Every story worthy of being told has a beginning and an end. On a time-line, this story starts on April 29 of 2017, and the end is thankfully, nowhere in sight. My hope is that it will continue to prosper and entertain long after I'm gone, or unable to take an active part in it.

Up until 2017, my wife and I had lived in North Carolina for almost two years and I needed something to occupy my retirement time. I was so bored. It was around then that two things occurred that would change my life, and my outlook on life. I decided to run for public office in our little town, and two ... I decided to play trumpet in a big band again. I’ve been a member of our Town Council for almost eight years now, and the band part will speak for itself.

Many years earlier, while living in Maryland, I had dedicated myself to starting a big band. Not just any band, but a big band. The result of that effort was the Calvert County Community Band, aka The Calvert Dance Band, which is still up and playing to this day for a total of 37 years. The question for now was, could I do it again, and make it an even better band? Eighteen quality musicians with a similar love for big band music. A place to rehearse on a regular basis. Many charts to choose from. A director. So many questions …

First things first – my trumpet skills were rusty and to be quite frank, lacking. I managed to secure a spot in the Wilson based Moonlight Swing Band. It was a three-trumpet big band and I enjoyed my experience with them, that is until they realized my shortcomings and showed me the door. I needed to be in a band that being fully aware of my “talents”, would still keep me around. The time had obviously come to start my own wheels rolling.

Enter David Richards. David is a local musician who excels at the trumpet but is so musically talented that he teaches all brass instruments, guitar, piano, voice and more. He’s the guy I need on my side for contacts. The problem was that it took us two years to get together. It seems David was a very busy man but one that shared my big band goals. As it turns out, David was to play a very major role in my imaginary big band.

The contact was finally made after a long year and a half and David Richards was ready to start the wheels rolling on a new big band for the area. We met at a local coffee shop in Clayton and David brought along someone he wanted me to meet, saying that this man would be an asset to my efforts.  Michael Carrier Howard, a former lead trumpet player for the Glenn Miller Orchestra (post WWII) was the newcomer. As it turns out, Michael also wanted to become involved in a local band. With David as the contact, we were brought together. There and then, in a coffee shop in Clayton, we laid the groundwork for the band. Naming was relatively simple ... instead of a “name” big band – for example “The Michael Howard Big Band”, we wanted the name to reflect our geography and it was a no-brainer to go with the second largest river in North Carolina and one that flows through our neighborhood, the Neuse River. With David Richards' assistance, we collectively came up with the musical quarter note as our logo, and a teal blue color completing our new band's banner. Michael graciously agreed to be the leader of the Neuse River Big Band.

    Michael and I started to work in filling the seats with quality players who shared our ambitions and goals. Although David was not able to take an active part, he agreed to help by referring to us players that he felt would fit the band. Michael and I, both having played in community bands before this, agreed and we set certain ground rules:

1. No players under the age of 18, or those who are currently in school and had yet to graduate. This founding rule was grounded in the hard-won knowledge that, although there were many qualified high school students to choose from, most of them were engaged in other band activities that would interfere with our rehearsals. In addition, come graduation they would be moving on and therefore lost to the NRBB.

    2. Preferably, no middle school or high school band directors. Although highly qualified to play in the NRBB, these musicians have many of the same conflicts that high school students have, i.e. marching band, concert band, etc. This particular rule actually came about a bit after we met to establish the ground rules. We learned the hard way with this one.

    3. All potential members of the NRBB had to speak with Michael by phone regarding their qualifications, and if needed, they would audition. Typically, however, Michael was able to gage their aptitude and abilities just from speaking with them and learning of their past experience. Surprisingly, many of the applicants, or persons referred to us, had big band experience either recently or in college. These players made our job much easier.

These foundation rules were, of course, sometimes modified or "bent a tad" because, at the time, the band was in need of qualified players. After all, it was just Michael and I so it's not like we had to answer to a higher band authority. It was our band. At least it was back then.

On May 13 2019, David Richards lent his studio and talents to the making of a video featuring Michael Howard, David and myself announcing the formation of the Neuse River Big Band and our desire to get experienced and qualified musicians to contact us. We put the video on Facebook and waited. Eventually, enough

calls came in and references gathered that we could actually get enough musicians together to talk about this new venture of ours.

