moved to the elementary school.
Speaker 1:That's what I did at the end um go with the little kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there was a nice change. I loved high school. You know high school was great and um, but it was a nice change and I was still maintained my jazz ensemble because they met extracurricular at evening.
Speaker 1:Didn't they come in once and work with the drummers at the jazz ensemble? I think you did, yeah.
Speaker 2:I had a few people do that for me, which is great. I had some great friends who would just come down for no money.
Speaker 1:I did it too. I had Jeff Lang come down and Joel Levy.
Speaker 2:Mike Karubi came down.
Speaker 1:He did me a favor.
Speaker 2:Oh, Mike Karubi came down he came down and Ozzy came down to work on my trombone. Oh, that's cool. You know stuff like that, you know. And now I'm sure my former students see him playing with Bruce Springsteen. They're like holy shit, he came down he came down to help me out in my high school band. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yep, and, like you know, I want to say me and Jason guys who were out there playing, it's a different.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a funny thing because, like I said, it's nothing that I didn't want to do initially and I did. But, like, what we started to talk about initially is I always had the head to where I'm going to continue to play, Even though I'm a teacher, I'm going to play as much as possible and I have all along throughout my career in freelance situations and in steady bands and in sessions and things like that. It's funny because even now, even though I retired from teaching, this may sound kind of funny, Even though it was my main gig. In my mind my main gig was being a musician, A musician right, I'm a musician that has a teaching job, Exactly Even though it was my main job and a career musician right, my, I have a I'm a musician that has a teaching job exactly.
Speaker 2:I don't I, even though it was my main job in a career, but yeah, in my crazy mind. I'm a musician that teaches and you know, and the funny thing also is when I started to teach there's a lot of guys like you and other people you mentioned who are great players, who are teachers and and when I was in high school and I don't want to be a teacher because you know they're not players, that's true, and a lot of them aren't.
Speaker 1:But back then they weren't players.
Speaker 2:But back then yeah, that was their thing, Teaching was like, and they were great at it. Of course, you know, but I always had this conception like well, teachers, they go into teaching because they, because they suck well, I mean no, not necessarily because they suck, but because they're they're not good enough to do it, I always and be a musician so like.
Speaker 2:But I found later on, like that's not really the case when I went to it, so many people that I knew that were great players that I ended up playing with over the years. That are teachers. I mean, you know, ke know, kevin Doolittle and Wayne Schuster.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but those are all kind of the same generation. Yeah, when we went to school I know for a fact my teachers nobody played with us. Yeah, and they were in the jazz band, but the guy didn't take out his trumpet and play with us, right? Why is that? I used to always go. Well, they must suck.
Speaker 2:I mean they have a concept of jazz but they're not players Right. You know, but now Well, that's another whole thing too, those guys like Wayne Schuster and Kevin, you know they all play. Well, that's I mean, even to this day. There are some teachers that on the legit side of it you know the classical side of it like they do jazz band. They don't have the jazz band experience and although they're great with a concert band and stuff, they're not so good with phrasing and articulation, and things like that with a jazz ensemble when I was because I had the experience.
Speaker 2:I did it for 10 years before I started teaching and I always took my horn out during my high school jazz ensemble.
Speaker 1:See, that's the difference.
Speaker 2:Here's you know, and it demonstrated how things should be phrased and articulated Exactly. Phrased and articulated things Exactly. And just even just the. You know the play of life for the kids. You know, in rehearsal they were like, oh, that's what it sounds, you know, that's how it goes, that's what they need, that's what it sounds like.
Speaker 1:You know, I shared an office with Kevin Doolittle.
Speaker 2:Uh-huh, yeah, I wanted to kill him.
Speaker 1:I just, I swear, you know, because I'd go in there and they'd be one of my things. I'd have like a box with my stuff, mouthpieces and things and I'd go in there and it would be gone and I'd say, kevin, what's going on? And then all that shit that was in there was piled in the corner and he'd have that thing on his desk with his stuff in it. I said, kevin, I was, that's, that's mine, man. He and he said to me no, I nobody was using this. I took it nobody. What does that mean? You're going?
Speaker 2:to the parking lot.
Speaker 1:Nobody's using the car.
Speaker 2:You take the car. It's like I wanted to I wanted to strangle him anyway and he's flying planes now.
Speaker 2:You know, I know that I saw him, but like like him and like jeff lang, others you mentioned that's you know those are guys who told, told me that did high school and went to elementary school, so they went to move to elementary. Told me, oh, elementary is great, it's great, it's great, you know, and that was like kind of an inspiration for when I moved to elementary although initially it wasn't my choice, but I don't want to get into details Some teachers got access, then they moved teachers around and they moved me. Some teachers got access, then they moved teachers around and they moved me. And you know I would have gladly, you know, probably I would have moved, you know, on my own, you know, because I knew from other friends of mine who taught high school first and went to elementary and loved it. But I wasn't, I was moved involuntarily but it turned out to be the best thing.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, man, I loved it. Those kids, they're into it, but it turned out to be the best thing.
Speaker 2:I loved it. I loved it had a new director come in yeah.
Speaker 2:Sal no, it wasn't Sal I want to get into, but a new director came in, made some changes and moved me involuntarily. But had we spoke about it I would have done it on my own, knowing guys like Jeff Lang and Kevin Doolittle and guys that did high school and went to elementary and loved it and it turns out I loved it. It was an adjustment, for sure, you know. But to have those elementary kids you know, because you taught elementary to have them come into lessons every day and go we're going to learn a new note today.
