July 15, 2025 • 35 mins
Former band director David Willson shares the transformative teaching philosophy that changed countless lives over a long career, including 32 years at Ole Miss. From humble beginnings in Jackson, Mississippi, Willson's journey reveals how music education became his pathway out of poverty and into a life of purpose.
He was our host, Dawn Beam's band director, and she proclaims that he was such an incredible leader, she would have followed him off the proverbial cliff!
Willson candidly discusses how he revolutionized his teaching after discovering he was "tired of yelling at students." His turning point came when he found Dale Carnegie's "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" at a thrift store for 25 cents—a book he read twice despite not being "a reader." This sparked the development of his signature "Every Day in Every Way" philosophy centered on goal-setting, positive reinforcement, and consistent enthusiasm.
What sets Willson's approach apart is his deep empathy for students' circumstances. "You have no idea what that student has been through from the moment they woke up till they get to your classroom," he explains. This understanding led him to shift responsibility away from blaming students to examining his own teaching methods. When students struggled, Willson concluded, "I either didn't teach them exactly what I needed them to do or I didn't motivate them to want to do it."
As a university educator, Willson trained future band directors with practical tools rather than abstract theories. His mentorship extended beyond graduation, as he maintained relationships with former students, checking in on their progress and offering support. This dedication created a ripple effect, with Willson's influence reaching thousands of young musicians through his students, who went on to become educators themselves.
Willson's powerful closing thought serves as both a challenge and inspiration: "One person is going to be that pivotal moment in somebody else's life. Just one little word of encouragement, one arm around somebody, and just saying 'we're going to get this. I won't give up if you won't give up." His story reminds us that educators aren't just teaching subjects—they're shaping lives.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
When you need some hope and inspiration to build
collaboration.
Hope Mississippi is yoursalvation.
One in four kids live inpoverty.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
One in five are food deprived.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Build collaborations and build hope with those who
are struggling.
Hope Mississippi.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of Hope Mississippi,
(00:44):
where we talk about lots ofpositive things going on in
Mississippi and also challengesand how to overcome those.
And I'm Dawn Beam and I couldnot be more happy than to have
my former band director, davidWilson, here today.
Mr Wilson, tell everyone hello,hello, good morning.
We're sitting in the band hallat Ole Miss where Mr Wilson was
(01:07):
the band director for over 25years, right, 32.
And we're not going to talkabout how long ago it was that
you were my band director.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Uh 44 or 5, something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yes, it's been about 40-something years, but what I
would tell anybody about BAND isI highly recommend it.
But you, through BAND,influenced my life more than any
teacher I ever had, because youhelped me to understand the
importance of goal setting andthen working every day, in every
(01:47):
way, to accomplish those goals,and I will forever be grateful
to you.
Now we last year, about thistime, we're putting together a
book called Every Day in EveryWay, which was your memoirs.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It would take me the rest of my life to tell you
about it.
But when I first startedteaching I had no idea what I
was doing and I stumbled thefirst five years and I decided
that I was tired of yelling atstudents and I had to find a
different way.
So after my first year ofteaching at Columbus Caldwell
people that don't know what thatmeans is Columbus Mississippi
(02:26):
had two high schools at thattime.
The traditional, older schoolwas Lehigh and the newer
suburban school was Caldwell,and that's where we were that
first year.
I fussed at kids and it kind ofworked.
I tried to motivate, I tried tobe a clown, but I knew I needed
more consistency and I wantedthe students to realize what we
(02:46):
were doing and why we were doingit.
And all I was doing was tellingthem what to do and there was
no understanding of the why andI tried to quit teaching.
I literally did.
And I found a book at a thriftstore for a quarter called how
to Stop Worrying and StartLiving, by Dale Carnegie, and I
don't read.
I read every bit of that bookin a week.
And Start Living by DaleCarnegie, and I don't read.
I read every bit of that bookin a week and then I read it
(03:09):
again.
It was readable andunderstandable.
And then I told this guy thatworked for one of the big
fundraising companies and hesaid, oh, we use motivation all
the time.
And he sent me some cassettesthat I listened to and I started
trying to learn what to do tohave some kind of ambition.
In my childhood I didn't knowwhat it meant.
