Hello KCRB Families!   Please note – we are closed March 14 & 15.  This is one of our four scheduled weeks off per year!   

            Did you know the US Military is the largest employer of musicians in the United States?  Two of our own KCRB teachers, Bethany Linville and Matt Crandall, are members of the 312th Army Band, which is an Army Reserve unit based in Lawrence, Kansas.  The band drills (meets) one weekend a month and for two weeks in the summer, with additional classes and performances throughout the year as needed.  We asked Bethany to share a little about her experience in the Army Band:

“I’ve had many people ask me why I enlisted, and I tell them it was originally to pay for college.  If you told 17-year-old Bethany that I’d still be in the band 13 years later and loving what I get to do for my country, I probably would have laughed at you.  As 30-year-old Bethany looking back, I am so proud of the musical and personal growth I’ve been able to make because of the opportunities given me in the Army Band!  The first time I visited the band, someone asked what song I wanted to sing with the jazz group, but I was so shy that I mumbled a title and no one heard me!  Now I sing regularly from piano in my jazz combo.
            A few years later, after I had enlisted, the Commander told me I would be performing three songs on piano at our Concert Band performance—songs I’d never seen or played before—in just four hours.  I spent those next four hours worrying!  Just another example of how being in the Army Band has pushed me out of my comfort zone to become a better musician.  I have been able to attend the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp to improve at jazz piano, which I use every drill weekend.   I have also been given responsibilities outside of my musician role—I am in charge of the band’s music library and making sure that each Soldier has the music they need.  We have almost 1,000 songs in our Concert Band library alone! I also get to plan retirement ceremonies to honor a Soldier and his or her career, as well as get-togethers for Soldiers and their families to boost morale in the unit.  And last year, I took an Army Leadership Class to get promoted and graduated on the Commandant’s List for my hard work in the class.”

Thank you for sharing about your experience and serving our country, Bethany! 


Student of the Month –Hadley Hill

Hadley has been taking piano lessons at KCRB for  2½ years!  Her teacher, Bethany, nominated her because she always has the best attitude coming into lessons and accepts new challenges.  Here’s a little more about Hadley:

Age and school:  9, Briarwood Elementary

What’s your favorite song you’ve learned so far?  Pirates of the North Sea

What do you want to be when you grow up?    A sports coach

What’s your favorite pizza?   Minky’s Pepperoni

Any advice for other musicians starting out? 
      Practice and do what you love!

                      Way to go, Hadley!

US Army Bands!