Speaker 1:We're going to learn a new song.
Speaker 2:Like. The enthusiasm was incredible. My high school kids will come to a lesson. I go can you open up your case? Yeah, yeah, how about putting your instrument together? You know, let's play some scales for them, or what do we got to play scales for, like are you kidding me?
Speaker 1:yeah, man, you know, like this is what I'm doing, now it's worse, now it is and these kids?
Speaker 2:are we gonna learn a new note? Can we play the you charmer? All right, let's play, let's go, let's do it.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's the little kids man.
Speaker 2:It's great and just the reward of when you start kids. Here's how you open the case. Here's how you put the mouthpiece in. Here's how you make a sound. And then two years later I do a fourth and fifth grade band and, and two years later I toured fourth and fifth grade band and even at the end of fourth grade where they're playing band arrangements. Going from that, but even further along went in fifth grade and they're really starting to play music.
Speaker 2:I look out there and I was like every kid on this stage. I started from scratch.
Speaker 1:Started from think about that. That's an amazing feeling. They come in September not knowing one note and then they play a concert. They play a concert. You know what I used to do in my fourth grade concert. I don't know how it was in East Texas, but I used to do. I would start them in September and then they wouldn't do a concert until May.
Speaker 2:Right, that's what we did. The same, okay, same thing.
Speaker 1:So I would start my May concert, the night concert, with all the kids. The first song we're going to do is you get to play any note you want. It's got to be it's got to be in time. I'll give you a tempo, but any note, don't blare, don't, don't intentionally squeak, but playing what you want, and I do that, I would count. I go. One, two ready, go. They play for like 15 seconds.
Speaker 2:I'm just going right and then I would stop them and I turn to the audience and say, okay, you just attended my first rehearsal and and that's the way they sound, and then I would do a song and I'd say this is where they sound now and it always went on because it was true.
Speaker 1:Remember when you count the first tune off in the first rehearsal . It is just you know it goes against all your musical grain.
Speaker 2:Everything's bad, everything's bad.
Speaker 1:No, that's the truth, that's the truth, but I remember doing like you play trumpet, so you just put your stuff in a case and go home, right? Yeah, I used to do gigs, man, and all these guys in bands would be like nobody worked on Mondays and they'd all be like what's your problem, man? Why don't you relax?
Speaker 2:I'm like I've got a sixth-grade band tomorrow morning. Man, I've got a lesson at 7 o'clock in the morning, 7.30 in the morning, it's true.
Speaker 1:It's true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it was great. It was a great change. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It was great much, I mean I don't want to be conceited about it, but yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't know. You're conceited, it's okay. I work a lot, I get called a lot.
Speaker 2:And to do. You know, like I said, I always maintain playing as much as possible throughout my teaching career. And you know, and now that I'm retired, that's all I'm doing and that was my dream to do. I said when all I'm doing, and then that's what, that was my dream to, to, to, to, you know, to do this, and when I retire, I just want to play, I just want to be a player and that's what I'm doing and it's you know that I, you know I had the luxury of playing for the, like I said before, playing for 10 years and touring and doing stuff, just that, before I went to teaching.
Speaker 2:So in one respect, you know, I don't feel like like I missed out on anything right. I don't feel like, oh, you know, I didn't go right into teaching right away and say, oh man, I missed out, maybe I should have, you know, went into playing more, and so you know, I don't feel real. I mean, there's things that I might have been able to do, that I would have liked to have done. I mean, would I like to possibly play with Billy Joel and things like that, and Bruce Springsteen and stuff like that friends of mine do? Maybe I could have done that. But you know, on the other hand, I'm getting a pension now and they're not Right. That's exactly right, you know, and I have friends of mine who play with these people who envy me because of that reason.
Speaker 2:Exactly, you know I won't name names, but I have friends that toured with some famous people and they say, man, and they envy me, they go, you got a pension, I don't.
Speaker 1:And that's huge man. I'm sorry it is. It's this huge I mean, they were saying that to me when I first started. It's like, oh, you got a pension.
Speaker 2:I was like what the fuck is?
Speaker 1:a pension. I didn't know we'd deal with that and they were talking about, you know, maybe like the Jetsons or some shit, it's never coming, but then it comes right and you get the money but, like I said, not only that, just the steadiness of the income all along.
Speaker 2:Like I said, you know us musicians, we know January, February. Now this time there's nothing going on. So you got to scuffle through those months and when you have a job, you know like a steady teaching job, you're never worried about it.
Speaker 2:Even through snowstorms and things where you didn't work, you know you got paid. You got paid. You know, when I was just a player and I was doing some private lessons on the side, if it snowed and I couldn't get out, I used to drive to their house. If I couldn't do my lessons, I didn't get paid, Right, you know. And then the whole that COVID thing happened when people weren't playing, teachers still got paid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and musicians didn't, and musicians that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:musicians didn't Club gigs stopped weddings stopped, everything stopped. And then what you know. And although we stopped teaching for a while, you know we were still doing it in some capacity and still got paid and your health insurance didn't stop.
Speaker 1:I had friends who had a set of GoFundMe pages yeah, no, I know, because they had no gigs. I mean, that's what they relied on was gigs.
Speaker 2:So, like I said, I don't regret it at all. Like I said, I'm just glad that I was able to maintain playing throughout my teaching and not just you know good things that I've done.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, like reputable things, Not just okay, yeah, I played through my teaching teacher grant, I just did a bunch of weddings and I played in some clubs because I, I, you know, I I did play with some famous people and I played for famous people and did a lot of things, you know, played with very reputable musicians along the way so what?
