Marching Sets and Jazz Hands

The past couple weeks have been pretty busy, Last week was Homecoming and every day was a different theme. Monday was frat day (I wore a toga), Tuesday was Disney Day (I was a Sith Lord from Star Wars), Wednesday was Duck Dynasty Day (I was Alan Robertson), Thursday was Superhero Day (I wore a Superman Skin Suit) and Friday was Bluejay Day (I just wore Bluejay attire). It was a fun week and Friday night was the game. Everyone was hyped, but not nearly as much as I was. Not only did I get to cheer my team on in a game of football, it was the first game we had a marching set for I'll be There. I was a little nervous but I always am before a show. The team wasn't doing too hot but we still had hope. It came to halftime and the band executed everything just about perfectly. And I nailed my 4 bar trumpet solo for I'll be There. We may have lost the game at the end but it was still fun. There was the dance afterwards and the DJ was actually really good this time. In the past the DJ's have been average or terrible. I did my fair share of dancing until it ended at midnight.

After a few hours sleep, I got up at 6:00 for the Grains for Hope 50 mile bike ride. It started at 7:00 and I was filming the ride while riding on my bike. I was about two miles from Bern when I was too tired to carry on any longer. So I rode in the truck with my camera and filmed the rest of the ride. It was a beautiful day and the ride was a success. When we got back I noticed the back tire on my bike was flat! No wonder I didn't get very far. It was still a lot of fun and the meal afterwards was great.

This week we did a lot of work in band to clean the moves in our sets and to learn to play Who Are You (By: The Who). In our show choir (Infinity) we worked a lot on choreography and not as much on the singing portion. Choreography isn't my favorite part of the choir but it really needed work.

But the most exciting part of the week was the auditions for our musical, Guys and Dolls. I hadn't ever seen the movie or any productions of it so I wasn't sure what to expect. We did a lot of singing and acting those three days for auditions. I was really hoping for the character Nicely Johnson but with no such luck. My character is Benny Southwest. Not sure who he is or what he does, but he has a few songs with other characters so it will be fun regardless. That's all I have for now, keep on a lookout for the next chapter on the life of Billy Hatfield, Musician, Actor and Geek.

So... I'm Starting a Blog

Hello Internet and welcome to the first blog written by Billy Hatfield, where wonder and mystery awaits in every post. Ok not really but hopefully it's at least a little interesting. My life isn't all your typical high school teenager life, but instead is quite different from the stereotypical life of a high schooler, so if you think this blog is gonna be full of teenage drama, sap stories, and me complaining about homework (all the time) you may need a different blog to follow. Mine will be about a young musician working through highschool as a trumpet player/singer/geek.

For those who don't know me that well but want to follow anyway, here's a little background info. I am a junior at our highschool and have been playing the trumpet since 5th grade. I recently have been doing band camps (yes, band camps) and many other things to improve my talent, but I try to find time to watch Dr. Who or go out and play D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) with friends. I didn't have too many friends up until highschool when I joined the band and was mixed in with the upperclassmen. Since then, I've joined one of our school show choirs Infinity and have made even more friends. Music has been my passion for years now and will continue to be for the rest of my life.

I started becoming heavily involved in music a couple years ago when I attended our State Lions Band. I saw how good I actually was to some of those other trumpet players and realized I have a long ways to go to become a professional. And after I started focusing more and trying to hone my skills I auditioned for an elite marching band known as the All-Star Invitational Marching Band where I went to Florida and played at the BCS National Championship last January and after playing with so many wonderful people, playing in front of 80,000 people and realizing I enjoyed playing in front of a crowd that size, It really shed some light on what I wanted to do. I realized it's what I want to pursue as a career and this was one step that will get me there. So this blog is partially about my walk through life to become a professional musician or wherever life takes me in the path of music.