{"id":40955,"date":"2017-07-06T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/?p=40955\/"},"modified":"2017-07-04T14:33:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-04T14:33:44","slug":"meet-the-team-adam-liette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/meet-the-team-adam-liette\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Team: Adam Liette"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From heavy metal guitar tours to classical trumpet major, playing country music in Afghanistan to jumping out of planes (and bugling on the way down!) – Adam Liette\u2019s passion for music has certainly taken him places.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Adam\u2019s worldwide travels continue virtually as Communications Manager here at Musical U. He runs our social media, promoting our new articles each week on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>\u00a0and more. Adam reaches out to other music educators and amazing musicians, bringing us fascinating guest posts and interviews.<\/p>\n

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Q: Tell us a little bit more about your musical background.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Music was always a part of our household. My father is an incredibly talented singer, saxophonist, guitarist and pianist, and made sure that I and my siblings had an appreciation for music at a very young age. Some of my earliest memories are dancing in the front room of our home as my dad played his guitar.<\/p>\n

After first picking up the guitar, I joined the school band as a trumpet player. Throughout high school, I was very involved in music, playing in the jazz band, marching band, and concert ensemble for all four years.<\/p>\n

\"\"When I finally graduated, I had this dream of moving to California to \u201cmake it big\u201d with my heavy metal band.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thankfully, we discovered some serious complications with our interpersonal relationships before<\/em>\u00a0making that big move! So, after a year of going to community college and working as a carpenter, I decided to make the big move and apply to Capital University Conservatory of Music in Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n

Looking back, I had no business going to that school! (How did I make the audition!?) All of my classmates had been studying privately for many years, while I was, at best, an amateur. So\u2026 it was a very steep learning curve and I had to work very hard to compete, let alone graduate!<\/p>\n

Finally, by my senior year, I had built myself up enough to make it into our elite Symphonic Band (albeit, as the last chair trumpet player). Some of my colleagues had spent all four years in that ensemble, but shared in celebrating the progress that I had made over my time in the trumpet studio. I am still immensely proud of that accomplishment as it represented thousands of hours of hard work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After graduation, my next step was to serve my country through music\u2026 but more on that a little later.<\/p>\n

Today, I find great joy in teaching my children to love and appreciate music. They are finally getting old enough to start playing the piano, and I look forward to when their hands are strong enough to be able to make a proper power chord<\/strong> so I can teach them about heavy metal music!<\/p>\n

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Q: I guess it\u2019s time for me to work on my hand strength too! What initially drew you to music? What would you say helped you develop your passion?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Recording

Adam Recording his First Album<\/p><\/div>\n

My first instrument was the guitar. Looking back, I can honestly say that I wanted to be exactly like my father. My parents caught on after I snuck into Dad\u2019s guitar case and dropped all his picks into the sound hole as I played<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There was nothing but support for my music career in our house. To this day, I can\u2019t believe they allowed it. My parents even accompanied me to my first ever gig at a bar – when I was only 14 years old!<\/strong> I couldn\u2019t drive to the gig, but they stayed until our set was over at 2 AM just to make sure that I got into the music scene back at home.<\/p>\n

As I got a little older, music became an outlet for me. I was never the \u201cpopular\u201d kid in our small community, but when I put on a guitar and began to sing, I was in my own world. Writing music became an obsession,<\/strong> and I carried a small notebook to write lyric ideas to the many riffs I recorded on a small cassette recorder at home.<\/p>\n

Writing and performing helped me develop a very independent identity that helped set me apart from my peers. Independence and self-reliance have been great traits as I have gotten older and moved on to other careers.<\/p>\n

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Q: And all that from a few lost guitar picks! What is your favorite thing about playing guitar?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I love the energy of the electric guitar. A power chord pumped through a high-gain amplifier is one of the world\u2019s most amazing sounds!<\/p>\n

\"\"While I have been classically trained, there is something about heavy metal music that has always appealed to me! Heavy metal covers all ranges of human emotion, and the lyrical content explores some of the darkest feelings in the human experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On top of it all, the fans of that genre are just incredible\u2026 waiting hours to hear a band play and voraciously consuming all the music that we would produce.<\/p>\n

It was a sobering moment to hear hundreds of fans singing the lyrics to a song I wrote – and even louder than the PA system.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I grew musically, I only appreciated heavy music even more. Once my ear had fully developed, it became apparent to me this music shared many of the same characteristics that I had studied through the likes of Mahler, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky.<\/p>\n

I may have written a heavy metal tune based on the Tristan chord at one point\u2026 Ok\u2026 I stole that idea from Wagner. But, many musicians have said that all great artists steal ideas. So, I feel validated in that.<\/p>\n

Of course, the fact that I met my wife while playing a metal gig certainly helps as well!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Q: A match made in metal? Now in the U. S. Army, I imagine \u201cheavy metal\u201d may have a slightly different meaning. You\u2019ve had a fascinating career with the U.S. military. What can you tell us about that?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After graduating college with a music education degree, I decided that I would put off teaching for a couple of years and enlisted in the Army. There were many reasons for this, but I did feel a sense of duty to serve as so many people I knew from home had done service during the time period after 9\/11. And I felt that the best way I could do that was to join the Army Band.<\/p>\n

\"trumpet

At the Korean War Memorial<\/p><\/div>\n

My first job after Basic Training was as the Division Bugler for the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In case you were wondering, Airborne means we jump from airplanes. So, I am an Airborne Trumpet Player with over 50 jumps from military aircraft under my belt!<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this time, the surge in Iraq was in full effect and our Division had over 15,000 paratroopers serving in the war zone.<\/p>\n

It was my job to perform “Taps” at military funerals all around the United States to honor our fallen warriors. Quite a sobering duty, but it gave me incredible perspective on life and I am proud to have been able to honor the fallen through music.<\/strong> One of the coolest moments of this time was getting to perform at a NASCAR race for Memorial Day 2007. 200,000 people in person and another 5 million watching on television. I still get tingles watching this video:<\/p>\n