Me at about 14
My first parade at
11 yrs old — yes,
I was a drummer!
About me:
My fife and drum career started fall of 1986 with the Westfield Fife & Drum Corps, in Westfield, NJ. Prompted by fellow kids/parents at my church who were involved, my parents thought I should put my school drumming lessons to use, and asked me if I wanted to check it out.
My first instructor was Mr. Bobby Thompson, who took great pleasure in making fun of my “rabbit ears” that I had picked up in school (bad left hand grip). He proceeded to patiently clean up my rudiments, and to teach me style and technique as they apply to fife and drum. Unfortunately, Mr. Thompson passed away the following year, which left me devastated and heart-broken. :-(
I was a little too hyperactive to remain focused for the next drumming instructor (and I think all the kids were too hyperactive for him). The third drumming instructor, burnt down, fell over, and THEN sank into the swamp. (Just kidding!) The third, Mr. Peter Hubert had much more patience, and still teaches Westfield F&D to this day. But, in the meantime, I had been lured to the fife by several of my friends, who were fifers, and started taking lessons with Mr. Jim Douglas.
I continued to take lessons from Mr. Douglas and Mr. Hubert, and eventually got individual drumming attention from Duke Terreri. It was around this time I started playing fife with the New Jersey Field Music, as well. I won several awards at various competitions, and served as fife sergeant for a couple of years in Westfield F&D before graduating.
About Face:
Despite what the past renditions of this page would hopefully have you believe, a whole 10 years of my fife & drum life did not just up and disappear after I graduated and left the New Jersey Fife & Drum scene until I magically dropped into the MCV fifeline after presumably not having played for 10 years.
Westfield Fife & Drum instilled such a love of the art in me, that despite people’s best efforts, I could not be content to just remove that part of my life. But the truth of the matter is, I spent 10 years in Fife & Drum hell in Western New York. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say it’s only after several years of “therapy” (i.e. I picked up and moved 350 miles away), that I can talk about it without worrying (or caring) about it biting me in the ass. I’m not going to go into the petty whos or whys, but that’s what finally led me “On the Road to Boston.”
Assimilated into “the Borg”
Photo by Steven Taskovics
“Michael’s Pickle Goes to Boston*” and other strange things seen
along the way
In 2002, I packed up everything I could fit in my car, and headed East, never
to look back. In what started out as a “long-distance” playing
relationship with the Middlesex
County Volunteers, corps members passed my
resume around, and I got an interview at my present company. Steven Taskovics
(well-known
in the
local
reenacting community and a general sweetheart) offered to let me stay at his
house (not even knowing me, truth be told) in exchange for cat-sitting while
he was away on business. I also took this week to attend some practices and
get ready for our “On
Christmas Day” recording.
I went back to wrap up my old job in NY, and came back a week later to do the
recording, and was asked back for a 2nd interview. What timing! It must’ve
been fate. After I interviewed, I got a call back, and they wanted me to start
on Monday! So... I just never went back to New York! Steven graciously allowed
me to stay with him until I could line up my own place, cat-sitting, fifing,
and exploring my new home area.
These series of fateful events led me to where
I am today, very happy to have rediscovered the joy of Fife &
Drum I once knew so well. I’m a fifer surrounded by friends who feel like a family,
playing great music and having a great time doing it.
*“Michael’s Pickle Goes to Boston”
- one of the first medleys I learned upon entering the MCV fife
line.
The Traveling Troupe's Talents Take Them To The Tattoo
In 2005, as well as recording two albums—“Anthem” and “In America”—we
went abroad to play at the Yshalle
Tattoo in Basel, Switzerland. You can learn more
about this trip on my Switzerland
Page (which I make no promise of finishing before
the next Swiss tour in 2006). The entire experience was very positive, and
overshadowed my not-so-graceful act of falling on my face and breaking a metacarpal
and spraining 3 fingers in time for the show. Yes, I still played all three
shows, practices, and a parade - anyone who knows me could tell you it would
take more than a broken finger and sprained hand to keep me from playing! This
experience opened the way to a country-wide tour of Switzerland in
2006, and an invitation to play at the Edinburgh
Military Tattoo in 2007!
Check out our new album “In
America” - available for order on the MCV Web
site.
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