After Hours: Conversations for Music Educators

This week Nick Averwater talks with Jacob Abbott, Performing Arts Director at Dresden High School in Dresden, TN, which is a town of around 3,000 people in Northwest Tennessee, and is just over 100 miles from both Memphis and Nashville.

Jacob has been named to the 2025 Yamaha 40 Under 40 list of music educators, and in this conversation he'll tell us about restarting the school's band program after 20 years, with the support of the school district and the community.

Our conversation was recorded in February, 2025.

This week Nick Averwater talks with Dr. Alice Hammel, a music educator who has dedicated her 40-year career to making music programs more supportive, productive, and enjoyable for students with differences and disabilities.

Dr. Hammel has written four books about this subject, and we have links to them below.

Our conversation was recorded in February 2025.

Dr. Hammel's books include:

Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Label-Free Approach

Teaching Music To Students With Autism

Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Practical Resource

Winding It Back: Teaching to Individual Differences In Music Classroom and Ensemble Settings

This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Kim Webb, High School Band Director at Greene County Tech in Paragould, Arkansas. Paragould is a city of around 30,000 people located 65 miles northwest of Memphis. In 2024 The Greene County Tech marching band won the state championship in Class 5A. 

In the last episode, Kim told us about building and maintaining a culture of success in the band program. This time, we learn more about what it's like when the other high school in town, Paragould High School, also has a tradition of winning state marching band championships. 

Our conversation was recorded back in December 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.

This week Nick Averwater talks with Kim Webb, High School Band Director at Greene County Tech in Paragould, Arkansas. Paragould is a city of around 30,000 people located 65 miles northwest of Memphis. In 2024 The Greene County Tech marching band won the state championship in Class 5A.  

In this episode we'll learn about the ways that the band program has grown under Kim's leadership, and how the motto, "Belong, Believe, Become" inspires the students, and promotes a positive environment for them.

Our conversation was recorded in December 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.

Here's part one of our interview with Kim in May 2021

Here's part two of our interview with Kim in May 2021

In this episode Nick Averwater continues his conversation with John Easley, Middle Tennessee Educational Representative for Amro Music, and Andrew Demolat, Band Director at Rockvale Middle School, which is part of the Rutherford County School District, located southeast of Nashville. They're discussing the importance of having a successful instrument rental meeting

Our conversation was recorded July 8, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.

This week we're talking about how to make the most of the instrument rental meeting as Nick Averwater talks with John Easley, Middle Tennessee Educational Representative for Amro Music, and Andrew Demolat, Band Director at Rockvale Middle School, which is part of the Rutherford County School District. It's the fourth largest district in Tennessee with over 52,000 students, and is located southeast of Nashville.

Our conversation was recorded July 8, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.

We're posting this on Thursday, July 17, 2025, and it's the fourth in a series of six episodes designed to help you get ready for the new school year. We'll also have new episodes in this back to school series next Monday and Thursday, July 21st and 24th. 

This week we're discussing placing beginner band students with the right instrument as Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Sloane Feeley from Woodland Middle School in Brentwood, TN, Spencer Nesvick from Houston Middle School in Germantown, TN, and David Burkhalter from Heber Springs Middle School in Heber Springs, AR.

Our conversation was recorded June 30, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.

We're posting this on Monday, July 14, 2025. It's the third in a series of six episodes designed to help you get ready for the new school year. We'll have new episodes in this back to school series this Thursday, July 17th, as well as next Monday and Thursday, July 21st and 24th. 

This week we're discussing placing beginner students with the right instrument as Nick Averwater talks with Sloane Feeley from Woodland Middle School in Brentwood, TN, a city of 45,000 located just south of Nashville, Spencer Nesvick from Houston Middle School in Germantown, TN, a city of 41,000 just east of Memphis, and David Burkhalter from Heber Springs Middle School in Heber Springs, AR, a town of 7,000 located 50 miles north of Little Rock.

Our conversation was recorded June 30, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.

We're posting this on Thursday, July 10, 2025, and it's the second of six episodes designed to help you get ready for the new school year. We'll have new episodes Monday and Thursday for the next two weeks, so we hope you'll keep an eye out for those conversations on July 14th, 17th, 21st, and 24th. 

On the 14th and 17th we'll be discussing instrument placement, and the following week we'll look at everything you need to know to have a successful rental meeting.

Today, Nick Averwater continues his conversation about the time between the first day of school, and the day students get their instruments. Our guests include Lauren Duncan from Center Hill High School in Olive Branch, MS, Matt Pickering from Lewisburg Middle School in Hernando, MS, and Joel Roberts from South Marshall Middle School in Benton, KY.

Our conversation was recorded June 26, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.

Here's a link to the interview we did with Rebecca Lowry in August, 2020. On that page there are links to additional information about Rebecca's work

This week we kick off a series of six episodes designed to get you ready for the upcoming school year. 

We're posting this episode on Monday, July 7, 2025, and we'll have new episodes this Thursday, July 10th, as well as on Monday and Thursday for the next two weeks, so that will be July 14th, 17th, 21st, and 24th. 

The episodes that post on the 14th and 17th will be all about instrument placement, and the following week we'll look at everything you need to know to have a successful rental meeting.

This week Nick Averwater talks with Lauren Duncan from Center Hill High School in Olive Branch, MS, Matt Pickering from Lewisburg Middle School in Hernando, MS, and Joel Roberts from South Marshall Middle School in Benton, KY.

Our conversation was recorded June 26, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.