(03:30):
I was raised in blue collarcynicism.
You know what do they do?
That for?
It's time for the break.
You know I've got five minutesearly, five minutes.
I had to fake my ambition atfirst and I still do to a
certain degree.
But I tried to get the studentsto understand what we were doing
and why we were doing it andthe benefits for everybody.
(03:52):
So if it was a goal and welisted the steps to overcome
that goal and achieved it, itcarried over to every single
thing that we did in life.
So every goal was important.
I just tried to write them downand sell the students on it and
infuse it with enthusiasm.
And you know kids are kids.
(04:13):
I still have a hard time stayingmotivated, but you had to talk
about it, pat them on the backand I realized that criticism to
a student in front of theirpeers was just a failure of a
teacher, and so if I couldrecognize two positives issues
of correction and then a thankyou, I can tell you're working
(04:37):
very hard and I know that youcare about doing a good job.
Could you just move to yourleft a little bit, johnny?
Move to your left.
You know better than that.
It was a long process, but Ijust learned that a goal if a
kid needed a goal, then why.
And if it was a positivereinforcement rather than
negative, it went a lot further,quicker.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
And so you came up with the idea of every day, in
every way, helping kids everyday to work toward a goal, and
as they achieved it, then thenext thing you knew they were
setting a higher goal, right,somewhat.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I taught at the junior high school and another
school and we went to state bandfestival with a high school
band and on the way home and itwas a fight every day of the
year, making them sit down andturn in stuff, abusing equipment
.
And we were coming home fromState Band Festival and the bus
got stopped in a town for kidsthrowing stuff out of the
(05:38):
windows and it was one of thebest bands of the week.
And I went back the next dayand people were bragging about
how great the band was and Itold one of my friends.
I said you know, we fought thatband every day this year and we
got stopped by the police.
They were screaming on the buson the way home and I said it
(05:59):
was a shame.
And my friend said there's noreason for a band that good not
to be good every day of the year.
And it stuck with me.
It stuck with me hard and sowhen I got to Columbus and I
started thinking about how Iwanted to do things, I came up
with that phrase every day, inevery way, and I lived it.
I didn't get in front of thatband, in front of that band one
(06:28):
day that I didn't have some kindof plan and just shaking with
energy.
So that my enthusiasm motivatedthe students.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, your enthusiasm was contagious and I recall
back those days if you hadmarched us off a cliff I would
have gone right behind you, andthat's what folks need.
They say that every kid needsone adult that believes in them,
and you believed in us andhelped us to believe in
(06:52):
ourselves, and I think that'sone thing that kids learn
through extracurricularactivities that you might not
get the opportunity to learn ina classroom setting is the
importance of thatself-discipline and even the
idea of achieving more togetherthan you ever could by yourself.
(07:13):
Some of the songs that weplayed were just phenomenal back
in those days, and you helpedus to know that we could do
things that we never dreamedpossible.
Let's talk a little bit abouthow you went from helping young
kids like me to you came to theuniversity.
(07:34):
How were you able to pass alongthose same skills of setting
goals and working to achievethat to future educators?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, you touch a lot of emotions.
You know my father was not oneto nurture I can assure you that
and build a positive atmosphere.
And if one person, like youjust said, reaches a young
person as a mentor, says you'recapable of this.
I see a lot of good in you.
And I had a teacher give up onme and I knew that they did Most
(08:08):
of them did but she gave up onme bad and I knew it, and I knew
that I knew it, but I couldn'traise my hand and say you don't
care about me, you don't thinkthat I can do anything, but you
haven't taught me anythingeither.
So I had three mentors in mylife that came to me as a young
man in the field, as you know MrCook, your next door neighbor,
(08:30):
dan Wright and Wilbur Smith thatactually were adults, that
believed in me and told me thatI could do it and gave me
confidence and built me up.
And I think everybody needssomebody that touches them on a
certain day and gives them thatspark to either turn their life
around or to keep going throughhurdles.
(08:52):
You know, I got here and I founda man in some poor morale and
disarray and the students that Iwere training for the future
just had this esoteric vision ofwhat was going to go on.
And I remember the very firstday of class I called my
chairman and said where is thebook for this class?
(09:14):
And he said, mr Wilson, this isa university.
