“It was instant… It connected me to something aspirational…“ says Tony Simmons as he reflects on the time his grade school music teacher first put a flutophone in his hand. “I knew it was the first step on that journey...” “That journey” included gigging as a jazz trumpeter, learning to fly an airplane, practicing entertainment law and eventually becoming the Executive Director of Minnesota’s High School for Recording Arts and co-founding Another Level Records.  “…Music was much more than something to do…" he says, "It was a sense of being…. And that continues to this day. There is no dot at the end of that sentence…” 

Join us as Tony takes us on a twisting, turning fascinating ride through a fascinating life. Oh by the way, he may also have witnessed the birth of Hip-Hop. Yup.

On Twitter:

Follow Tony @tonyminnieapple and The High School of Recording Arts @HSRA_MN

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Music by:

“Season 2, Episode 3” - Glass Animals

“John McLaughlin” - Miles Davis

“Astronomy (8th Star)” - Black Star

“Return To Forever” - Chick Corea