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Howdy folks,

It's that time of year again! The US Navy Band is heading across this great country of ours on our annual tour. Over the next 25 days we will be visiting the southeast; the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. You can see our itinerary here:

http://www.navyband.navy.mil/tourcb.shtml" target="_blank

Some kind of daily blog will be posted there as well.

You can also follow us on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/usnavyband?ref=ts" target="_blank

All public concerts are FREE, although tickets are usually required. And don't be too discouraged by a notice that says "All tickets have been distributed..." — there are almost always tickets that go unused, and the sponsors usually have some sort of stand-by seating plan. If you're nervous about getting a seat, contact me: there can never be too many tuba and euphonium players in the audience

And speaking of tuba and euphonium, this year we will have one of each as featured soloists! Bryce Edwards will be performing "Blue Bells of Scotland", and James Hicks will be featured with the Navy Band Brass Quintet in two movements of Jeff Tyzik's "New York Cityscapes". We always have at least two different programs, so you might hear only one of them at any given concert: no problem, just come to the next night's concert! The sections are:

Tuba: Karl Hovey, James Hicks
Euphonium: Bryce Edwards, Phil Eberle

As always, I look forward to meeting any and all TubeNetters, swapping stories, and most importantly, searching out all the best local cuisine. During last year's Texas tour I got lots of great recommendations for Tex-Mex and barbecue: who knows what this year's tour will bring? I will be grateful for your help, and will try to express my gustatory bliss through regular updates to this thread. And I've finally moved into the '90s by getting my own laptop! No more evenings wasted waiting for the crowed business centers to clear before posting!

Looking forward to meeting many of you. Please do come up and say hello.

Karl "I'll be the old gray-haired tuba player" Hovey

Karl:

Have fun going South! That was good planning after this winter in DC : )

The Army Field Band is headed to Michigan in a few weeks... Hopefully the weather will be nice, but I have limited confidence in that : )

sc

Aaahhh, those were the days. Bus seats, canned chili, poker games, and beer...

Karl, how the hell are ya? You guys enjoy tour, I'll keep enjoying semi-retirement back home here in Kentucky. Well, I'm still working, just teaching and taking the gigs I want now.

Seriously, anyone around who's got the time needs to come hear a concert. Tour programs are always enjoyable and afterward for the simple price of a pint or two or three you can hang out afterward with the gang. No, just hang out. It was always a blast to go on tour and meet different folks and the guys here would love to visit.

I look forward to stories from the road. My best to all Karl, good luck.

Hey, pauvog1, make sure you read the "fine print" in my post: there's ALWAYS a way for a TubeNetter to get in

Karl "has been using back doors for over 30 years... H.

Caught 'em last night in Southern Pines, NC. GREAT!
They played program B which listed the Edwards/Blue Bells, but they substituted a saxophone solo. The guy was really good (should've gotten a standing ovation IMO, but it wasn't a euph. Redline Tango, new composition, was neat. The band's precision and balance really delivered on Corcoran Cadets and Joyce's 71st NY Regiment, both pretty complex marches. . . I don't believe I've ever heard those played so well.

Thanks for the kind words, sailn2ba!

Sometimes our soloists get flopped around: could be family in the audience, request from sponsor, etc., but in this case it wasn't so much the sax soloist as the piano soloist! We can't tour with a quality concert grand piano, so on the occasions when one is available, we will let our fine pianist play. Sorry to the good people of Southern Pines, but Bryce will be featured many other times this tour. Thanks again for coming out!

Now, on to business: any recommendations for eats in Wilmington? Then, to get ahead of the curve, how about Charleston S.C., where we'll be the next two days?

Karl "gettin' hungry" H.

Karl H. wrote:Now, on to business: any recommendations for eats in Wilmington?

Been about a year since I've been to Wilmington, but here's my short list when I do get down there.

In no particular order (other than breakfast, lunch, and dinner):

BREAKFAST

BON APPETIT - great eggs, fritatta's. awesome specials, pancakes, stone ground grits, etc.