You teach that class the wayyou think it should be taught.
And I hung up the phone and Ijust stared at the telephone and
I said, okay.
I remember within two weeks ofcoming here, I wanted my tuition
money back because I didn'tknow what I was doing.
So I taught them a little bitof vocation, a little bit of
(09:37):
critical thinking.
This is what you're going to dobefore you get to your first
student.
This is what you're going to dothe first day they walk in the
classroom.
How are you going to talk tothem?
How are you going to set theatmosphere?
What are you going to do withthe first smart aleck?
That's this, and really wroteit out and went over it with
them.
And when they got out into theteaching field, I called them
and stayed with them.
(09:57):
I mean, if they were threehours away, I'd call and say how
did you do beginner band today?
Because you just can't learneverything in college that
you're supposed to learn.
There's 50% of your coursesaren't in your course study or
your field of study, and then80% of those don't pertain to
what you actually do in theworkforce.
(10:17):
I don't care if it's being alawyer, a banker, whatever.
You just learn principles andphilosophy, but not what happens
if somebody doesn't like tocheck, or whatever.
So I try to teach them the realworld and talk to them about
motivating students that if youdon't have the room organized
and if you don't have a set ofplans, if you don't have
(10:39):
enthusiasm and if they don't seethat you know how to instruct
good and give positive feedback,they're not going to go with
you.
You know they're just not.
I've seen a lot of teachers outthere.
Some of them are clowns, someof them are motivators, some of
them are dictators, some of themare a combination of all.
(11:00):
But the ones that make it thestudents know that they're cared
about.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And your wise counsel helps when these teachers
encounter trouble.
It's great to have folks thatyou can call on wise counsel,
and I know that those folksnever forget your willingness to
do that.
Now you also did a beginnerband book that helps them just
to go by one, two, three.
That makes it easier.
What else have you done to tryto reach out?
(11:27):
We talked about a podcast thatyou've done and some different
things.
Talk about that just a littlethat you keep giving Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I'd like to do more.
Computer skills and vision ofhow to do it and want to do it
is lacking, but I try to callstudents periodically.
That I've had they call me.
I've got a friend thatrecognizes my work and he's the
one setting up the podcast onthe books and trying to put it,
I guess, in the social mediathat I don't really understand.
(11:58):
I try to stay a little activeand I'd like to write another
book about this is exactly whathappened and this is what I did
from that experience as ateacher, instead of continuing
to follow my face and yell atstudents.
This is what happened, and in aninstructional basis too, I
finally learned that if astudent didn't do what I asked
(12:20):
or expected of them, I eitherdidn't teach them exactly what I
needed them to do or I didn'tmotivate them to want to do it.
So I tried to quit blaming thestudent for anything anything,
even if they messed up badly andI knew it wasn't anything to do
with me.
I would just look at them andsay I wish I could have
(12:40):
motivated you not to want to dothat, and when you do that, it
takes the venom that someteachers have against students.
You don't care, do you?
You don't know what the twohouses of our state government
are.
How are you going to live as acitizen Just constantly just
talking back to them instead of?
Let me help you learn this.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Well, that humility and caring.
It permeates the way you teachband and music and I know that
you have touched many lives fromthat.
We talked about the book thatyou did about basics book that
(13:21):
you did about basics and ifwe've got any folks out there
that are planning to be a banddirector, you certainly want
that beginner band book to helpyou.
Beyond that, I helped you writeyour memoirs and that's called
Every Day in Every Way.
It can be purchased on Amazonand let's talk a little bit
about that, because I knew youas a band director but I got to
walk through your life.
(13:42):
Let's talk just a little bitabout where you came from and
how you were able to understandthe difficulties other kids went
through, because of your ownexperience.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Amen.
I tell my students early on.
You have no idea what thatstudent has been through from
the moment they woke up tillthey get to your classroom.
You don't have a clue if it's asingle parent, if the kid had
to wake up on their own, or ifthey come and match a Mercedes
(14:18):
to school with their parents.
You don't know if they've had afriendship issue or they got a
first period and they say youdidn't do your homework, you
don't care about this class,you're going to wish you did.
They got a second period.
Why don't you ever get yourassignment done on time?
