Find Your Passion

There’s that old saying, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Is it true?  Absolutely.  How do I know?  I love music. I love writing music, I love teaching music, and for 23 years and counting, I’ve loved publishing music. Music is my passion.  While I’m passionate about other things…family and college football being tops…my first love is, and will always be, music.

There is much to love about music but when it comes to my personal passion, here’s what drives it most:

• Music Itself – I have been involved with music in one way, shape, or form, my whole life. I always tell people, ‘I am a lifer!’ My Dad, a band director and musician, shared his passion for music with me early on. It was infectious and lead me on my lifetime journey. When it comes to music, I’ve done a little bit of everything and I’ve found it all to be fun. I, like most people, enjoy listening to music and believe great music can be found in every genre. I love letting my boys play what they want when we’re in the car. Consequently, I have discovered an eclectic mix of interesting music. It amazes me how diverse each of my five boys’ musical tastes are and how much fun discovering new music with them can be!
• Writing Music – If someone would just lock me up in a room and let me write music all day, every day, I would be the happiest person alive. I love writing music in any way, shape, or form that I can. I’ve written original pieces and arrangements for band and orchestra and even stretched my writing muscles with crazier compositions for commercial music and music signatures.  I’ve found all of it to be fun in its own way would not trade these opportunities for anything in the world!
• Teaching Music – Even though I’m no longer a music teacher, I still find myself lucky enough to get the opportunity to go into a bunch of classrooms and work with students. It’s always fun and always a great reminder of how passing down my passion is important. Since my transition to publishing, I find myself teaching in many different ways. I get to do a lot of clinics for teachers on ways to improve what they do in the classroom as well as write pedagogical materials for teachers to use with their students. I take the responsibility I have as a publisher seriously: making sure I provide music and books that assist students in learning, becoming more musical, and loving music as much as I do. Every note and every word I put into these books comes from the perspective of teaching my passion with quality.

I encourage you to find your passion and what makes you special so, like me, you’ll never have to “work” again!