KATE'S (Carolina Beach): Try the Reese's special pancakes (stack of pancakes served with chocolate chips and Reese's chips). Mmmmmmm ... uuurrrrrpppppp!

LUNCH

NOFO MARKET & CAFE - down home southern cooking. 'Nuff said.

CASEY'S BBQ BUFFETT (Oleander) - eat yourself silly. The buffet may not look like it has much, but the food speaks for itself. Utterly amazing. And if you ask nicely, one of the waiters will bring you out a plate of piping-hot ribs with the meat literally sliding off the bone. Oh, and tell them you're from out of town when you check out, and the manager will give you a business card with "Buy one, get one free" handwritten on the back.

FLAMING AMY's BURRITO BARN - I've had a few bum burritos, but most of the time it's two thumbs up. Try the Thai Me Up or The Big Jerk!

TAQUERIA LOS PORTALES - the most authentic hole in the wall Mexican fast food joint in town. You'll likely be the only gringo in there. The staff is super friendly and accomodating. Portions are absurd. AMAZING carnitas (pulled pork) and lots of innard dishes too.

DINNER

SWEET AND SAVORY - good all around food and drink and desserts - fresh baked goods. Live music, good ambiance, and solid food. Not mind blowing, but good.

BRASSERIE DU SOLEIL- one of the best in Wilmington. Raw bar, fresh salads, wonderful entrees. If it's on the menu, try the braised lamb.

INDOCHINE - che curries are WONDERFUL! Try the Jungle curry.

DOCKSIDE - one word: oysters. Also love their scallops steamed in old bay and beer and King Crab legs. Great blackend grouper sandwich too. Don't order the pastas. Prices are right for a casual night of beer and seafood with friends.

CASEY'S BBQ BUFFETT - see above

LA COSTA (Oleander) - one of the best authentic Mexican places I've been to. Try the Carne Chipotle (strips of steak covered in a spicy chipotle sauce); if you're a chile-head, ask for extra spicy and FEEL THE BUUUUURRRRRNNNNN!

I've been to Casey's. Does not suck. Enjoy tour!

Sorry to be a bit negligent: tour pace has caught me off-guard. By going direct to site in South Pines the first day and again the third for a matinee in Charleston, I've not had as much time to research or enjoy many of the local flavors. Did enjoy a simple meal at the Riverboat Landing in Wilmington: turkey, havarti, and cranberry pannini ably accompanied by a comforting cup of beef and rice soup. Really hit the spot on a cold afternoon.

After the matinee we had the evening free in Charleston, and I took the opportunity to investigate some of the local products. Very late I had an outstanding burger: double patties made from fresh ground beef, wonderfully juicy (i.e., messy), on a buttery bun with just the right amount of condiments and served with a side of shoestring potatoes. I just can't remember the name of the place...

Just finished a rehearsal with a fine group of guest conductors at the ABA conference. Concert tonight, but I plan a very nice meal around 1600 (4 p.m. for you landlubbers). I'm torn between eating at one of the many quality sea food places, or the southern comfort-type eat-'till-you-can't-walk restaurants. When in doubt, I often let my nose and eyes make the decision for me as I walk around.

It's early, but the audiences for the tour so far have been outstanding! It is truly gratifying to play to full houses of enthusiastic patrons. Yesterday I met a retired Naval officer who not only played tuba, but inspired all three of his grandkids to play tuba as well!

Karl "getting hungry just thinking about it" H.

Karl H. wrote:Karl "has been using back doors for over 30 years... H.

Karl, the navy isn't quite progressive enough yet for you to say this!


Have a great tour!

