Rest in Peace, Tom McCaslin

I am absolutely gutted to hear about the passing of Tom McCaslin - a beautiful soul who still had so much to say and give to this world.

You know those people who every time you talk to them you leave in a better mood than when you started? Even when you were in a good mood to begin with? That was Tom. He had a gentleness about him and he always left people feeling seen. Just a gem of a human.

And his artistry was simply stunning. He was a phenomenal tuba operator - phenomenal - but the stunning part was his musical storytelling. He came to every performance with *opinions* and he was able to transfer those opinions into the ears of his listeners with an ease that belied the decades of work he put into honing his craft.

The true greats make it all look so effortless, even though in actuality there was unspeakable amounts of effort and forethought that went into the performance. That was Tom. He made it look so easy.

He was an inspiration as a musician and a human and he is dearly missed.

Sending love to his wife and beautiful kids and to everyone who knew and loved him. This one hurts.

Rest in peace, Tom. Love you, brother.

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Brass Legacy Project: Sam Pilafian

For the first installment of the Brass Legacy Project we simply had to start with Sam Pilafian. Both Lance LaDuke and myself were incredibly close to Sam. He shaped us as musicians and as humans. Sam was like a second father to me.

We decided to go big for this tribute! We were joined by 21 different guests from various aspects of Sam's life and career. All were people who knew him intimately and were deeply affected by his artistry and humanity.

Group #1 (0:00​):

• Daniel Burdick

• Julian Dixon

• Julie Landsman

• Elaine Martone

• Tom McCaslin

• Clarke Rigsby

Group #2 (44:00​):

• Mark Gould

• Mike Jacobetz

• Jens Lindemann

• JD Shaw

• Patrick Sheridan

Group #3 (1:29:00​):

• Velvet Brown

• Jeff Curnow

• Marty Hackleman

• Scott Hartman

• Charles Villarrubia

Group #4 (2:15:00​):

• Joe Alessi

• Chuck Kerrigan

• Michael Nickens

• Michael Sachs

• Gail Williams

Miss you like crazy, Sam.

The Brass Junkies 85: Tom McCaslin, Tubist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on audition prep, recording yourself and all things Canada

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My good friend Tom McCaslin joined us for Episode 85 of The Brass Junkies. Tom is the Principal Tuba for the Calgary Philharmonic. He is a great dude and a monster musician. 

From the show notes:

TBJ85: Tom McCaslin, Tubist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on audition prep, recording yourself and all things Canada

Tom McCaslin, Tubist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Soloist, Teacher, and Clinician has been described by Fanfare Magazine as “one of the contemporary tuba virtuosos”. Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan Tom’s playing and teaching have taken him around the globe. He has performed and taught in Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Portugal, Finland, New Zealand and Australia.

• The Boston Brass “I Left My Pants in Sarnia, Canada” story
• New gig in Calgary
• Canada jokes!
• Audition preparation
• How he developed his ears with the help of Sam (Pilafian) and then on his own
• Put a premium on recording himself (84 hours worth!)
• Trust in your own abilities
• Use physicality to override thought, play your way out of it
• Audition prep with Sam at Tanglewood
• Systematic
• Used a randomizer app, put excerpts in and created rounds for himself
• Daily round of most likely candidates
• Day of audition, puts himself in a cocoon, noise-cancelling headphones
• Listened to Bill Simmons podcast and pop music to keep his head clear
• Studying with Sam Pilafian at Arizona State University
• Travelin’ Light
• Studying jazz
• Boston Symphony audition
• The support within Sam’s teaching studio
• Recording solos with Sam as producer
• Christmas his first year at ASU story, audition prep, followed by turkey prep
• Teaching at East Carolina University
• Looking for the quality of person more than quality of player
• Teaching studio curation
• The importance of the Studio Class hour, setting the expectations
• Studying with Roger Bobo in Switzerland
• The Dog Whisperer
• “Sack of nicknick” story at Banff
• Lance’s spot-on Jens impression
• Andrew’s Banff story with Joe Alessi in Jens’ Porsche
• Sweat out the bad

You can check out the complete show notes including all of the links mentioned during this episode over at Pedal Note Media.