My Blue Rock Story
DON DEAL - BLUE ROCK ALUMNUS
Don was with Blue Rock from 1970 through the final Junior year of 1974 and into the Senior year of 1975. He was gracious in agreeing to work with us on an interview about his time with Blue Rock.
What years were you with Blue Rock and how did you first get involved?
I joined in November or December of 1969 and stayed until the end in late ‘75 [except for the first part of the ‘72 season, more on that later]. My brother Jack and I were both in the Stratford Statesmen [formerly the Haddon Heights Vagabonds, then the Vagabond-Little Devils] although we never got on the field there, only parades. We ALMOST got on the field - they got Ralph & John to write & teach our drill, but we never had enough members consistently coming to rehearsal to make it happen. When the Statesmen folded late in ‘69, one of the older members [I don’t remember his name] drove us down to Penns Grove to see if we could join BR. Jack & I got in, our driver was turned away since he was overage - he was pissed!
What attracted you to the corps?
BR had long been my favorite corps. We grew up in Audubon, NJ & saw most of the best eastern corps at the BonBons’ annual show [always around the 4th of July as I recall]
What do you recall about the “audition” process (if there was one)?
Mike Dennis took me into the men’s room & handed me a horn. The only bugles I had played at that point were G-D horns. I knew everybody was going to G-F but wasn’t sure what the difference was. I asked Mike if it was like 1st & 2nd valves on a baritone horn & he said yes, so then I knew how to play it [I had been playing in bands for 6 or 8 years at that point] I triple tongued a couple of scales & he took me into the main room and sat me at the top of the baritone section. Guess I passed the audition!
Who were the key staff members and what was their leadership style? What did you learn from them?
Ted [Teddo] Sciarra and Reds Winzer were the main men - I respected one & feared the other.
What were the corps strengths and weaknesses during your time?
Strength: dedicated staff & membership
Weakness: lack of financial support
What stands out as your favorite memories? Any particular shows, contests, tours, friends, etc?
So many...
I remember Ted teaching us the drill to the closer on our practice field in Bridgeport just hours before the season opener [which we won over ALL the top eastern corps]
I remember first meeting Mike Collins a week or two later & when he learned the Bridgeport results he said “so you’re the cream of the slop” which deflated my balloon a little.
I remember single-filing it toward the field at Garfield’s competition in ‘71 & walking past Boston Crusaders who were also in single file outside the stadium waiting their turn. As we marched past them, it seemed like they were all 6’4” or bigger - I remember thinking “I hope we don’t beat them AGAIN.”
I remember how ungodly hot the astroturf was at Hofstra [also ‘71?]
I remember listening to the scores at CYO in ‘71. I had recently had a dream that the Troopers placed 4th and BR was 1st, so when they announced that the Troopers were in 4th place I knew we had won. Seemed very supernatural at the time! In retrospect, both corps were clearly in the top half dozen & that result was not a big stretch to imagine.
How did your experiences with Blue Rock impact you after aging out?
When the corps went home after US Open in ‘72, I got off the bus & got into my parents’ station wagon to continue on the the first DCI show in Whitewater. It was the first time I’d been that far west & I decided right away that I liked it here in Wisconsin. At the time I had just dropped out of college & the UW-W environment made a big impression. After one year working at Friendly’s, I knew I wanted to go back to school & ended up in Whitewater. I discovered in my first few days as a student that marching band was required for music majors & after top-tier drum corps experience I wanted no part of that! I purposely scheduled another class opposite half of the marching band rehearsals, so they made me a floater - every Saturday I’d march in place of whoever was missing. With my Blue Rock background, I couldn’t believe how simple the drill was; learning the whole show in an hour made it more interesting!
Influences on education,career, relationships, values, etc?
During my 33 years as a high school band director, I always tried to write marching band shows that were as close as possible to shows I could imagine Blue Rock playing. When we got new uniforms, I designed them to look like Blue Rock, but the school colors were red & white, so I had to settle for imitating Boston.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your time with Blue Rock?
Most of the “firsts” in my life were during my time with Blue Rock, but I don’t think I should talk about them!
Catch us up on what path your life has followed since you left the corps?
