James’ Daily Emails

Remember when Facebook felt like a grown-up version of MySpace? Then LinkedIn kind of became the grown up version of Facebook. Then Instagram came along and became…I still don’t know what to make of it to be honest. I’ve tried posting on it, but the puerile stuff I see others posting is kind of a…

In last week’s podcast with Steve Baker, we talked briefly about my time playing with his band in the Raleigh/Durham area. The band is called “Bull City Syndicate” and is top-notch with the quality, entertainment value, showmanship, etc. In fact, as I said in the podcast, I learned a lot about showmanship and how to…

We had a little movie party yesterday. Saturday is always my day off, and unless my wife is working Saturday in which case I’ll do a bit of work and then take Sunday off, it’s set in stone. So we invited my friend and colleague Mandi (an American who specializes in making show notes for…

A couple of weeks ago, my 7-year old son Gabriel asked me if he could play Call of Duty. Of course, I’m currently in Vietnam, and he’s in the U.S. So I don’t know exactly what would have happened had I said, “Yes, dear son, you have my permission to permanently corrupt your mind with…

I was having a bit of writer’s block this morning, trying to decide what to write about for my daily email/blog. Well, trying to decide would imply I had a couple of options to choose from. I had nothing, so I asked my son Gabriel via FaceTime what I should write about. “Write about how…

“Always be serious, but never take yourself too seriously.” That’s a quote I heard from General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell address to the cadets at West Point. I had a subscription to G. Edward Griffin’s audio series called “The Reality Zone” about 15 years ago, and MacArthur’s address was on one of the shipments…

I’ve been in contact with Adam Rapa about buying a new instrument from his new Lotus line of trumpets. If you’re not a trumpet player, or if you’re a trumpet player who lives under a rock (I do know a few) Adam is a terrific player; one of the better high registers I’ve seen/heard –…

I’ve been playing a lot of trumpet lately. If you recall an email from last week, I shared how my wife Sana more or less hog-tied me, gagged my mouth and essentially forced me to keep on playing. Well, it wasn’t that dramatic, but her…persuasive words were what I needed to hear in that moment…

One of my commanders in the Army band once told a story about a fellow he was serving with playing a solo in a concert. I guess this person had been around the block a few times, judging by how he described this scene. Apparently this guy played the solo well enough, but made a…

When I was in high school, I won a spot with the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps. We toured the entire U.S. doing shows the summer after graduation in 1994, and it was one of the highlights of my life. The “corps song” is You’ll Never Walk Alone, from the musical Carousel. The arrangement that…