My thanks to Karl Hovey for posting about the tour. I live in SC, and the local press often buries or completely does not report events like this. Because I saw this post on Wednesday, I was able to make the drive down to the ABA Convention in Charleston and see a wonderful Navy Band concert with an all-star lineup of conductors. Tubas and euphs certainly (In fact, the entire low brass), had a good presence of sound and the entire band blended well. Bass trombone had an edge of sound without being blatty, which is hard to do. I must also make mention of MUC Luellyn Dollard, who played her TAIL off on piccolo on the Francois Borne "Fantasie Brillante on Themes of Bizet's Carmen". It was great seeing Bryce Edwards (whom I attended Tennessee Tech University with), as well as being able to watch my old band director at Tennessee Tech, Joseph Hermann (current ABA president), conduct the national anthem. Also a treat to see Col. (Ret.) Bryan Shelburne conduct the band as I watched him conduct the US Army Band at their Tuba-Euph conference for several years. Kudos to the Navy Band for a concert that was more than well worth the trip.
Gray Bach

Hittin’ our stride as the tour finishes up its first week. Had a great time in Charleston playing for some neat school kids one day and the American Bandmasters Association the next. Always a treat for us to get to perform with some of the country’s renowned band conductors. Also had a couple of great meals, heavy on southern tradition, with all their usual charms (and calories).

*Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any places mentioned, and my spelling can be faulty (Fawlty?!). Please don’t sue me…

First off was Hymans, a traditional southern-fried fill-me-with-sweet-tea family style food emporium. Started with an appetizer called Carolina Delight, a sauce-covered double-layered concoction that looked like a culinary rendering of the Civil War era warship Monitor, sans rifle barrel. A saucer shaped lump crab cake sat atop a rectangular hunk of (I think) grits that had somehow been turned into the consistency of angel food cake, the whole thing covered with a sauce that wasn’t quite hollandaise and not quite cream gravy. The usual main course meal was a choice of 3 (or 4 or 5!) entrees with the standard country sides. I had the crab cake (same sauce), fried catfish (light and sweet), and salmon n’ grits. The latter is one of the house specialties: take a large fillet of moist salmon, cover it with the ubiquitous sauce, and then dump the whole thing on top of a long shallow bowl of buttery grits. Just thinking about it raises cholesterol levels 10 points!

More satisfying if slightly less filling, was lunch at Jestines. You know that a place is going to be good when there is a line forming 20 minutes before opening, and Jestines didn’t disappoint. This was great low-country cooking: not the kind of stuff you get in restaurants, more like what you got if you were fortunate to have a grandmother who loved you enough to spend all day making your favorite foods when you came to visit. My companions and I got different entrees and shared the bounty. I ordered the small portion of meat loaf. Not small, it came sliced thick, with a fall-apart texture and distinctly smoky flavor. Seemed like it had been cooked slow in a smoker, and certainly finished with a quick searing on a wood-burning grill. Wonderful! But the star of the meal was my friends’ fried chicken. Three huge pieces of deliciousness that we all imagined came from steroid-infused turkey were stacked high on the plate, with a perfectly crispy skin and seasonings that were blue plate-lickin’ good. Another stunner was the pork chop: at least an inch thick, and what it may have lacked in tenderness it made up for with the most delectable seasoned crust. Amazing corn bread (with chunks of moist sweet corn), fried okra, collard greens… oh,man! And banana pudding or pecan pie for dessert!

The bar is set high. Can other cities meet the culinary challenge? Only time and the specter of next month’s weigh-in will tell…

Karl “much like Sherman, eating his way across the South” H.

Bloke said
"The honest truth is that most towns of any size offer some really good food...You just have to luck into finding it, or be guided to it."

Bloke,

You are absolutely correct. I spent six years touring with The US Army Field Band Band back in the seventies, and had a great time enjoying the wonderful cuisine of small town and big city America. (Tim Loehr, where are you?)

And it got easier the second or third time we passed through the various tour areas (there were five back then). From seafood in New England, Baltimore, the Gulf coast, or Pacific Northwest, to those great "pasties" in Michigan, to Cajun-Creaole on New Orleans, to Tex-Mex or New Mexico, not to mention great delis in NYC. Pensylvania Dutch "scrapple"...Smithfield ham...New England clam chowder...Cioppino...French dip sandwiches in LA...Dungeness crab..barbecue of every stripe from Carolina to Texas to Arthur Bryant's in KC...Oysters Rockefeller, or Bienville...Clams Casino, Po-Boys, dirty rice...New York pizza...Chicago deep dish...