When I got my BA in Music in ‘75, all I wanted to do was play music. I lucked into a full-time road gig with a 10 piece night club band [3 singers, 3 horns, 3 rhythm plus a sound guy who occasionally sang one song]. After 6 months of living out of a suitcase, I decided that maybe teaching wouldn’t be the worst possible fate, so I went back to Whitewater [where not coincidentally I still had a girlfriend] to get a Music Education degree. Then I hung around town bar tending & painting houses [with a Masters degree] while I was applying for band director gigs. After a year or so of that, the Whitewater HS band director position became available & I got it. Eventually, I decided I was tired of being a “pretty good” player & went to UW-Madison for a doctorate in trombone performance [DMA], which I received in 2000.
While I was a full time teacher, I never stopped also performing. Through the years I’ve backed up singers including Johnny Desmond [Glenn Miller’s vocalist], Art Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra Jr etc. on trombone and played in too many jazz big bands and symphony orchestras to remember. I was part of the Willson Tuba-Euphonium quartet; at the 2008 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference we premiered pieces written for us by Elizabeth Raum, James Woodward and Barbara York. A few years later, I became part of the Chromos Quartet - check out our CD on the Beauport Classics label or itunes.
Currently, I’m the solo euphonium with the Madison Brass Band and also lead trombonist and music director for the Madison Jazz Orchestra. My car knows the way from Whitewater to Madison! I also play antique instruments in a Civil War reenactment band.
I met my wife Cherie when she was a flute player in the UW-W band & we married in ‘88. We have 2 kids. Our son Robert recently received his PhD in Theoretical Physics from the U. of Oklahoma [I went to his commencement in May - Eagles QB Jalen Hurts got his Masters during the same ceremony]. Robert works for Exact Sciences in Madison, plays trombone in the Madison Jazz Orchestra, drums with a metal band [Chaosophy, check them out on facebook or youtube] and is my favorite euphonium duet partner. Daughter Lydia recently got her BA from Ripon College in Music Ed. and Physics with a Math minor. She’s now in her first year as a full-time music teacher, directing the HS and MS Choirs as well as teaching the MS band lessons in Rosendale, WI. She’s an accomplished singer and flutist who has also performed on other woodwinds as well as bass and cello, so she can basically teach anything in the music department [also physics and math!]
I joined in November or December of 1969 and stayed until the end in late ‘75 [except for the first part of the ‘72 season, more on that later]. My brother Jack and I were both in the Stratford Statesmen [formerly the Haddon Heights Vagabonds, then the Vagabond-Little Devils] although we never got on the field there, only parades. We ALMOST got on the field - they got Ralph & John to write & teach our drill, but we never had enough members consistently coming to rehearsal to make it happen. When the Statesmen folded late in ‘69, one of the older members [I don’t remember his name] drove us down to Penns Grove to see if we could join BR. Jack & I got in, our driver was turned away since he was overage - he was pissed!
What attracted you to the corps?
BR had long been my favorite corps. We grew up in Audubon, NJ & saw most of the best eastern corps at the BonBons’ annual show [always around the 4th of July as I recall]
What do you recall about the “audition” process (if there was one)?
Mike Dennis took me into the men’s room & handed me a horn. The only bugles I had played at that point were G-D horns. I knew everybody was going to G-F but wasn’t sure what the difference was. I asked Mike if it was like 1st & 2nd valves on a baritone horn & he said yes, so then I knew how to play it [I had been playing in bands for 6 or 8 years at that point] I triple tongued a couple of scales & he took me into the main room and sat me at the top of the baritone section. Guess I passed the audition!
Who were the key staff members and what was their leadership style? What did you learn from them?
Ted [Teddo] Sciarra and Reds Winzer were the main men - I respected one & feared the other.
What were the corps strengths and weaknesses during your time?
Strength: dedicated staff & membership
Weakness: lack of financial support
What stands out as your favorite memories? Any particular shows, contests, tours, friends, etc?
So many...
I remember Ted teaching us the drill to the closer on our practice field in Bridgeport just hours before the season opener [which we won over ALL the top eastern corps]
I remember first meeting Mike Collins a week or two later & when he learned the Bridgeport results he said “so you’re the cream of the slop” which deflated my balloon a little.