June 6, 2019 was our big day! It was time for the very first meeting of the Neuse River Big Band and it was to take place in the same coffee shop where Michael and I first met - the Boulevard West Coffee Shop on Main Street in Clayton. The manager allowed us to reserve the room in the back where there was a conference-like table. In addition to Michael and I, there were eleven musicians who wanted to be a part of the NRBB. I know there were eleven and who they were because I have a group photograph and, even at my age now, can recall the names of each, thanks to notes. Here is the list, to include Michael Howard and myself:

1. Luke Meade - trumpet

2. Annabel Meade - sax

3. Guy Percy - trombone

4. John Ford - trumpet

5. Terry Foskett - vocal

6. Carl Kiser - trumpet

7. Tyler Pfledderer - trumpet

8. Rebecca McCoy - trumpet

9. Tim McCoy - drums

10.   Bill Holmes - bass trombone

11.   Melissa Holmes – sax

 As founding members, or as the military says ... "plank holders", each deserves mention of who they were and whatever else I can remember. They also deserve our sincere thanks for giving Michael and I the lift our spirits needed and the unwavering desire to make this happen!

-        Luke Meade was the band director for West Johnston High School, one of the most award- winning high school bands in the state. He was a superb trumpet player that wanted to play with us mainly because as a band director, he rarely got to play beyond teaching, and he had to teach and hone the skills of many students with a variety of instruments. Luke is one of the reasons for "bending" the qualification rules.

-        Annabel Meade is the wife of Luke Meade and I vividly recall that when she was introduced (we had each member give us their name and instrument and anything else they wanted to say), her husband Luke interjected and said that he hoped no one would mind, but Annabel was just getting back into playing and could she stay. We had no objections.

-        Guy Percy is a trombone player who did not stay long because of other commitments demanding of his time. It was nice to meet him and we wished him well.

-        John Ford was a friend of mine long before this meeting. I kept in contact with John and invited him to be a part of the Neuse River Big Band. John is a former U.S. Army band member having played for the Army while stationed in Japan.

-        Terry Foskett is an older gentleman that I happened to meet in nearby Smithfield. His vocal skills were honed over many years as the Head Purser on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II.

-        Carl Kiser lived in the Goldsboro area and played trumpet. He turned into an active part of the NRBB until a family tragedy forced him away from us.

-        Tyler Pfledderer was yet another trumpet player for the band. I don't recall how I found Tyler, but he stayed with us until his work started taking a toll on his available time.

-        Rebecca McCoy came to us fresh out of graduating with a degree in music. She was hired as a middle school band director shortly after this meeting so she never got to become a full-fledged member, but the intent was there.

-        Tim McCoy was a drummer with big band experience in the Wilmington area. Tim's other commitments didn't allow him to stay very long.

-        Bill Holmes was another of those high school band directors that we had to "bend" the rules for to keep him. Knightdale High School had a budding band program so Bill had to take his leave from the NRBB but promised to be an active "sub" for us when needed. Over the years, Bill made good on that promise and as a very talented bass trombone player, he could play a show for us with little or no rehearsals. He's that good.

-        Melissa Holmes is a woodwind player that could play alto, tenor, and bari sax as well as beautiful flute. Melissa and Bill soon had their first baby and their times with the NRBB became fewer, unfortunately.

As of this writing in March of 2025, Annabel Meade, John Ford and myself are still with the band. Michael and I learned over the last five years that members would come and go, and some would come back. Work, family and many other factors played into this, but we understood and never held anyone to any promises. I'm pleased to say that as of now (2025), we have an extensive list of highly qualified subs that can sit in for any rehearsal and assume the position as if they have been with us for years. They are that good. At times, we have had to ask a sub to actually play in a show that they have never rehearsed for and they did it willingly and without fault. The Neuse River Big Band currently enjoys the best of community band reputations throughout the region and players continually ask to become seated members.

Back in 2019, as a small band with big hopes, we needed somewhere to rehearse and we needed music to rehearse with. Michael, as a former professional player, arranger and band leader, had a considerable library from which to choose our music. Over the coming years, he created many arrangements for the band, and he had many contacts in the music industry from whom he could draw arrangements. He was such an asset for our new band! Now, for a place to rehearse.

