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Andy Tichenor is a St. Louis based commercial and lead trumpet player, and just won the audition for principal trumpet with the MUNY, a local Broadway style theater in the St. Louis area.

JN: Andy, get us up to speed. What’s going on in your world?

AT: Well, I’ve been on a national tour of Dirty Dancing, a stage production of the movie we all know, for the last 2 years. After it’s over in 2 weeks, I’ll be back at home getting ready to take on the MUNY job. Basically ready to be off the road, and back at home gigging, teaching, etc.

JN: This podcast is about stories. To get us into the right frame of mind, I want to start the interview with what you consider to be one of your worst moments as a performer.

AT: Of course, we all have moments like that, but there’s one in particular that you could call a “teachable moment.” I was hired to play lead trumpet for a recreation of the Frank Sinatra, Count Basie show at the Sands Hotel in Vegas. It was a very iconic recording, kind of a match made in heaven with Sinatra and Basie. This is really well known music so I’ve played all these tunes many times in my life.

The circumstances around this gig were kind of sad. My father had just passed away a few months prior, a few months after having a massive stroke. I had been caring for him and that was really all I was doing. I thought that maybe this gig would be a good way to get going again as a performer after dealing with that for so long.

The problem is that I had barely touched the horn in going on 4 months. So to put it mildly, it didn’t go well. I did okay for maybe the first 15 minutes, but the show was very challenging physically. It’s Count Basie music, followed by a long set of Frank Sinatra’s music.

So, 15 minutes into the show, I’m completely shot physically. And to make matters worse, the other trumpet players in the section aren’t really up to the task either. I tried to pass one of the charts to the guy next to me, asking him to help me out, and he passed it right back to me. I had no help. It was a very lonely feeling. It got to the point where I was laying out, taking things down an octave. It was kind of embarrassing.

The teachable moment in all of this is no matter what’s going on in my life, I need to keep in touch with the horn. We all get busy with life, but I’ve made it a point to find any opportunity I have to do any kind of trumpet related activity I can. Even if it’s sitting at a red light, doing some kind of lip firmness exercises. Even a few minutes of mouthpiece buzzing.

It sounds so obvious. You take 4 months off the horn and try to jump back into a big show like that is a mistake. But the important thing is what I’ve learned from the experience. I do something related to trumpet every single day, even if it’s just a couple of minutes. So hopefully there’s some good that comes out of this, as unpleasant as it was.

JN: It seems to me like just the act of doing something every day won’t necessarily get you ready for a big gig like Sinatra and Basie, but it’s going to just keep your head in the game.

AT: I benefit greatly from just 20 minutes of practicing. I’m just that much better off down the road. It’s always better than nothing.

JN: So why wouldn’t those guys take the first part and help you out?

AT: I think there’s just a reputation that preceded me of being a strong player. That’s all well and good, until you legitimately need help.