Speaker 1:so, okay, so you got your your performance degree and then what?
Speaker 2:what was the, what was the gig thing happening after that you went well, when I I when I first got out of college with my performance, I just was in town on Long Island and sitting in and meeting people. You know how everybody does you pass your card along and you know, started to. You know, meet people and sit in and people hear me play and then people start calling you for things and it just led, always led, to something I used to sit in, you know, with different bands and people would hear me, and I ended up getting a wedding band out of it. What was the wedding band? Which was the Josh Allen Orchestra.
Speaker 1:Oh right. So, I remember showcasing with you guys.
Speaker 2:Okay. So it was a very busy band and I started working in it and that was cool and then, you know, that also led to, you know, getting into the funk philharmonic Right, which I don't know it's 39 years now Is it 39 years it is, we just played for 39.
Speaker 2:I don't remember the exact particulars, but I remember like being asked to help out CW Post, you know, liu with their jazz ensemble. So I was just home doing some playing. I was home from college with my performance degree, you know, starting to play around town and I got asked to help and then Paul Kendall was in that group and he said oh, there's a funk band starting up and they're rehearsing.
Speaker 1:Paul Kendall was in. Who did he play with?
Speaker 2:Well, he was in the funk philharmonic, but I believe when I first met him was at CW Post, he was in the jazz ensemble there.
Speaker 1:But he was with some big act. He was with, wasn't he with? Oh man, I don't know, like Maynard, one of those guys?
Speaker 2:No, I don't think not Paul, Not Paul Kendall. Okay, I'm going to get him confused Maybe but in any event, I think that's where I initially met him. He said oh, there's a funk band that's starting up and they're looking for a trumpet player, you know. And so he recommended me. You know, and it was funny, I was just about to go to a rehearsal, one of the funk philharmonic rehearsals in its infancy stages, and I'm playing a wedding with this wedding band. I think it was the Crest Hollow Country Government.
Speaker 1:Of course, and you know because you've done it.
Speaker 2:When you're on a break, you go see the other bands and you see what they're doing and what they sound like and you criticize them, you and I did a gig together where you taught me the musician's salute with the watch.
Speaker 1:You put your eye, you look at your watch. That was the musician's salute. Yeah, right.
Speaker 2:Somebody taught me that as well. That's great. But I was doing some wedding and then Ozzy and Vinnie Sinkwamani and Ozzy Villeneuve, who were involved in this funk band, they were on a break because they were playing in a wedding band in another room. They came down and they were on the break and I'm playing and not that I was playing anything spectacular because it was a wedding but they heard me play. And then when I got a break, I was talking to them and they were still on a break and we were talking and we were doing this funk band and I said, yeah, I know Paul Kendall had mentioned to me that he was going to recommend me to do it. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:I said I'm going to a rehearsal, like whenever upcoming, and oh, great, and that's how I met those guys and I met the Funk Philharmonic. But you know those guys that started playing and original member and, like I said, the band's been playing ever since and we've done a lot of great things and play with a lot of great people. And then I ended up, you know, leaving, you know, josh Allen Orchestra to go on the road with Lionel Hampton. I got an audition with Lionel Hampton's band and traveled all across Europe and and and Japan and Italy, and you got to see the world.
Speaker 2:I got to see the world. I traveled to England, ireland, scotland, world. I traveled to England, ireland, scotland. We did a UK tour. We did a few tours of Germany, netherlands, luxembourg, switzerland, france. I mean played everywhere.
Speaker 1:So what year was this about?
Speaker 2:I did that from 1988 to 1990.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Did the North Sea Jazz Festival, played the JVC Jazz Festival. We played before Miles Davis. We did some incredible you know doing.
Speaker 1:So you got to hang.
Speaker 2:with those guys Got to hang with those guys Got to meet so many people and eventually when I left that and I started teaching it, I went to a different club date organization, hank Lane, and even though it was a sort of club date, which is mostly weddings, they also did a lot of things for celebrities and things like that. They were a big office.
Speaker 2:They were a big office. They did all the top hotels in the Plaza Hotel and the Pierre Hotel and all those places and we played for a lot of celebrity dinner dances and functions and I met so many people and we've, you know, we played, they do a lot, they do parties honoring, you know, like we played a party honoring sylvester salone and tom and tom cruise and don rickles and and, uh, you know, on and on and on. So you know, I said this is you know, and I just was able to do that teaching at the same time and doing stuff.
Speaker 1:The 80s that were in the 80s in 1990, those were the club date bands. Some of them were legitimately really good bands, very good, very good.
Speaker 2:There still are very good ones. There's a couple, there were very good ones and bands were very busy. You couldn't beat it, we used to laugh. I used to live with Ozzy and we'd compare our schedules. We were literally you did it too during this time in the 80s. You know, live with Ozzy and we'd compare our schedules, and you know, I mean, we were literally. You did it too during this time in the 80s, four or five weddings a weekend, friday night, two Saturday, two Sunday, yep.
Speaker 1:And then there were weekends where it was like Memorial Day, there was a holiday.
Speaker 2:You worked Monday too, you'd do six A Friday, like if it was a Labor Day weekend, a Memorial Day weekend. You know I used to. Oh, I'm working Friday night, two Saturday, two Sunday two Monday. You know, okay, it was a wedding club date band, but it was. You know, they were good bands and they were busy and you made money and you made money.