At this point many bands stumble and they never get over the hurdle of finding a home space. I spent many hours driving throughout Clayton and the surrounding areas of Johnston County looking at buildings and speaking with building owners and church pastors, almost begging for free space. Let me point out that I limited myself to Clayton simply because it was the center of where we tried to draw players from. Michael lived in Smithfield, I lived just outside of Clayton, and most of our player members lived in Johnston County. 

The search continued until I found the American Legion Hall on the outskirts of Clayton. The then Post Adjutant was easily convinced as I emphasized the "giving back to the community" part my sales talk. Being a very understanding man, he quickly added us to their monthly event calendar reserving every other Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. for the Neuse River Big Band. I had the door code and we had a home!!

It all worked until one Tuesday night when we arrived en mass to find that one of the Legion board members decided to take our dedicated day and time so that his group of veterans could meet. Michael and I recognized that we were somewhat powerless in this situation, so we reluctantly back off. We soon found out that his story carried a bit more weight with their board of directors.  We needed another home, and quickly so that the band stayed together. Thinking as a member of the band, it’s sorta easy to lose sight of the big goal if you don’t meet on a regular basis. I had my work to do.

A new band home was quickly found in a former restaurant, now an event venue, in Clayton that now hosted wedding and other receptions. The Brick & Mortar owners, Jerry and Bernadette Gubitosi, literally gave me a key to their life's work and agreed to let us use the facility every two weeks on Thursdays for 2 hours. Since it was at the height of COVID, his business was next to nothing. In fact, it was nothing, so we were free to use his place and hone our skills.

Our membership changed for the first time. We added a vocalist in Meredith Calton, and a new drummer in Jaylan Glenn. Another trumpet player, Alan Coyle, joined us also. The sax section had grown by adding Sam Carter on alto and Joan Fleming on tenor and clarinet. The trombone section, which consisted of Bill Holmes, now had Ian Matthies and Cliff Poland. The rhythm section, the soul of any band, added Aidan Miller on Bass (the exception to the high school student rule) and Dan Kehoe on keyboard. Dan originally got wind of us and wanted to play trombone, but our need for the keyboard outweighed his desires and he never saw his trombone again. Our little band of merry musicians now numbered eighteen plus one director, Michael Howard, who played trumpet on selected solos.

With the addition of Alan Coyle to the band, we now had a relationship with a larger and somewhat different band in Johnston County. Alan was on the board of an established non-profit band known as the Johnston County Wind Symphony. At the time, this group consisted of 42 musicians of various skill levels and backgrounds. Although short-lived, it was directed by a rotating list of Johnston County high school band directors and was comprised of high school students, interested adult volunteers and many middle and high school band directors. I too was a member ... for two rehearsals. Not for me, however, some of our NRBB members were doubling with the Wind Symphony to include John Ford, Bill and Melissa Holmes, Joan Fleming, Jaylan Glenn, Sam Carter and Alan Coyle. Because of COVID's duration, this group folded and we alone kept going.  But before their demise, they held their 2019 Christmas Concert and they invited the NRBB to play for one set on December 20th at Corinth Holders High School. It was SHOW TIME!

On the evening of the 20th, Michael and I were a bit nervous, but having done this before (many times in his case) we were ready. Everything had been thought out and planned for. There were too many details to list here, but it's sufficient to say that it went off without a hitch. We even had a sax cancelation! Without falter, the high school band director that was that year's JOCO Wind Symphony director, Mitchell Townley, learned of this and offered us the skills of his daughter for our show. It worked and she loved it.

Our part of the show went off wonderfully. Everyone performed to their best and our vocalist Terry did a nice job. Now that I think of it, Meredith must have joined the band shortly after this show as she did not appear in it. I know that because we had different sources of video / audio from which to mix a nice demo for future shows. Again, David Richards came through and used his excellent audio mixing equipment and his superb editing and mixing skills to come up with a perfectly synchronized demo tape that took the best from each source, giving us a great demo recording for future shows. 

It was around this time that our trumpet section started to transform. Tyler had work responsibilities that took him away, and Carl had a death in the immediate family and stopped playing altogether. Seeing as how we had a 6-man section and now four, it was appropriate to bring in another trumpet player. When Michael and I were starting this group, we agreed to have "depth" in each section, whether it be active players or qualified subs. We needed the good fall back players. I knew of a very good trumpet player with whom I played in a Christmas show and thought that he'd make a great NRBB member. Lee Roach joined us without hesitation and took the 3rd trumpet seat. John Ford and I shared the 4th part. John when needed, would join Lee on 3rd. Neil Hayworth joined us on tenor sax. We were growing.

