The Pacific Northwest

on the willamette river in corvallis

I had the pleasure of spending two weeks in the PNW with Brass Queens at the end of October. Our first stop was Corvallis, OR, where we spent almost an entire week working with the Oregon State University Marching Band as Artists in Residence.

the view from the drums at prax

We spent a few days rehearsing at OSU’s new performing arts center, PRAx, with some of the marching band kids who joined us for a gala performance. The day after the performance we played an outreach event for K-12 students. They were HYPED and it was a fantastic way to start the day.

our logo, formed by a 270 piece marching band!

The crowning moment came on Saturday, when we got to join the marching band on game day. They arranged three of our songs for their halftime show and we got to play along with them, even learning some drill!

It was wild to be back on the field having not marched since high school, ::redacted:: years ago. The drumline was awesome and they welcomed me with open arms. I even joined them in the stands to play with them during the game. Special thanks to Justin Preece, the Percussion Coordinator and Drumline Instructor who arranged all of the drum parts.

You can watch the full video of our performance here.

I tried to immerse myself in nature as much as possible while we were in Corvallis. The highlight was a trip up Mary’s Peak with my Phish friend from Maryland, Chris Sharp.

at a rest stop in the west cascades

The nature continued on to Bend, where we played at Silver Moon Brewing. The show ended up being an unexpected highlight. My only regret is that we did not have enough time to see the town. Hopefully we will be back soon!

the drums in bend

Following Bend, we took a breathtaking drive through the Mount Hood area into Portland where we would stay for a few days.

You knoiw the owner of the venue is a drummer when there is a wall of cymbals and the backline kit is top notch.

We played a packed show at Alberta Street Pub. A few friends came out and it was awesome to catch up.

band’s first cymbal signing

We played another brewery while in the Portland area. Waltz brewing was the perfect *vibe* for us. The beers were fantastic and the proprietors were wonderful to work with.

pre-show view at waltz brewing

We then headed up to Seattle for a quick overnighter. We were there to play as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival, and our show was at a roller skating rink! This was my first time playing a skating rink since the first gig I ever played with my first band back when I was a freshman in high school. Long live Mr. Bungle’s Shotgun!

my own personal disco ball

We left Seattle early on the day after our show to make our way to Victoria, BC. It was my first time in BC and I was delighted that we got to ride a ferry from the mainland to Victoria. It was a little chilly out, but I stayed on the deck for the most of the trip hoping to spot some whales (I did not).

Things were quite Canadian. Our show was in a cricket club and we got to watch some of game 2 of the World Series with a bunch of Blue Jays fans!

the drums in victoria

We left our hotel in Victoria around 3:30a to make our way back east. I left feeling grateful that I get to do so many trips like these for a career.