Therapy and by the time they getto you, band is an elective.
It costs money to buy aninstrument, you have to march
(14:40):
outside in the extreme weatherelements and if there's not some
kind of benefit other than justhaving an elective, they're not
going to stay with you and inband.
You need them for the entiresix or seven years.
They're in grade school thatyou start them in.
So I knew that you had to holdon to them and you did that
through goal setting, positivefeedback and good instruction.
(15:05):
A student is the smartestsupercomputer on earth and they
can tell you two things quickly.
Does this person's instructionmake sense and understandable
and do I buy it and do they careabout me?
And you can't disguise it, theyjust know it.
So I tried to do my preparation.
(15:26):
I spent some time at nightgetting ready so that I wouldn't
fail.
I had a fear of failure as well, but I just prepared a great
deal and used my steepest senseof energy and crazy personality
to try to get it across to them.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Oh, you most definitely have a crazy
personality.
Band was always a laugh, lotsof fun, and I think laughter is
a good medicine.
Takes a lot of the stress away.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
It does.
When a student sees a teacherhas a personality, I don't care
what it is.
I went to the grocery store oh,you go to the grocery store, or
just something that bringscommonality to the student and
the teacher at the same timehelps the atmosphere in that
classroom a great deal.
I knew that it had to beenjoyable.
(16:15):
And when you're marchingoutside in Mississippi and the
temperature's near 100, and yougot a 38-pound tuba on your back
and you got to do it again, doit again, and why are we doing
it again?
And it's just brutal, Irealized real quick I didn't
like being in that heat either,you know.
And to ask them to do that, Iremember the first day at
(16:36):
Collierville High School.
It's funny how students canteach a teacher a lot of times.
And it was the first coolmorning, like, let's say, 70.
And I was going where have youbeen?
They said it's a different band.
And some student raised theirhand and said Mr Wilson, it's
only 68 degrees out here.
(16:57):
And it hit me like a ton ofbricks, you know, because when
it's 90 degrees, even if you'rethe fittest person on earth,
it's hard to do it.
Anyway, I empathy what thosekids go through and knowing that
something could have touchedthat kid in a negative way that
morning that you just kind ofhave to walk delicately, and I
(17:20):
knew that every student thatwalked in that band room was
different and had a differentbutton to push and you just had
to search what kind of buttonand how to push it.
Whatever you had to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Let's talk about the music.
When you were in college, youwere in Uncle Sam's band as well
as the Ole Miss band.
But talk a little bit about themusic some of your favorite
performances that youexperienced as a participant as
well as a band director.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Well, I wasn't that great of a player but I was
fortunate enough to be asked tobe in a horn rock and roll band
called Uncle Sam and Iabsolutely loved it.
I tell people all the time I'dsell all my teaching career, my
marriage and everything else togo back and play again, which is
not true, but it was just tostand in a band and create that
(18:13):
kind of energy and fun.
It was just fantastic.
And I remember early on weplayed at a frat party at
Vanderbilt and the people likedit so much they passed the hat
and asked us to play a secondhour.
And when you got the crowd andI just remember it to this day
it was just one of the mosteclectic nights of my life.
(18:35):
And as a high school banddirector there were some things
that we did.
I know the year that we playedRussian Christmas music at
Colwell High School it justbrought the house down, you know
.
And then the year that we wentto Delta State and won
everything that they had overthere.
One probably shouldn't havebecause we were competing with
(18:57):
bigger bands and bands from whatI'd call more affluent makeup
we were po folks at Caldwellthat's right and for us to do
what we did.
I look back now and it was afeat and I'm really proud of it,
and Clinton and I had some thesame type moments when I played
advanced pieces of literatureand at Ole Miss.
(19:19):
The same way, it's hard, with40-something years of teaching,
to remember the exact ones, butthe best thing is when the kids
know it.
When they know it and they knowthat they know it it's fun and
they also know when it's notgood.
But I'm just very fortunate andthat's the thing that that book
that you encouraged me to writeit reminded me.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I should have stopped along the way and embrace that
moment more sometimes, whenyou're so busy in the moment
trying to get everything rightand by the time it all is
together, the the stress of itall, you don't really enjoy the
significance of it.
But boy did we bring joy to.