After many months of rehearsing at the Brick & Mortar, the owner, Jerry, told me he regretted it but we needed to move on as his catering and event business was again surging and he needed the space for last minute bookings. It took only a few days until we secured our rehearsal nights at a local music instruction school on the other end of Main Street in Clayton. It was here that Tracie Thomas, Brandon Berning and Cameron Faulkner became members of the NRBB.

After having done a nice set for the JOCO Wind Symphony show, we continued to rehearse every two weeks. Because of COVID, the Wind Symphony stopped rehearsing but we toughed it out. Michael and I stressed that we would continue to rehearse per the schedule and if you wanted to play ... come on in. If you felt the COVID was too dangerous for you, then come in when you felt safer. It worked and most members flipped-off COVID and played on! 

Then, it happened yet again. Our rehearsal space arrangement with the owner was too good to last as he took on a financial partner who insisted that we pay over $200 per rehearsal for the space. I gladly gave him his key back and everything stopped. Or did it?

I had given up on Clayton or anything in Johnston County for rehearsal space and I embarked on a mission to find something to help keep us going. Earlier in our history I had made a contact with the Manager / Director of the Garner Performing Arts Center or GPAC, offering to play for them. Just about the same time as our leaving the music studio space, GPAC called for meeting where I gave them a demo of our previous (and only) show. It worked and we made a deal wherein they would allow us to use the GPAC stage for rehearsals every two weeks for two plus hours each, and in exchange, we would do a Christmas and Spring show the following year for them. It was a great (at that time) trade-off that gave us a rehearsal space AND two shows!

December 16 of 2021 was our first show. GPAC advertised it as a concert, but we knew better because we entertained! This show had to be a hit as our future depended on it. Meredith is a wonderfully capable vocalist, but for this show we needed an additional talent. We brought in Karen Pahl, a fantastic vocalist I had met and heard when I first spoke to Meredith about coming with the NRBB. Karen was, as a guest vocalist, an immediate hit! Shortly thereafter, we asked her to join us as a member. All Neuse River Big Band shows bring in talent to make it special and to keep the folks coming back for more. In this show, we brought in the man that put Michael and I together ... trumpet soloist David Richards.

Another challenge for the band was having enough players coming out of COVID in order to have a full band on the stage. Many musicians were still staying home to stay safe. As the show was in Garner, Tracie Thomas began networking with her band contacts in Wake County and recruited a lead trombone, Don Patrick, bass trombone, Jeff Eichen, and alto sax, Brian Gilmore to fill out the band. 

With a great NRBB cast and guests Karen and David, we hit it out of the park! Due to COVID, we were limited to selling 200 seats (out of 450 available) and we sold out venue! The good folks at GPAC were convinced on our ability to keep filling the seats! We signed on for more shows, each in trade for rehearsal space on the GPAC stage.

Before I continue on with what became an upward launch of momentum for the band from this point on, I’d like to pause and give credit as to why I believe the NRBB became successful in just a few short years.

To begin with, Michael Howard proved to be amazing at making sure that the band had an interesting and varied program of songs that were sure to please the audience. He came to every rehearsal thoroughly prepared and ready to go; everyone’s folder was neatly organized and the was music printed and neatly taped for each part. Very professional. It took hours of his time to do this on his own. He and I also worked together on providing a simple script for every performance and we often brainstormed how to get the audience engaged and make every performance a SHOW and not a concert.

He also spent countless hours of his personal time on special arrangements of songs in addition to providing songs from his library. He also spoke one-on-one with every band musician regarding their part and how they fit-in with their section as well as the entire band. Every band member learned how to blend and how to support other musicians. All of this came from Michael’s extensive background as a big band musician, band leader and as a studio musician. As if he had any spare time, he was also tasked with fielding questions from potential band members and, based on their music resume, to see if they would fit. I say “fit” because the NRBB was rapidly developing a style and personality of its own. As time went on, Michael proved to be an exceptional gift to the band and for the longest time, accepted no payment for his time as the band had nothing to give him.