Speaker 1:I made a lot of money. I was with Gus Coletti for I don't know for a million years and they didn't even showcase. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I worked with them too. I worked with everybody. Like I said, once I got into the scene, like anything else, I was in the click.
Speaker 1:But see you were able to do that and maintain sort of the outside playing thing. Yeah, I couldn't. Yeah, Because once you're busy, if you're doing five gigs a week at least for me anyway nobody calls you for other gigs, for other playing gigs, because they know you're not available.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, that other playing gigs because you know you're not available. Yeah, well, that happened too, but there was times I got called and I was available, even though I was, you know, a steady winning man, more or less. You know, I got called from like Gus Scoletti and different things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's where we played together. Yeah, we played, yeah with. Sauer and Dazzo you know, ended up being the director of music director. I was trying to get Richie Scullo here he lives too far away. He doesn't want to come Anyway, yeah, that was a funny band.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I was always, you know, got calls to fill in here and there and I still do to this day. Like you said, I'm not doing a whole lot of that kind of work, but I get calls to do it and although I was with a steady band through the years, there was always room to fill in and and keep busy number one, and keep my name around and keep my playing in the light of other people. Yeah, there's those times where you don't call Ronnie's. He's not going to be available.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you this what was the gig after the line-up? What did you do after that? How did that gig end? By the way, how did you do after that? That's when I? How did that gig end? By the way, how did a gig like that end? I left after a while you left, I left, no, I left.
Speaker 2:I did it for two years. It was great. The money wasn't all that great, but it didn't matter.
Speaker 1:Right, you're there to play. It's always the good gigs pay less.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And the shitty gigs. I'm playing with a legend and I'm touring Europe and Japan and playing these major jazz festivals with all these major groups and I was scared. You know, at the time it was the 80s you know, like $100 a gig, yeah, and I could come home and when we were in between tours I'd go do a wedding and make twice that amount of money and it was.
Speaker 1:That's the, and you know bill, and it was funny billy lanham drummer. No, billy played. Well, he's still doing. Uh, lame, oh, he did, lame is for a long time. Yeah, he used to sub out lame is to cover me on a club date.
Speaker 2:He'd make more playing something for me than he would with lame that's how it was and it was comical because you know it is okay, it is. Come on from playing the playboy jazz festival or the jvc jazz. I remember playing. We played right before miles davis and I'm backstage and I'm hanging out, you know, with miles davis's band and things like that and I'm and I made like a hundred dollars. I'm like and I come home and I did a wedding that weekend and make more than double that like like something is not right here because it goes.
Speaker 1:It's like a scale, it's like a, like a one of those scales. Right? It's like the shittier the gig is, the more money and the better the gig is the less money. But you did it because you know A.
Speaker 2:You did it because you know, because it was a real gig and you were playing with great people. But the thing is like there was always.
Speaker 1:If you wanted to bitch about it and say, well, the pay is not good, there's a thousand other people that will do it for that money or even less, just because of the type of gig it is and that's how they get away with it.
Speaker 2:It's funny, but anyway, yes, how it ended. I just left being on the road. It grates on you being in a bus every day and playing in a place and then leave the next morning, go on a bus to somewhere else and playing things like that. I mean, it was great A lot of times we had some days off. Look like I said, I got to travel Europe and got paid for it, so I wasn't getting so much for each gig.
Speaker 1:Well, right, like I said, we did, like I said.
Speaker 2:We went to France, netherlands, switzerland, austria. You know Luxembourg. You know countless times Italy, you know Sicily. I went to Japan. I never would have seen those places and I got paid. So I got paid, you know, like not a lot of money, but I mean that's an experience that you know. I could that you just you know it's worth every penny.
Speaker 1:That's something that very wealthy people get to do.
Speaker 2:And after two years, you know, the band was going out. The band was going out to do just like a Midwest tour and it was a lot of bus travel. Like you know, a lot of times when we went to Europe it was alternating with bus travel and also flying and things like that. But there was a tour coming up. I had done the band for two years and they were doing a Midwest tour and it was all bussed across the Midwest. And then another weird thing happened. I had a little bad taste in my mouth about the band. Like I said, playing with the band we did some great things and a couple times we went out with the Lionel Hampton band. We went out to LA and they took lead players to. With the Lionel Hampton band we went out to LA and they they took lead players. They took myself and they took the lead tenor player and they took the drummer and they hired.
Speaker 2:LA guys, yeah, and and I was surrounded by like phenomenal musicians like from the Tonight Show band Pete Condoli and Conti Condoli and Walt Johnson, all these guys and I'm like holy crap, you know, I'm playing with all these guys. So, anyway, we did one of these tours out in LA where they took me and the lead guys and they hired all these other guys. So Lionel Hampton, in the midst of this tour, was going to be on the Tonight Show and he was going to play a song with the Tonight Show band. So in the section on the other gigs on the tour was Conti Condoli, who played off and on with the Tonight Show band, and he said to me Lionel's going to be in a Tonight Show band. You know, you want to play in the Tonight Show band when he's on the show. And I was like floored because, as a kid, watching Doc Severinsen at Tonight Show.
Speaker 1:He's like my idol.
