who hasn’t been beaten up by the profession at some point? 

we sat down with chris mclellan, a man who has held many roles in music education. as a retired band director, uil music executive secretary, band consultant, and a university supervisor for student teachers, he has a wealth of experience and knowledge. chris is a devoted family man, and a baseball fan with a goal of visiting every mlb stadium. we yapped about his presence at historic texas rangers moments, whether or not he owns a kilt, and his remarkable band director lineage. 

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials to assist in your job hunt, fill out our talent connect form

sponsored by:

the band blueprint (use promo code bandyap5 when you purchase)

troubadour consultants

heavy on the band, heavy on the yap. 

kat norris is a gem. she loves birds, the university of houston cougars, mahler, and of course middle school band. kat gave us the low-down on what it was like to step into her current role at henry middle school, how her high school band experience shaped her perspective on music, blockbuster video, her feelings on trash tv, and how she aged out of…several things. 

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials to assist in your job hunt, fill out our talent connect form

sponsored by: 

sponsored by:

⁠the band blueprint⁠ (use promo code bandyap5 when you purchase)

⁠troubadour consultants⁠

you know the guy that posts the sight-reading info? that's tim.

even if you don't know tim, you know tim. he moderates the yellowboard (iykyk) and the texas band directors facebook group. he writes drill via brynnpark productions. brynnpark's website also hosts the sight-reading information each year, uil repertoire analysis, and judge analysis. but, tim will tell you- he left band directing, and has since shifted his entire perspective on what defines success in the band hall and out of it.

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials to assist in your job hunt, fill out our talent connect form

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)

are jake heck and brett batchelor the same person? we may never know.

jake teaches at not one, but TWO different private schools. he gives us insight into the private school side of band, the texas vs. oklahoma panhandle, why peanut butter m&ms are the superior m&m, his love of travel, and what it is like to sight-read west highlands sojourn at contest.

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials to assist in your job hunt, fill out our talent connect form

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)

no really, this goes a little off the rails.

we talked with kim about...wow. a lot. her upbringing in carthage, her rock-solid dedication to her students, appropriate plumage, her coloring hobby, meat parade, and more. featuring a phone call from robert herrings, and some text-to-confirm moments with dr. kevin sedatole and jarrett lipman.

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials to assist in your job hunt, fill out our talent connect form

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)

live, laugh, yap.

we sat down with victor garza to discuss our deep connections to one another, at length. we got real about trials, tribulations, victories, failures, how he left his car running throughout an entire marching contest day, and why chick-fil-a is superior to cane's.

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials by filling out our talent connect form

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)

the magic is in the details—just ask a marching band program coordinator.
we yapped with reid atkinson at the headquarters of ultimate drill book, where we covered texas vs. kansas city bbq, empathy, which disney park reigns supreme, and what makes texas band culture unique.

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials by filling out our talent connect form

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)

he's going out with a bang!

two-time 1a state marching band champion brian tillman joines us to yap about rock and roll, the power of randy standy, the kismet way he met his wife, and how he's never played careless whisper.

listen to our mixtape

listen to our march madness playlist

get help with your resume, or featured on our socials by filling out our talent connect form

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)

got yap? we do.

taylor williamson grew up on a dairy farm in east texas. now, he's an honor band director. we yapped with taylor about his experiences in his hometown's 2a band program, which direction the toilet paper should actually face, the story of how he broke his ankle before midwest, and more!

listen to our mixtape here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ZvfkMMSyVWOKqPqOBUgB7?si=yPu-QtXbTfO9_0uDgg7N5Q

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)

did you know that robert herrings graduated from mcgregor high school? now you do!

robert is a four-time (yes, FOUR-TIME) honor band winner, who sometimes does cartwheels in the name of school spirit. he is an inspiring human, and is an unimaginably talented band director. he joined us to talk about his origin story, which includes his junior high band director, robin wilson. robin has designed all of robert's program books for tmea and midwest, and still supports him in all of his band endeavors. we talked about how impactful band relationships can be, pickles, bue ridge saga, robert's preferred chuy's order, and more!

sponsored by: troubadour consultants (https://www.troubadourconsultants.com/)