Another key development around this time was the role of Dan Kehoe, who originally wanted to play trombone but ended up being our piano player. Dan became our co-director, and for good reason- he had decades of experience as a director of his own productions up in Connecticut and was currently directing shows in Clayton under the auspices of the Around Town Singers and eventually took the helm of the Johnston County Chorus. Whenever Michael needed a break, Dan had no problem jumping and directing the band. He was also an accomplished piano player! Dan’s expertise in showmanship, video and productions, and direction of both band and vocalists brought a new level of support to NRBB that helped us gain momentum beyond 2021. 

Dan also held special separate rehearsals with Karen and Meredith to make sure they had the support they needed to excel on the stage. And no one can forget how much physical work he put into every rehearsal carting in and setting up (and then tearing down) his piano and all of the sound equipment! In more ways than one, Dan was certainly a heavy lifter!

At the end of 2021, as President, I decided to hand the reins to someone who had the time and considerably more expertise in all the different aspects of growing this band. It wasn’t easy for me to let go, but Tracie Thomas (alto sax) was the Board of Director's choice and she did, and is still doing, a tremendous job and one that I could never have done. Tracie’s past experience was as a Marketing executive and she had recently demonstrated the same desire to grow the band into a successful ensemble. 

As our new President, Tracie proposed that the band move its “home” to Garner vs. Clayton in order to be accessible to many more musicians in Wake County, while also being commutable for most of Johnston County musicians. She also began setting up the band’s documents, calendar, musician contacts, and more on Google to make it possible to communicate efficiently with band members and manage our growing band. She also created a new band website and introduced a form to allow musicians to apply for the band, which over time created a long list of potential musicians on the bench.

Tracie continued to network in Wake County (she lives in Fuquay Varina) and made a contact with the management of the Fuquay Varina Fine Arts Center. They liked what they heard and offered to have us play in their beautiful theater (286 seats) and they would pay us $500. Pay us? A uniquely new concept for us but a wonderful opportunity to broaden our "market". On September 2, 2022 we opened our show as "A Jazz Tour Through Time!" The show was sold-out! It should be pointed out here that with this show, we introduced the concept of sponsors, who, in exchange for a monetary contribution, we would advertise their participation with us at every show and on every program for the following year. Another Tracie idea that helped us over a few rough spots. It needs to be pointed out that up until we received the $500 for the Fuquay Varina show, the band was financed almost entirely by member contributions.

Early members of the NRBB will certainly recall the bucket and a request by either Tracie or another board member, for any member that might have a couple of extra dollars to put in the bucket. Some weeks we saw $20 or $30 in there, and some weeks we saw $10 or $12. We also had our sponsors who annually contributed $200 or $300 to our account. At one point in our early years, we had instituted a seasonal membership fee of $25. It worked for a short while and then it quietly went away, but we survived.

"Home for the Holidays" , Garner Performing Arts Center

Christmas 2022 saw the NRBB fulfilling our deal with GPAC and putting on our "Home For The Holidays!" show on December 10, 2022.  This year we introduced an appearance at our Christmas show of the one and only "fluffy" man in a red suit ... Santa! The suit came from Amazon and the "fluffy" man was ... me. It was at this show that we had a guest soloist in the form of a fiddle player, Jonathan Biggs, who was one of Michael Howard’s students. Yes, a fiddler. The attendees loved everything we did and played and promised to come back for more, and they certainly did. The Neuse River Big Band was here to stay!

Our 2022 Christmas show at the Garner Performing Arts Center was unusual in that we did, at their request, two shows that day ... a matinee and an evening show. Let's just say that it did not work for us. Interested attendees, aka ticket buyers, split their interest and of course only attended one of the two shows. It wasn't as if two shows would generate twice the attendance. In reality, a potential audience of close to 300 split their attendance and we ended up with two, half-filled shows. Nope. Won't do that again. Thankfully, spring was around the corner and we planned for a full house once again and a very special guest soloist. 

Over the course of that year (2022), we had several players join us and several leave. I can't begin to name them all and I'm sure to upset someone if I miss their name. Let's just leave it as a big thank you for any and all who played with the Neuse River Big Band that year and for subsequent years. It needs to be mentioned however, that our trumpet section lead was taken over by Kevin Moore, a former Glenn Miller Orchestra lead trumpet and the absolute finest trumpet player and personality to ever join the NRBB. Ask any big band director and they will tell you that without a solid and capable lead trumpet, the big band will falter. The lead trumpet sets the tone and style of the band, and Kevin does that consistently.