Not only it was joyful playing,knowing that we did our very
(20:09):
best, but it was great thatother people listening enjoyed
that as well.
So just a combination of givingand receiving at the same time.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
You said it better than I've ever said it.
I was so engaged in justgetting the music right, getting
the students where they weresupposed to be, and when it was
over, even though they announcedwhatever they announced, I was
so exhausted that, okay, let mejust get home and lay on the bed
.
So you're right, instead ofstopping and going.
(20:39):
You know what I just did withthese kids.
It's a miracle.
Now it's not going to make thenational news.
You're not going to get richdoing it, but there's a lot of
people in business that can'ttouch what good teachers get
Right, helping people andwatching their students do more
(21:02):
than you could ever imagine.
Some of my most successfulteachers in the field are those
that when they were in college,they'd be lucky to get out, but
they didn't give up and theykept doing all they had to do
until they learned their own way.
I didn't try to make and theykept doing all they had to do
until they learned their own way.
(21:22):
I didn't try to make anybody aDavid Wilson clone, but I tried
to teach them enough to givethem a basic, fundamental start
so that if they used my methods,they could have success and
then build their own style abovethat.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Now the shows.
I'm reminded of so many greatshows, both in high school, but
also Ole Miss you just really itwas an entertaining thing for
the crowd Tell a little bitabout what all went into that
for you.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Agony I listened to tunes and tried to come up.
Nowadays it's a theme.
You create a theme the day inthe life of a boy where they
wake up with a little springtimemusic.
I didn't do that, I just playedwhat I'd call energetic music
that people could tap their footto and enjoy a lot of rock and
roll and jazz.
But I listened to a lot ofrecordings and tried to pick
(22:13):
something that I enjoyed.
I knew the crowd would enjoy.
You don't.
In my opinion, if you lose yourcrowd you're hurting yourself
not politically but publicsupport.
I got here, I found the samething and I just tried to play
something that the crowd firstof all recognized could pat
(22:34):
their foot to and they enjoyedit.
I tried to find good arrangers.
I used the same arranger foryears, steve Barnett he was.
He wrote our music, almost allof it in Columbus, here and at
Clinton.
He was my assistant here forfive years.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Great guy let's talk about some of the students that
you taught.
I know some have gone on to befamous players mention just
throw a few names out.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Drop a few names the prominent one is keith carlock.
He was a percussionist drummerand he made it big time but he
worked.
You know, he's played withstevely dan four or five albums,
he's toured with sting toto,james taylor, and the list just
is on and on.
He's been on on cover of ModernDrummer five times, cover of
(23:18):
National Jazz Association ofEducators.
Instead of riding around hispickup truck acting cool, he was
in a practice room.
Not only did he have sometalent, he worked his heart out,
he was ate up with it and he'skept his composure Every time
I've seen him, since he doesn'tseem to have any arrogancy.
(23:39):
I mean, he's got confidence, ofcourse, but he's made it big.
I had a student that did acouple of years as a trumpet
player, kevin Lyons, with theAtlanta Symphony and people
locally play it in the localsymphonies and whatever.
But I wasn't here to makemusicians as much as band
directors, and I've had someaward-winning high school band
(24:00):
directors and some to go on tocommunity college and
universities.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
You know, it's amazing to me the math of all of
that.
You help one individual, thenthey go help hundreds and
hundreds of more.
So there's no telling theimpact that your life has had
and, as one of your formerstudents, I can't tell you how
much I appreciate that when wetalk about Mississippi.
(24:27):
You started out in Jackson,mississippi, as a young man from
a struggling family.
Your daddy worked hard, yourmom was not there and through
your discipline, band certainlyhad a huge impact of pulling you
from that to where you aretoday.
(24:49):
Talk a little bit about thathow band changed your life.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Not.
All of us come from anenvironment where the dad comes
out and pitches the ball withyou and have a basketball goal,
you have the money to join groupsports or the ability to join
group sports.
My dad raised a sister andmyself in the late 50s and early
60s and he had several brothersand sisters that urged him to
(25:19):
get us in some kind of activity.
One of his brothers had a bunchof kids in band so he bought my
sister what I call a pawn shopcornet and she joined band one
year and the next year she wasin eighth grade and I joined the
junior high band in seventhgrade.