Speaker 2:I could play in the band. He goes yeah, we do that all the time Guys like Paul Anka and stuff like that that their player from their band just plays in the band with us. He goes let me talk to Doc, and when I come back to tomorrow's gig, whenever the next gig is, I'll let you know what happens. So he comes back and he says to me I spoke to Doc, it's cool, you can play on the show when Lionel's on.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 2:When Lionel's on and I'm like are you kidding? I said great. You know, he says everybody's cool with it. Talk to Chuck Finley, all these guys, everybody's cool. And I was floored. Lionel, a little bit of history about Lionel. He's very self-centered and he can't have anybody take the spotlight away from him. Yeah, he's just like, even with his regular band on tour, like if you get a little more applause out front and play a solo than he does, you know he may not call you up to play a solo that's so weird, it's so weird.
Speaker 2:Like we did a tour with dizzy gillespie and did and he didn't like it. If dizzy gillespie got more accolades and got more applause than he did, like he would like cut him off in the middle of dizzy's playing, playing he would start playing. He said I got to get them. So I mean it's so stupid. It is stupid, the whole thing is so stupid because he's a legend and nobody's taking away from him. Long story short, Pete says Doc, you could be on the Tonight Show, you could play with Lionel's on. Let me talk to Lionel about it. Lionel said no. Lionel said no.
Speaker 1:Lionel said no, he said no, he says no, it's my thing.
Speaker 2:It's my thing, I don't want. And Pete, I gotta say Pete Condoli went to bat for me. He sat in his dressing room and he said he said, Lionel, it's not going to take away from your spotlight, he's going to be in the section with us. He thought you were too good. No, he just thought it would just take away away from the spotlight, away from him.
Speaker 2:But having having more guys in the section having me playing it, you know, with the band, when he was on the show and I wouldn't have, I maybe would have been showed for like shown on screen for maybe 30 seconds.
Speaker 2:Nobody was going to mention it or anything like that I just would have been in the section with the guys while while he was on. That's all it would have been. And he was like no, this is my thing. He didn't. He said no and conti talked and pleasing, he says it's, it's no big deal. We do this all the time. Guys just playing a sexual. Just. Nobody's going to take the spotlight, nobody's going to mention so. Anyway, we squashed the whole thing. So I had that bad taste in my mouth over the whole thing and then so lionel squashed it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he wouldn't allow it. He. He said no. So then we came back. I was in the band two years. They were going to do this tour of old Midwest on the bus, a lot of bus traveling. I had a little bad taste from that, but I said you know I'm going to move on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm going to move on. So where did you go from there? What happened after that?
Speaker 2:Well, I came back, you know New York, and I started working with some wedding bands again, with Hank Lane, which is the one I mentioned earlier, which we did, some high end club dates and some really good gigs.
Speaker 1:This is before you got your teaching thing happening.
Speaker 2:Yeah, before and then that continued on. When I got my teaching thing, I continued to play with Hank Lane and do weddings and corporate events and things like that.
Speaker 1:So it's just been from that point forward. It was your touring thing was with, not with, lionel.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my touring thing was with Lionel, with Lionel yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's really where you were, like on the road.
Speaker 2:That's when I was on the road, but once again, throughout that time period. So when I was home I was able to get called to do club dates and do stuff. When you know, we'd be home for a few weeks before in between tours and things of that, and I was still still play with the funk phoam on ik through this whole time fun phoam on ik. I was in the band before I got Lionel Hampton's gig and Luckily it just worked out. I was always seemed to be home a lot of the times when they were gigging and I still did it.
Speaker 2:I mean, had to send subs here and there, right, you know, and In whatever subs here and there, you know, and whatever wedding bands I was doing at the time, I had to send subs. But I continued playing funk, philharmonic and weddings throughout my playing with Lionel Hampton and even when I left Lionel Hampton and went back to doing club dates. You know that I was before I started teaching and then I started teaching and those things just continued on. I continued playing funk, philharmonic and weddings and and you know, corporate events and things like that, like I said, while I was teaching. So that's all.
Speaker 1:That's all good stuff you know kind of lucked out man I mean you did, it's I.
Speaker 2:I'm very fortunate yeah I. I am so fortunate, like I said I was, and and you met your wife and I met my another pension, two pensions.
Speaker 1:how about that? What's better than that man? That's what I got a two-pension household, you know who's got that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I met my wife through the Funk Philharmonic and through John Scarpullo.
Speaker 1:Oh, I thought it was through teaching.
Speaker 2:No, she teaches in my school. Coincidentally she teaches in your school. Well, that's kind of how we kind of like got together, because John Scarpull is a saxophone player in Funk Philharmonic, he's my wife's cousin. They're cousins. I didn't know that they're cousins. So my wife Gina, when she came to a Funk Philharmonic gig and we both were teaching in East Islip at the time, I was in the high school and she was in the elementary school, so we'd never crossed paths.
Speaker 1:Except for Superintendent's Conference.
Speaker 2:Day.
Speaker 1:Well, that Except for.
Speaker 2:Superintendent's Conference Day. Well, that happened a little later, but I didn't know her, so I never talked to her during Superintendent's Conference Day. But what happened was she came to a. She came to a Funk Philharmonic gig and she was curious who's in the band that teaches in my school district? Which guy is it which was?
Speaker 2:me, she knew somebody in Funk Philharmonic With her cousin John. So she was curious as to who it was, which was me, because she knew somebody. She knew somebody in Funk Philharmonic with her cousin John taught in East Islip. So she was curious as to who it was. So we met and that's kind of what sparked our conversation. Oh, you teach in Islip. Oh yeah, you're in the band. I was wondering who's in the band with my cousin that teaches in East Islip? And we had that in common and then we just clicked and that's crazy.