I remember single-filing it toward the field at Garfield’s competition in ‘71 & walking past Boston Crusaders who were also in single file outside the stadium waiting their turn. As we marched past them, it seemed like they were all 6’4” or bigger - I remember thinking “I hope we don’t beat them AGAIN.”
I remember how ungodly hot the astroturf was at Hofstra [also ‘71?]
I remember listening to the scores at CYO in ‘71. I had recently had a dream that the Troopers placed 4th and BR was 1st, so when they announced that the Troopers were in 4th place I knew we had won. Seemed very supernatural at the time! In retrospect, both corps were clearly in the top half dozen & that result was not a big stretch to imagine.
How did your experiences with Blue Rock impact you after aging out?
When the corps went home after US Open in ‘72, I got off the bus & got into my parents’ station wagon to continue on the the first DCI show in Whitewater. It was the first time I’d been that far west & I decided right away that I liked it here in Wisconsin. At the time I had just dropped out of college & the UW-W environment made a big impression. After one year working at Friendly’s, I knew I wanted to go back to school & ended up in Whitewater. I discovered in my first few days as a student that marching band was required for music majors & after top-tier drum corps experience I wanted no part of that! I purposely scheduled another class opposite half of the marching band rehearsals, so they made me a floater - every Saturday I’d march in place of whoever was missing. With my Blue Rock background, I couldn’t believe how simple the drill was; learning the whole show in an hour made it more interesting!
Influences on education,career, relationships, values, etc?
During my 33 years as a high school band director, I always tried to write marching band shows that were as close as possible to shows I could imagine Blue Rock playing. When we got new uniforms, I designed them to look like Blue Rock, but the school colors were red & white, so I had to settle for imitating Boston.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your time with Blue Rock?
Most of the “firsts” in my life were during my time with Blue Rock, but I don’t think I should talk about them!
Catch us up on what path your life has followed since you left the corps?
When I got my BA in Music in ‘75, all I wanted to do was play music. I lucked into a full-time road gig with a 10 piece night club band [3 singers, 3 horns, 3 rhythm plus a sound guy who occasionally sang one song]. After 6 months of living out of a suitcase, I decided that maybe teaching wouldn’t be the worst possible fate, so I went back to Whitewater [where not coincidentally I still had a girlfriend] to get a Music Education degree. Then I hung around town bar tending & painting houses [with a Masters degree] while I was applying for band director gigs. After a year or so of that, the Whitewater HS band director position became available & I got it. Eventually, I decided I was tired of being a “pretty good” player & went to UW-Madison for a doctorate in trombone performance [DMA], which I received in 2000.
While I was a full time teacher, I never stopped also performing. Through the years I’ve backed up singers including Johnny Desmond [Glenn Miller’s vocalist], Art Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra Jr etc. on trombone and played in too many jazz big bands and symphony orchestras to remember. I was part of the Willson Tuba-Euphonium quartet; at the 2008 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference we premiered pieces written for us by Elizabeth Raum, James Woodward and Barbara York. A few years later, I became part of the Chromos Quartet - check out our CD on the Beauport Classics label or itunes.
Currently, I’m the solo euphonium with the Madison Brass Band and also lead trombonist and music director for the Madison Jazz Orchestra. My car knows the way from Whitewater to Madison! I also play antique instruments in a Civil War reenactment band.
I met my wife Cherie when she was a flute player in the UW-W band & we married in ‘88. We have 2 kids. Our son Robert recently received his PhD in Theoretical Physics from the U. of Oklahoma [I went to his commencement in May - Eagles QB Jalen Hurts got his Masters during the same ceremony]. Robert works for Exact Sciences in Madison, plays trombone in the Madison Jazz Orchestra, drums with a metal band [Chaosophy, check them out on facebook or youtube] and is my favorite euphonium duet partner. Daughter Lydia recently got her BA from Ripon College in Music Ed. and Physics with a Math minor. She’s now in her first year as a full-time music teacher, directing the HS and MS Choirs as well as teaching the MS band lessons in Rosendale, WI. She’s an accomplished singer and flutist who has also performed on other woodwinds as well as bass and cello, so she can basically teach anything in the music department [also physics and math!]