Karl,

Please keep those reports coming. I'm really enjoying this thread.

Now I'm hungry again!

Some tour days are better than others. Tough to pretend being separated from your loved ones is a terrible hardship as you stroll along the beach…

Monday 8 March finds us in Daytona Beach, the day after Bike Week. Main Street looks like a scene straight out of Apocalypse Now. To the credit of the great people of Daytona, an energetic cleanup was under way and apparently had been since sunrise. What could not be removed, despite the steady ocean breezes, was the indescribable smell: some kind of vile mix of beer, BO, grease, greasy food, oil and gas — automotive and um… natural.

You’d think after such a nasal assault I’d be unable to stomach (insert pun apology here) even the thought of eating: you’d be wrong. Only a block or so from Main Street I encountered Hog Heaven. Looking suspiciously like the average tourist trap (located right on Atlantic across from the Hilton), I was pleased to find visual and olfactory evidence of a good eating choice: a scrupulously clean, neat appearance; and mouth-watering Bar-B-Q aroma.

Taking the advice of my charming and attentive waitress (ask for Cathy), I ordered the pulled pork luncheon platter. Very quickly I was presented with a plate half covered with a fine example of the requested animal flesh. The rest of the plate held crispy crinkle-cut fries, a small cup of cole slaw, and thick slice of garlic bread. There were four bottles of sauce on the table, and is my wont, I tried them all (my preferred method is put-a-dollop-on-a-pinkie). Each one did not suck: spicy, sweet, mustard, and smoky all had some endearing qualities. But taking the good Cathy’s advice again, I tried a little mix-and-match. I found that the sweet, when combined with the smoky, provided a stimulating concoction of tastes.

There was nothing really remarkable about this meal, but finding good eats in a clean, friendly environment in the aftermath of the debacle that is Bike Week (and all for $8), means a lot to this not-so-jaded traveler.

Concert at the Peabody Auditorium tonight, then on to Lakeland…

Karl “eats fish in the Carolinas and Bar-B-Q on the beach… go figure” H.

Today was another hit-and-run day, with us leaving Daytona (after Bike Week and just ahead of the upcoming Spring Breakers) and bussing to Lakeland. No food commentary today, as the kind sponsor provided backstage eats (and lunch was at a run-of-the-mill silver-type diner). Really enjoyable concert tonight! The Lakeland Center was packed with app. 2300 appreciative patrons, including former Navy Musician Eric the TubeNetter and his lovely wife and adorable child (gonna hold you to that reenlistment promise, Eric!). The crowd’s enthusiasm pushed the band to new heights: we went through our usual encores, and they clamored for more! We’re all on a high heading into our first maintenance day tomorrow. With any luck, I’ll complete my “maintenance” in time to go see a spring training baseball game. Check back in a couple of days…

Karl “who sometimes feels as if valve maintenance should be initiated with a sledgehammer" H.

Karl H. wrote:Some tour days are better than others. Tough to pretend being separated from your loved ones is a terrible hardship as you stroll along the beach…

Monday 8 March finds us in Daytona Beach,

For the best food in the area, you need to drive to the very bottom of the island. The Inlet Harbor restaurant extends out over the bay and the seafood was brought to the dock that day.

And...it's generally untouched by Bike Week...

They always say, you never know who’s in the audience, and tonight’s concert in Punta Gorda proved the axiom. A proud ex-Navy man came up to me after the concert (I usually do the “meet-and-greet” in the lobby post-concert) and asked me if I knew who Harold Brasch was. Either he recognized me as a tuba player or it was his lucky night because, of course, I did. Turns out he was a personal friend of Mr. Brasch (a Navy Band euphonium soloist from 1936 to 1956) and tears came into his eyes as he related how Bryce Edwards’s Blue Bells of Scotland (especially the triple tonguing sections) reminded him of his old friend. Priceless! And later on, a different gentleman who had noticed I was a tuba player asked if I knew the tuba player in the National Symphony. Jackpot! When I said I knew Steve Dumaine and also knew what a splendid job he was doing in the orchestra, the patron replied, “That’s great to hear, because I’m his father!” Wonderful to meet Mr. Dumaine! He sends his best, Steve.