Speaker 1:I thought that's how we met. I thought you guys met at the school no, we didn't.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's funny. So the crazy thing is we still, you know, we got together and eventually got married, but and I was still at the high school at the time, so we we weren't didn't really see each other really at school. And then when I moved to elementary school, I ended up in the same building with her and initially we didn't think it was going to be such a great thing.
Speaker 2:I said maybe it's not so good we work in the same building. And I said, yeah, maybe you're right, not that just because you know you don't want to see your wife At work and at home.
Speaker 2:And at work and at home. Not that there was any issues with us or anything like that, but we thought it would kind of be weird at first and I said so. I kind of said maybe, you know. I told the director, maybe we should, you know, go, maybe not teach in the same school. But anyway, long story short, we taught in the same school. I mean, you know where I was? I was downstairs in my band room and she's upstairs in her classroom.
Speaker 2:So we never really saw each other really we drove separate, we had separate hours. I had an just the day because my band rehearsal met before the actual school day, so I left early. So we came and gone at different times. She was upstairs. I had to call the classroom for students to come to lessons sometimes. Hey, can you send Johnny down to his music lesson now? It's amazing how many similarities we have because I taught in the middle school with my wife.
Speaker 2:That's funny. It was the same thing I had to call her room, mr.
Speaker 1:Simeone, can you send down a? You know, and then we wouldn't see each other at all during the day.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Except for lunch, and she'd bring two lunches and we'd eat lunch together. That was it, that's funny.
Speaker 2:We wouldn't eat lunch, but I would bring a coffee back.
Speaker 1:I would go out to lunch and I brought a coffee back every day.
Speaker 2:It was like she loved it. I came back from my lunch here, honey, here's your coffee. Oh, thanks. So it was perfectly fine teaching in the same school.
Speaker 1:It turned out to be great. What about meet the teacher? You had to go the same, yeah, but once again she was in her classroom doing her thing and I was in my band room meeting with the music parents. Yeah, that's funny, man it turned out to be fun.
Speaker 2:But yeah, people think we met because we teach in east islam, especially since we thought in the same school I could have sworn and her being cousins with john, I never would have. Yeah, never would like. That was it. She came down. She was who in the band? Who's in the band that that teaches in east islam that you play with?
Speaker 1:I didn't think john had any relatives, I thought it was just john, you know, because john is like all encompassing, he's like a big, good-looking guy.
Speaker 2:You know, it's just him, right, and he was like be nice it's my cousin, you know.
Speaker 1:It's my cousin, you know right, because he knows how he is. Yeah, right, yeah, be nice, you know and you know.
Speaker 2:But, like I said, he knew what you know. We just hit it off and he was. He was thrilled that that I ended up being with his cousin and he was my best man at the wedding yeah, he's gotta be my best man, because it was because of really him that we met and because of our, you know, being in the band together and so forth. That's great man and you know he was like great he goes, you know, because I love you man but now I got to a different opinion to things.
Speaker 1:But what do you think about? Like the way it is today with music and stuff, it's rough, right? I mean, I get so many gripes man.
Speaker 2:It is. It is especially, you know, being through both ends of it, you know the playing career and the teaching career. It's tough, it's hard to like, you know, tell my high school students to like kind of be supportive. I'm going on a music because because of how tough it is, but I gotta say yeah, I mean yeah, that's, I mean some kids, some people like me.
Speaker 1:You know, you don't have a choice. You, you're a musician, that's it yeah it's like you know, I saw I always mentioned this I saw an interview with weckl and he was being interviewed and the one thing that he said that I remembered was he said I didn't choose drums.
Speaker 2:Drums chose me and those people don't have a choice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those are the guys who are just like whatever, I can't help it.
Speaker 2:No, you know, the music business is hard and it's hard to teach music and kind of like push it.
Speaker 1:I don't think you should go to music if you have to choose it yeah, if you have to go should I be a musician or should I be a doctor? You know, if you have to go through, then go be a doctor.
Speaker 2:I gotta say I have several former students that have that are very successful both in playing careers and teaching careers. It's, it's I. This is incredible. I mean there's several students of mine that I had in my high school band that are gigging.
Speaker 2:Now they're playing in bands, they're touring. There are the two band teachers in East Islip right now that are former teachers of mine. The high school teacher was my student who was my drum major in the marching band. He was my lead out, though, and my my, chris Neskey. Oh, lead out there when my high school jazz band okay, chris Robertson, who's took my place in the elementary band was my student, he was lead trumpet also and my.
Speaker 1:He was in my kids and he was my student.
Speaker 2:That's funny and some other students of mine that I had not only you know, teaching in various school districts and gigging and doing something Just recently. I mean this is a gas to me and I'm sure it was a gas for my student as well. But I just played a show at Gateway Playhouse and I needed a sub for a couple of shows. I called a former student of mine. He ended up subbing for me. He was lead trumpet player in my high school band and in my concert band and he's got a teaching job right now and he subbed for me and I thought that was like, so cool, like, and he was honored to have me ask him to sub and I was honored to say, wow, I had one of one of my really good students like step up yeah and be able to sub for me on a gig, and I think that's really cool.
Speaker 1:I did a gig the day, the last day of my teaching career. I did a gig in town with two former or three former students.
Speaker 2:They were all in my band at some point when they were little kids.
Speaker 1:And they now I had just I was retired that day and they started to tell me the stories about the stuff I didn't know about, like you know we used to write fake passes to come down and hang out you know, when you weren't in the music room, we'd come down and hang out in the band room always.
Speaker 2:You know that's how we are, that's how we got through high school we hung out in the band room. It's like confession you know, you're out now and you're grown, whatever.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you what really happened.