The year 2023 started, show-wise, with a Spring show at GPAC on April 29 called “Four Fabulous Decades!”. It was yet another great show with superb attendance and another guest soloist, this time it was Tracie’s saxophone teacher, Larry James, who plays with one of the oldest big bands in the state, Leon Jordan’s Continentals (founded in the 1950’s!). Tracie had invited him to see our Christmas show and he liked it so much that he said he wanted to play with us! Larry is one of the area's finest and most accomplished jazz musicians, and for this show, Larry outdid himself on sax and jazz flute! He was truly a hit with everyone!

2023 had a few hiccups in the early part of that year. In negotiating with the GPAC, we learned that the cost of rehearsal space there was so expensive that it didn’t give the band a chance to earn much needed funds from the tickets sales at GPAC. In short, the band wasn’t getting any money from the deal. We started looking for another low-cost or free space to rehearse.

We had previously made an arrangement with the Garner United Methodist Church. They had a fellowship hall that worked very well and we only had to donate a small amount for each evening we were there. Well, in the early spring, they told us we couldn’t stay on, and so we looked around again. Tracie saw a post on Facebook from the Garner Optimist Club and she made contact with them and she and I attended a dinner and asked them for their help in exchange for a concert to help them fundraise. The idea was received well and we began rehearsing in the Optimist all the summer of 2023. 

And now to the summer show….

The NRBB Board of Directors consisted of Tracie Thomas (President), Michael Howard (Director), Dan Kehoe (Assistant Director and keyboard player) and myself, David McGowan. Together, we decided to go for broke and, based on an earlier sold-out appearance, actually rent the Fuquay-Varina Fine Arts Center for ourselves and, hoping for another well attended show, keep the gate. Tracie managed the marketing on Facebook, the ticket sales on EventBrite and the volunteer ushers to work the front of the house.  For the September show, we hired a friend of Michael Howard from Florida. Bill Miller was a Frank Sinatra stylist who literally stole the show! We advertised it as "Celebrate September & Sinatra!", and we introduced just about every arrangement we could think of that had "September" or “Summer” in it. The audience reaction was fantastic, and coupled with a dynamic NRBB, it was a show of shows!

The net proceeds from this successful endeavor, coupled with several new sponsors added to our stable, saw a marked increase in our available funds to the extent that we could now afford new band fronts for the entire band, excluding the rhythm section who prefer the tried-and-true music stands with NRBB banners on the front. (It might be noted that prior to our buying official big-band style fronts, we used a blue banner with the NRBB logo, draped in front of standard music stands, thus giving a semi-professional look vs the standard black stands.) The Neuse River Big Band had an entire new look, and one that made folks sit-up and take notice. We looked great and sounded better than ever!

The Christmas 2023 Show was on December 14th at the GPAC. This time, we only did one show and we sold out all 450 seats completely…the biggest single night in NRBB history! We brought in a special guest, Peyton Clark, who plays lead tenor with the Route 55 big band in Holly Springs who had also written some special arrangements of Christmas tunes that were clever mashups of Christmas songs featuring classical music, as well as the Beatles. We invited Peyton to come up and conduct the band to lead a song, and Brandon Berning (tenor sax) and Karen Pahl sang a special Christmas rendition “Here Come Old Santa” (ala the Beatles’ “Come Together”) arranged by Peyton with special lyrics by David Reitmeyer. The audience was surprised and delighted.

April 4th of 2024 arrived to find us at GPAC for our "Swing Into Spring", or “SwingSpiration!” show (remember, we had a deal to play at two shows in exchange for rehearsal space on the GPAC stage) and another almost full house for our guest saxophonist, Dr. Adrien Re (photo, left, with sax), PhD. Adrien was a music professor at Campbell University in nearby Lillington, NC who, over the course of his musical lifetime, has played with numerous headlining stars and musical groups. His vast experience and talents became evident as the crowd loved his music and how he blended seamlessly with the Neuse River Big Band. A true professional. The show also highlighted the talent of a recent addition to the band, bari sax player Evan Blount. Evan had no problem going to head-to-head with Dr. Re on a bari sax improv battle that lasted 32 bars! Another highlight was Doug Yopp, retired band director, playing a smooth and buttery solo on the baritone horn to “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You.”