He said she'll play that hornin eighth grade band and you'll
play it in seventh.
(25:40):
That's how we chose instruments.
Yeah, when I just went to bandkind of I don't I didn't take it
very serious.
Then I started kind ofpracticing a little bit but it
forced me since we didn't go tochurch and I didn't have a civic
group to be part of a group.
When I didn't want to be partof a group I was just going to
(26:01):
be that loner that worked as anassociate mechanic at the
service station or something.
It forced me to be in some kindof civic organization and have
civic responsibility.
You know, the band couldn'tmake it as well without me and I
certainly couldn't be a band bymyself.
I tried to quit band in theninth grade and it's in my book.
(26:23):
My dad was in the car shiftingthe car from first to second
gear and he had a cigar in hismouth and I said Dad, I'm going
to quit band.
He took the cigar out and hesaid a cigar in his mouth and I
said dad, I'm gonna quit band.
He took the cigar out and hesaid, boy, you are too young to
make that decision and heshifted to third and we never
discussed it again.
Now that's not gonna happen intoday's society, but I don't
know.
I don't know if I would haveeven finished high school.
(26:44):
So I got caught up into and ourhigh school band was okay but
it wasn't stellar at all.
But just being in thecamaraderie and fitting in and
working toward even though wedidn't talk about goal setting,
but working towards a commonmean with your peers.
(27:05):
It's just like any otherorganization.
People volunteer for Habitatfor Humanity, some church group,
some civic group.
You just get such a, I guess,sense of belonging and reward.
So I got caught up in it, myjunior year especially, and I
started working hard.
In my senior year I was electedband captain.
(27:25):
There's only like 60 kids in myhigh school band, but it taught
me, with leadership comes somerewards and some criticism too.
The first time you make onedecision, who do you think you
are?
I'm just doing my job.
You know, my high school banddirector was good friends with
the band director at Ole Missand he had him down to rehearse
(27:47):
the band one Thursday night andmy dad showed up to rehearsal
and said what the heck's hedoing here?
I said I thought I was introuble.
Well, so he said get your hornboy, and I went in there and to
audition.
It was a joke.
He wanted me to play somefive-star solo that I didn't
know and I just played some soloI had in the jazz band.
(28:07):
It was about seven notes, thesounds of silence.
But the next thing I know I'mstanding in the financial aid.
It was about seven notes, thesounds of silence.
But the next thing I know I'mstanding in the financial aid
line.
At Ole Miss.
It could have been Notre Dameor UCLA, I just didn't know
because I qualified forfinancial aid and I was
motivated not to go back homeand live in that God-foreseen
negative environment and I wasscared that I would go to
(28:30):
Vietnam like I saw one of mycousins get shot up pretty bad
and how.
So I just knew I had to keep mygrades up and when I got to
college I struggled in myreading courses.
If it was science or somethingthat, or math, I did fine.
But reading, comprehension andwriting.
It goes back to that teacherthat gave up on me and now that
(28:53):
I don't.
I wasn't one of those prolificpeople, but I had 17, 18
articles.
I did probably 85 workshopsaway from here, even at the
national level or internationallevel, and three books, and now
that same teacher gave up on me.
I'd like to say show me yours.
(29:14):
I shouldn't be that.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Well, we're wrapping up here, but I want to give you
an opportunity to speak just alittle bit to the parents along
the way.
I know in high school therewere some parents that were
friends, parents that had a hugeimpact on you, and then three
mentors that took some time foryou and it was because of their
(29:40):
investment in your life that youwere able to invest in lots of
other folks.
Why don't you call out a fewnames of those sweet folks?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
I was scared to death of parents I'm talking just
shaking because they reminded meof mine and I thought they were
all just going to be brutal.
And the longer that I taughtand I saw what parents would do
for their kids because they wereenthusiastic about something, I
(30:08):
just overwhelmed me with whatthey would do.
The one that comes to mind themost is Joy Kay Hill House.
Anytime the Baptist Church doorwas open at East End she was
there.
She did stuff for them.
She was the secretary of theBand District Club for four
(30:29):
years.
She rebuilt uniforms, sheworked on the fundraising
committee.
She just did so much stuff.