Speaker 2:So so, the reason why I'm asking about this like the state of music and stuff is like. Let me give you an example here.
Speaker 1:I do a trio gig with Ken Tauvey. You know Ken right, and Ken's a great guitar player. Sam Powell plays bass. He's great, but it's Fusion, which is a little strange for people to listen to, but the material's really hard and it's a good band. It's good. So we did a gig about two weeks ago and when we got there there was another band on before us. The place was packed Right and this was and this is because this is my podcast. I can say this this was the worst group of musicians ever put together on the stage. They had never heard anything worse. Nothing about it was redeemable or good. It was just everything. Even the way they were set up like the drummer was like a mile away and the bass player was on the front of the stage. There's no way they could hear each other. It was just terrible. But the place was jammed, everybody was screaming and then we went on and they all left. That's just so weird to me.
Speaker 2:I know the music of business is strange in that respect.
Speaker 1:It. It's just so weird to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know I know the music of business is strange. In that respect it is. It's funny you mention it because you know freelancing, doing club dates. There's been times where, like I got put on with a band that was pretty bad.
Speaker 1:You know it was a freelance gig and I'm like oh my God, yeah, but you're not playing the whole time. You're like you're standing around.
Speaker 2:No, but like what you just said, like you know, like it's funny like I play with a band that's like like awful, and I'm like really, and at the end of the night like guests come up, you got a card you we love you guys. What's up with that?
Speaker 1:I don't get it, man. Really. I say, what other? What other industry is like that? Like, if you hire a guy to spackle, right, and it's fucking terrible, they go. Oh, this is terrible, man, and they don't hire you again. But music, if you get drunk enough, it's fucking terrible.
Speaker 2:They go oh, this is terrible man.
Speaker 1:And they don't hire you again, but music, if you get drunk enough, it's all great. Yeah, yeah I that I know. I got a problem with that. Yeah, I really do.
Speaker 2:I know I do too. It's just strange. It's just a weird. I mean you got the both, both ends, really appreciate it and understand that it's great and, like you said, and then there's other times where you can play with a not so great band but people are drunk and they're dancing and they're having a great time and musically it could not be that good.
Speaker 1:But they love it. They love it. And those outdoor gigs, usually because Uppercut did a lot of those at the Beach Hut things, yeah, and the place was packed man.
Speaker 2:I mean Uppercut was a good band.
Speaker 1:Yes, it was a good band, but these people would have danced like just a guy hitting a drum. You know, they just were like, you know, one foot in the grave.
Speaker 2:God, that's what they looked like. They looked like none of the living dead. You know I was like, oh my God, these people.
Speaker 1:Somebody's going to break a hip tonight, you know. But, and again, like what I was about to say, Well, you're talking about the you know music industry these days, the music industry in general, right In general, it's bad.
Speaker 2:I mean it is, but you know.
Speaker 1:It. Just it bothers me. Man Kenny's daughter is up for a Grammy. She did the music for a show on Peacock called the Tattooist of Auschwitz and she does the Simpsons. She's got it together, man, she's. She's great, you know. And you know he doesn't ever mention her and he just tells me these funny stories if he does mention her. So he's out to dinner with a friend who's a good drummer or whatever, and he says to his friend, yeah and yeah, so Kara wrote a song for Billie Eilish. And the guy goes oh, I love Billie Eilish. And that's the end of the conversation. He doesn't go. Wow, what do you mean? She's like I love Billie.
Speaker 1:You know it's just like no common sense. I would be like what do?
Speaker 2:you mean, she's right.
Speaker 1:You know how can that? You know it's upside down world. Man, we're doing a gig with the Fusion Band it's all Kenny's originals and some guy comes up and goes can you do a Led Zeppelin, like, really, I mean, it's just cluelessness, you know I don't know it pisses me off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I know. That's why it's so hard for a lot of you know most of the bands that are playing clubs that draw tremendous crowds around all over is the cover bands these days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the cover bands.
Speaker 2:There's a million of them Because people, you know you could be a great band, but nobody wants to hear originals, unfortunately.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, and I totally get that, but it should be, you know, like your band, like what's the band? The 70s band? Yeah, it's a legit good band, it's a great band, all good players, great players, great band and a great draw, great crowd, and that's different, that's okay, that makes sense to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I mean, you know, I can't tell you how many times I go out and there's a band playing and it it's all people who are non-musicians and me and my wife, and everybody knows I'm a musician and they ultimately woke up to me and go what do you think of these guys? Aren't they great? And I have to go. Oh yeah, you know what am I going to say? I know.
Speaker 2:Well, we listen to music a different way.
Speaker 1:We do Than the general public Right right you know general public.
Speaker 2:They hear the beat, they hear, you know, to the music and they're cool with it. We are, you know, when you listen to music I mean we're like honed in to like all the specifics. Yeah, you know, like I could hear a band that has a horn section and if they're not playing together and articulating together and phrasing together, you know I'm like, oh man, what that? That general public? Nobody, they don't know the difference. Yeah, they don't know the difference.
Speaker 1:I know some band, you know, like I said, and they're pretty good and and you know, and they draw a crowd and I go to hear them, like I said, and I I just, you know, that's what bothers me, like pretty much tight.
Speaker 2:They, you know, balances off. Players are overplaying over other players, they're not phrasing together, not and, and we pick up on those things. Yeah, but the general audience.
Speaker 1:But the general public picks up on most of the other occupation problems.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what bothers me, man.