Good times, fun music, great crowds… life is good!

Tune in next time for a restaurant review of one of the best meals I’ve ever tasted: easily one of my top 5 dining experiences ever!

Karl “as if y’all really care” H.

I'm enjoying this thread Karl, keep it up! You've got the tuba player's tour mentality pretty much spot on.

Sometimes for our trips I'll do a separate BBQ/Brewpub Op Plan for myself and friends

It takes a lot to make us jaded old military musicians cry. We’ve played just about any kind of gig there is, and we take everything in stride. Funerals in Arlington National Cemetery are sometimes tough, especially for active duty personnel lost in the current wars. But I must confess to getting a little choked up last night with the response from the good people of Brooksville, Florida.

Due to a road closure and detour that got our busses on a one-lane road (and not the RIGHT one lane road), we had to start our concert 10 minutes late. The setup crew told us the crowd had filled the hall 30 minutes before, so after waiting patiently for at least 40 minutes, they moved us all by giving us a standing ovation during our 60-second music introduction: and they all were waving United States flags.

It was that kind of night. The sponsors had laid out a gourmet spread that was a mix of store-bought and homemade goodness, and overall we couldn’t have been more warmly received.

Outdoor concert in Naples tonight: gotta bring the sunscreen and wind clips!

Karl “crusty outside but tender inside” H.

Howdy! Sorry for the delays in postings, but due to (in no particular order); 1. a too-close encounter with a 12-inch serrated bread knife (“It’s only a flesh wound!”); 2. a prolonged stay in an unenlightened hostelry that insisted on charging an exorbitant fee for the privilege of accessing their internet server (I proudly declined to be extorted); and 3. A series of hotel’s whose wi-fi bandwidth was so overwhelmed by the addition of 60-odd tech-savvy musicians that we never achieved dial-up speed (seriously – I clocked download speeds of nearly 11kb/sec.!!), I have been negligent in keeping this thread alive and in the collective consciousness. No more! I’ll just write up a quick series of posts and slap them up as soon as I find free fast wi-fi…

First off, there are occasions when we can “work in” an activity or three around the daily bus-eat-concert routine. One such opportunity occurred the day after our concert in Lakeland. A short bus ride and a free afternoon meant we had a chance to abandon our fantasy sheets cable TV feeds and actually see a live baseball game! It is grapefruit season in Florida and we were going to see the Tigers play the (hated by some in our party) Yankees. Little did we know that when the Yankees play ANY team, legions of snowbirds in their socks and sandals flock to see them. We planned on getting to the stadium an hour and a half early to catch some batting practice: instead, we were held up in a traffic jam of Manhattan-esque proportion. We gave up and walked the last couple of miles, only to discover that all available tickets had been sold in advance! We stood in a line of nearly an hour, hoping to be given one of the few no-show seats, but no luck. We were eventually awarded standing-room only tickets: for only $2 less than General Admission, we could stand between some concrete gates and see a portion of the field, surrounded by equally upset and sweaty patrons. Keen Navy instincts took over, and when the enemy (i.e., Old Retired Usher Guy) wasn’t looking, we made our way into the GA section where, lo and behold, there were plenty of empty bench seats!

All this prelim still leaves unanswered how a hot dog and a beer, served in front of ball game where the grass is fresh and green and the sky is painfully bright blue, tastes better than many an expensive restaurant meal: even if the dog is served dry (who the h*** doesn’t put mustard on their hot dog, Juan?!), and the beer is as light as the breeze, obviously domestic, and as pale yellow as … well, you get the idea.

Karl "whose taste in beverages and sporting activities is all Belgian: beer and bicycles" H.