This show was also the final GPAC stage performance for our Director and NRBB Co-founder, Michael Howard. Michael had stated his desire to retire and move out of state within a few months, leaving the Board of Directors and band members with the task of getting a new Director for the band. No matter the outcome, the band and it's member players expressed to Michael our never-ending gratitude for bringing the band to the level of professionalism that we currently enjoy. His knowledge of big bands and how they actually played and came across to their audiences was unquestionably the reason we had elevated ourselves to where we are. It was unanimous ... Michael would be missed. but wait … there’s more…

Just a week later after the GPAC show, The NRBB also had another “first” this spring: we did our first ever paid gig at a 55+ community called Carolina Arbors. It was an unforgettable night to say the least and fantastic final memory for Michael Howard. The Center was packed full with 175 members and they were seated right up to where the band was which gave Karen and Meredith full access to walk down the aisle and engage with the audience. It was definitely high energy and no one slept that night! Band members to this day call that show a “miracle”.

The band and the Board of Directors agreed that it was paramount to get a new Director quickly. Dan Kehoe, our Assistant Director, had already left the band for personal reasons so our dilemma was not to be taken lightly. We had performance commitments to GPAC that would suffer without a Director. I didn’t hesitate to propose David Richards and, fortunately, it took David about 15 seconds to agree to our request and become the second director of the Neuse River Big Band.

It should be noted that at this point in time, the NRBB was only five years old and by any standard, notwithstanding the interference of COVID, was, or should have been, just a small-time community band with a following of band member families and friends. We had proven ourselves to be exceptional thanks to the leadership we had gained over the years and the risks that were taken. With several sold-out shows under our belt, we had a proven community of local fans that now return again and again to see us perform a real SHOW, as opposed to a normal concert.

With David Richards at the reigns, we started planning for our August show in Fuquay-Varina. We were so confident of a successful show that for only the second time, we rented the Fuqua Varina Arts Center so the profit would be ours alone. (this is becoming our annual fundraiser for sure). This year's theme was "Come Fly With Me!", an airline themed program with arrangements that took the audience all over Europe and the United States with tunes like "April In Paris", "Kansas City" and many more like them. We took this theme to a whole new level!

David Richards took the gloves off so to speak, and went full boat (or airplane as the case turned out to be) sporting an airline captain's uniform for the show. I was outfitted as a loyal First Officer (Co-pilot) and our vocalists were dressed and playing the part of the flight attendants, who were spotted mingling with the audience handing out in-flight snacks in the form of pretzels with teal blue napkins, before the show. David Richards and I worked together on creating the most involved script that we’d ever had and there was more work involved for the vocalists to remember their lines and the jokes between the songs.

 We also introduced a special vocalist who was referred to us by our previous special soloist, Dr. Adrien Re: James McCann was an immediate hit with his incredible Michael Buble and Sinatra style talent, energy and professionalism! This show was a sold-out performance a solid two weeks prior to show time! Profit-wise the band did great once again, giving us a nice balance sheet for the year coming. We also realized that after all of that work, we had a show that we could potentially take to another locale and do it all over again!

We followed-up on the Fuquay-Varina show with our first outside concert on the evening of September 14th. About 150-200 audience members came to sit on blankets or chairs to see what we had to offer on a relatively nice, but windy, summer evening at Lake Benson Park. We did this concert to help our very generous rehearsal space sponsor, the Garner Optimist Club. They titled this concert the "Big Band Bash In The Park". The event was a free-to-all big band concert in the park and it featured not only the Neuse River Big Band, but several food trucks serving hot meals and cold deserts!

December of 2024 saw the Neuse River Big Band back at the Garner Performing Arts Center (GPAC) for our annual Christmas Show, but with a couple of changes from our standard. First, David Richards was at the helm for his first GPAC show as director of the band, and secondly, Lee Roach took over the duties of Santa from me, at my request. Since it was a Christmas show, the “Ghost from Neuse River Big Band Christmas Shows Past” made his vocal-only and snide contributions to the show. We also had a Mrs. Santa make an appearance thanks to Ms. Gwen McCarty, a long-time fan and follower of the NRBB.

It became obvious to all of us that we finally had a substantial following as the band had a sold-out performance a full two weeks before the show! We knew we were on to something good!