Speaker 1:Because this is not just becoming a bricklayer, this is like it's inside you right. It's like in your genealogy. You can't not do it. Yeah Right, it's a different thing and that's why it's like to me. It's personal. That's why when somebody's like slaughtering a song, I feel like they're like torturing my child.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. I really take it personally. You know I've got to get therapy for this. I think you do. No, I hear if you're taking it personally, I do take it personally. Like please, please, Bring it to a different level.
Speaker 1:Please put the saxophone down. Just put it down. You're killing me, you know, anyway. So is there any like funny stories you can share, because everybody's got I mean oh. God, there's tons of like you know you're at a gig and a guy dies.
Speaker 2:That happens a couple times. That's happened a few times. Yeah, that's somebody at a wedding.
Speaker 1:somebody falls ill and dies, and sometimes Well, the band was so bad they killed themselves.
Speaker 2:That's happened and it's different mindsets. Sometimes you just keep playing and you don't want anybody to know and just keep playing and don't bring the party down and we're playing we're playing dance music and then bringing a guy out on a stretcher.
Speaker 1:You know that kind of you know, we did a gig once where a guy died and it was at the Huntington Townhouse. Man and the bride came up crying and said Uncle Phil died, but he would have wanted us to go on. And they threw a towel over Uncle Phil and they put a partition around him and the party went on.
Speaker 2:People were dancing, like five feet from his head, they're bringing somebody out on a gurney and we're still playing dance music and people are dancing. But there's a lot of crazy stories, Mostly club date stories really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, club date, stuff happens.
Speaker 2:We all have stories. Beautiful expensive cakes, taking a happens. I mean, we all have stories, you know, beautiful expensive cakes, you know taking a dive. I've seen a photographer run to take a shot and slide into the table that the cake was at and the cake took a dive on the floor. I'm like holy moly really.
Speaker 1:It really is always the club dates. You know, it's always the club dates, yeah.
Speaker 2:There'll be people always complaining the band's too loud. So you know we had somebody. Maybe you've probably witnessed this too. I know other bands have. You know the guests just come out and pull the plug. Pull the plug.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You guys are too loud? Okay, we'll tone it down. And of course you know they're still unhappy. No, you guys, and they just take it upon themselves. Just pull the plug. All of a sudden we're all power. The pa goes out, the keyboard, everything's going out. Yeah, that's pretty.
Speaker 1:That's like, that's such an. That's what people are. Such ass, I swear it's like it's crazy stuff.
Speaker 2:I don't know it really is. It's crazy. We all have crazy, crazy club date stories.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's like you said it's always a club date. It's never, it's, it's always. You know, that's where. That's where all the nonsense happened maybe it's because we've done so many of them.
Speaker 2:I guess Hundreds and hundreds right over the years.
Speaker 1:Thousands, thousands, right Enough to want to sell them.
Speaker 2:Fights, fights within a bridal party.
Speaker 1:Those are great.
Speaker 2:Fights break out. You know crazy stuff. I used to like that because we'd get a break or the screamers. You know which happens less these days. You know there's a lot of set bands. Years ago, big, you know reputable club date offices would just throw bands together, yep. And you know they would sell a band. And you know people would say, yeah, here's who you're getting, and I'd just send whoever. And then the bride comes in crying like these are not the girls I hired. You know, do you?
Speaker 1:remember who was the guy. Remember those club dates? Not club dates.
Speaker 2:The showcase you would do with 10 bands was set up in a row and they would go from one side to the next. Yeah, I hated club dates. I mean, I hated showcases.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I forget who the guy's name was, who was booking those things with the guy the office. But one time we were the first band on. It was with Black Tie Affair and we were just about to play, and with Black Tie Affair and we were just about to play and some guy stood up in front of and came, walked in front of the band and made an announcement to like a thousand people who were there Just want to let you know. I hooked, I bought a band from this office and none of the guys showed up and they he had everybody's attention man and they had to pull him out of there, you know. And so, like 10 bands, nobody booked anything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, he was just pissed off. Yeah, no, I've seen that happen. Yeah, that was a screamer, exactly what that was. Yeah, that's what they call it, and I've seen that happen several times in my career. It's like bright comment, hysterical crying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I feel bad for those people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel bad too. Yeah, you know, still get away with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, I don't know how.
Speaker 2:They still get away with it.
Speaker 1:Well, what are you going to do if it's the day of your wedding and a different band shows up? What are you going?
Speaker 2:to do. There's a big office I won't mention, but people go down and the band and and they send whoever they just happen to be available that weekend.
Speaker 1:They don't even know the difference, because they never really saw them.
Speaker 2:They just listen to it.
Speaker 1:They go, yeah, okay yeah, I don't know how do you do that? I have I have cousins who call me up once in a while like, listen, uh, my daughter's getting married. Uh, I'm gonna send you a link to this band's website. You just tell me if they're good, like I gotta tell you if they're good, you just don't you think they're good, I don't.
Speaker 2:You think they're good, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm the club day band expert and of course they're all bad. I can't. What am I going to tell them? They're all bad, don't worry about it, just get anything. Just get anybody, alright. So you got anything else, ron.
Speaker 2:That's it Like to continue to play through a teaching career and do some great gigs along the way. Yeah, I play with a lot of great musicians that I still play with to this day, and it's great.
Speaker 1:I'm very happy that my taxes are paying your pension. All right, cool. So thanks for coming out, ron. This is perfect, man. Thanks a lot, you're welcome, okay.
Speaker 2:We'll do it again.