And I could go on.
Wayne West and, oh gosh, rodAdams.
And then I got to Carolyn Imean she was a city council lady
went to your church CeciliaJones, was that her name?
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Cecilia Jones was her daughter.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Yeah, and I got to Clinton.
Bette Douglas is dead.
He did a lot.
Charlie, saul, david, nolan'smother I can't remember her name
but what they did and how hardthey worked.
I mean Merle Taggart, who justran the concession booth at
(31:19):
Columbus-Colwell, killed himselfand he drove a Frito-Lay truck
and he would start on Thursdayafternoon and filling that truck
with stuff and going over tothat concession stand making
sure he had 20 workers.
I'd go up there at halftime andit was a business.
(31:41):
I mean they worked their heartsout but they did it because
their students liked it and Iwas just dang lucky that three
people grabbed me.
One of them was gary cook,finest band of richard and the
state at the time, in my opinion.
He just asked me one day at amusic store if I had a recording
(32:03):
of my band and I know that mrdan wright sicked him on me and
he owned the music store and hesaw a lot of good in me and I
didn't trust him because my highschool band director said he
was a crook and I thought he wasa crook but he slowly came
through the door and became justlike a father figure to me.
And then Wilbur Smith Iroad-rubbed him.
(32:24):
They were my three main mentors, but I I was smart enough or
insecure enough to know that Icouldn't do it by myself and I
ended every class I ever hadwith this.
There's only two things it takesto be successful, be a good
(32:44):
bandwagon.
One is you gotta learn how tomotivate and discipline kids at
the same time in your ownpersonality, whether it be the
quiet type, the motivator orwhatever.
And then the second thing isjust whatever you don't know
somebody does, and if you'll askquestions and listen, you can
learn what to do, filter itthrough your own brain and
personality and then spit itback out for it to benefit you.
(33:07):
But there's so many people outthere that quote don't want to
be saved unquote that you couldwrite it down in your own blood,
hand it to them and they justwon't even read it and they keep
making the same mistake andit's sad because their teachers
are like surgeons.
They're working on somebody'slife and if they make a blunder
(33:31):
they don't kill them.
But kids quit, you know, orthey give up.
And it could be just an Englishclass and they just give up.
You don't give up on kids.
You're a surgeon and you'reworking on their life and you
want to keep them alive.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Well, you certainly invested in lots of folks,
including me, and did not giveup, and we're forever grateful.
And to the folks out therelistening to this, we want them
to be encouraged to step up.
Whether your kids are in bandand you need to help support
that, there's joy in serving andin seeing something like a band
(34:10):
accomplish great things.
We're all here because somebodyelse invested in us and it's
important that we give back andyou can accomplish great things
when you work together.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
One person is going to be that pivotal moment in
somebody else's life.
Just one little word ofencouragement, one arm around
somebody and just saying we'regoing to get this.
I won't give up if you won'tgive up.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
That's what Hope Mississippi is all about
encouraging folks to step outthere.
Hope you'll tune in again and Iknow you'll take a lot of
positive things from thispodcast today.
Thank you so much, mr Wilson.
I love you dearly, HopeMississippi.
When you need some hope and inspiration to build
collaboration.
Hope Mississippi is yoursalvation.
One in four kids live inpoverty.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
One in five are food deprived.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Build collaborations and build hope with those who
are struggling.
Hope Mississippi.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of Hope Mississippi,
(00:44):
where we talk about lots ofpositive things going on in
Mississippi and also challengesand how to overcome those.
And I'm Dawn Beam and I couldnot be more happy than to have
my former band director, davidWilson, here today.
Mr Wilson, tell everyone hello,hello, good morning.
We're sitting in the band hallat Ole Miss where Mr Wilson was
(01:07):
the band director for over 25years, right, 32.
And we're not going to talkabout how long ago it was that
you were my band director.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Uh 44 or 5, something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yes, it's been about 40-something years, but what I
would tell anybody about BAND isI highly recommend it.
But you, through BAND,influenced my life more than any
teacher I ever had, because youhelped me to understand the
importance of goal setting andthen working every day, in every
(01:47):
way, to accomplish those goals,and I will forever be grateful
to you.
