Quick-Fire Quips is a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the State of Alabama!
Today, Alabama Public Radio host Baillee Majors talks with Gannon McNees, the first University of North Alabama (UNA) student to win a position with the U.S. Navy Fleet Bands.
Baillee: Hey, Gannon, how are you?
Gannon: I'm good. How are you?
Baillee: I'm doing good. So, tell me, what instrument do you play?
Gannon: I play tuba.
Baillee: Tuba! How long have you been doing that?
Gannon: Since sixth grade. So seven or eight years.
Baillee: What inspired you to select that instrument over other instruments?
Gannon: I was stuck between the French horn and the tuba, which are two instruments that I never expected to be stuck between. But my sister said that tuba is bigger, so it's cooler. So I kind of credit her with picking tuba because she said I would be cool if I played.
Baillee: Does your tuba have a name, or is it strictly business?
Gannon: My current tuba is strictly business. I bought the tuba I currently have, I think, in November. So I'm not well acquainted with it quite yet. I did name my high school marching sousaphone Suzanne because it seemed to make sense.
Baillee: What is the most challenging part of playing the tuba?
Gannon: I think the tuba is a bit misunderstood because if you are a flute player or clarinet player, the music that's put in front of you every day is difficult.
A tuba player probably couldn't play music put in front of them like that ever, because that's not what's expected of us. So being able to work past that and play high-level music at a high level, much like a woodwind player would do, is difficult.
But it's also just not as agile of an instrument. You know, I've got a very big mouthpiece and my valves are long, so when I try to push them down, I've got further to go, so I can't play that fast. So just working that up to try to sound as agile as another instrument that can do that much more easily is a challenge.
Baillee: Now that the introductions are done, let's get you warmed up for the questionnaire. And to do that, I want you to say "Quick-Fire Quips" three times fast.
Gannon: Oh gosh. Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips.
Baillee: Here's the first question. What comes to mind when you hear Alabama?
Gannon: North Alabama, like UNA.
Baillee: Describe Alabama in one word.
Gannon: Hot.
Baillee: Yes! Hot and humid. What is a hidden gem in Florence that more people should know about?
Gannon: I like Yum Thai and Sushi—the restaurant.
Baillee: What is your favorite thing about living in Alabama?
Gannon: The hospitality.
Baillee: What is a bad stereotype or something that people get wrong about Alabama?
Gannon: That everyone is kind of the same podunk country Alabama kind of thing, but it's not true everywhere you go.
Baillee: What's your favorite getaway spot in Alabama?
Gannon: I love hiking, and my family goes caving sometimes... I've been to Green Mountain a few times; it's fun. Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville is pretty up at the top with a lake and stuff. But somewhere in nature where I can hike with people, and that's always a good getaway.
Baillee: What would you say is your favorite thing about exploring a cave?
Gannon: It's the opposite of above ground, but it's not something that many people have done unless you're in like a commercial cave where it's just like a paved path.
It is very much a getaway from the real world because you're underground for five hours maybe, crawling, climbing, walking, and it's pretty, too. There are formations, stuff like that.
It's just interesting to see natural formations and stuff underground that your regular person would never see.
Baillee: What are you most excited about with joining the fleet bands?
Gannon: Travel. I love Alabama, but I would love to live somewhere else for a period of time, not just visit. I've visited quite a few places, and it's great.
But the opportunity with the fleet bands—there's nine— and they're all around the world, and I could get stationed at any one of them. Seven of them are coastal United States, but then Hawaii, Italy, Japan—some really cool places.
Also, the fact that I can play with professional musicians at a high level for basically however long I enjoy it.
Baillee: What song did you play for the audition?
Gannon: I played eleven pieces based on different repertoire of band music... Stars and Stripes Forever is a very common one that most people know.
Baillee: What was going through your mind when you found out that you had made it through and that you'd been selected?
Gannon: I definitely didn't believe it. I was surrounded in the final round by three people who either had doctoral degrees, were in a doctorate program or were full-time teaching—no more college for them. And here's me with no degree in Alabama, just trying to get experience with auditions.
And they pulled us in—me and one other guy in the room—and told us that we won. And I was just standing there like, "That's not true. You're lying to us."
Baillee: So had you always wanted to audition for this? Was that a lifelong dream, or was that just something you became interested in over time?
Gannon: In this case, it was not a lifelong dream. I started thinking about it in November or December. My mom said something about wanting to build up a resume and how it shouldn't be what I want it to look like now, but what I want it to look like when I retire... things that I've done in my life that I would love to have said that I did.
I've been an education person for a while now, so I was planning on just teaching for the foreseeable future after I graduate. But, she said that, and I was like, "I would love to perform in some capacity before then." And military bands are a great way to start that path. And now I've kind of found that this path could lead me to more performance opportunities, which can lead into bigger teaching opportunities.
So it all kind of lines up, and this helps with that very much. Even if I decide to be in the Navy Band for twenty years, that would definitely cut short the career options after that. But that experience is just definitely what I was interested in.
Baillee: Were there any instructors who inspired you during this process or during your time at UNA?
Gannon: Yeah. Tom Lefkowitz at UNA. He's the professor of tuba. He got me through all of the audition stuff every week, just working on mainly Navy music. He's fantastic.
He has won these types of auditions before and played all of this music many times, so it's really easy to just go in and say, "How do I do that?" He's easy to just say, "Can I play this for you?" And he's like, "Yeah," and then he'll give me one hundred things that I did wrong, and I can go work on them afterwards. So it's really awesome.
Baillee: If there was an alien invasion, what are three songs that you would play for them?
Gannon: Oh gosh. I probably wouldn't play tuba at them; they probably wouldn't enjoy that. I'd probably just pull out my phone and play, like, "Stayin' Alive." Maybe some Ella Fitzgerald singing. And then "Easy" by The Commodores or something like that.
Baillee: Okay, here's the last question. What does Alabama need?
Gannon: I think Alabama, no discredit to Alabama, also needs people not from Alabama to come to Alabama and share some ideas. If there's one negative thing about Alabama other than the heat, it's that everyone in Alabama knows what works in Alabama and uses that instead of finding broader ideas that can expand that.
Usually that's taken from outside of Alabama. And that's kind of how I've grown—from people who aren't from Alabama giving me ideas about how stuff in other states, or just other areas generally... whether that's just playing tuba or a whole marching band idea or how to run a music program. You can do more than just what works right now.
Baillee: That's it for today's Quick-Fire Quips, a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the state of Alabama. That was Gannon McNees, the first University of North Alabama student to win a position with the U.S. Navy Fleet Bands. I'm your host, Baillee Majors. Find us at APR.org for more Quick-Fire Quips!