Now we last year, about thistime, we're putting together a
book called Every Day in EveryWay, which was your memoirs.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It would take me the rest of my life to tell you
about it.
But when I first startedteaching I had no idea what I
was doing and I stumbled thefirst five years and I decided
that I was tired of yelling atstudents and I had to find a
different way.
So after my first year ofteaching at Columbus Caldwell
people that don't know what thatmeans is Columbus Mississippi
(02:26):
had two high schools at thattime.
The traditional, older schoolwas Lehigh and the newer
suburban school was Caldwell,and that's where we were that
first year.
I fussed at kids and it kind ofworked.
I tried to motivate, I tried tobe a clown, but I knew I needed
more consistency and I wantedthe students to realize what we
(02:46):
were doing and why we were doingit.
And all I was doing was tellingthem what to do and there was
no understanding of the why andI tried to quit teaching.
I literally did.
And I found a book at a thriftstore for a quarter called how
to Stop Worrying and StartLiving, by Dale Carnegie, and I
don't read.
I read every bit of that bookin a week.
And Start Living by DaleCarnegie, and I don't read.
I read every bit of that bookin a week and then I read it
(03:09):
again.
It was readable andunderstandable.
And then I told this guy thatworked for one of the big
fundraising companies and hesaid, oh, we use motivation all
the time.
And he sent me some cassettesthat I listened to and I started
trying to learn what to do tohave some kind of ambition.
In my childhood I didn't knowwhat it meant.
(03:30):
I was raised in blue collarcynicism.
You know what do they do?
That for?
It's time for the break.
You know I've got five minutesearly, five minutes.
I had to fake my ambition atfirst and I still do to a
certain degree.
But I tried to get the studentsto understand what we were doing
and why we were doing it andthe benefits for everybody.
(03:52):
So if it was a goal and welisted the steps to overcome
that goal and achieved it, itcarried over to every single
thing that we did in life.
So every goal was important.
I just tried to write them downand sell the students on it and
infuse it with enthusiasm.
And you know kids are kids.
(04:13):
I still have a hard time stayingmotivated, but you had to talk
about it, pat them on the backand I realized that criticism to
a student in front of theirpeers was just a failure of a
teacher, and so if I couldrecognize two positives issues
of correction and then a thankyou, I can tell you're working
(04:37):
very hard and I know that youcare about doing a good job.
Could you just move to yourleft a little bit, johnny?
Move to your left.
You know better than that.
It was a long process, but Ijust learned that a goal if a
kid needed a goal, then why.
And if it was a positivereinforcement rather than
negative, it went a lot further,quicker.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
And so you came up with the idea of every day, in
every way, helping kids everyday to work toward a goal, and
as they achieved it, then thenext thing you knew they were
setting a higher goal, right,somewhat.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I taught at the junior high school and another
school and we went to state bandfestival with a high school
band and on the way home and itwas a fight every day of the
year, making them sit down andturn in stuff, abusing equipment
.
And we were coming home fromState Band Festival and the bus
got stopped in a town for kidsthrowing stuff out of the
(05:38):
windows and it was one of thebest bands of the week.
And I went back the next dayand people were bragging about
how great the band was and Itold one of my friends.
I said you know, we fought thatband every day this year and we
got stopped by the police.
They were screaming on the buson the way home and I said it
(05:59):
was a shame.
And my friend said there's noreason for a band that good not
to be good every day of the year.
And it stuck with me.
It stuck with me hard and sowhen I got to Columbus and I
started thinking about how Iwanted to do things, I came up
with that phrase every day, inevery way, and I lived it.
I didn't get in front of thatband, in front of that band one
(06:28):
day that I didn't have some kindof plan and just shaking with
energy.
So that my enthusiasm motivatedthe students.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, your enthusiasm was contagious and I recall
back those days if you hadmarched us off a cliff I would
have gone right behind you, andthat's what folks need.
They say that every kid needsone adult that believes in them,
and you believed in us andhelped us to believe in
(06:52):
ourselves, and I think that'sone thing that kids learn
through extracurricularactivities that you might not
get the opportunity to learn ina classroom setting is the
importance of thatself-discipline and even the
idea of achieving more togetherthan you ever could by yourself.
(07:13):
Some of the songs that weplayed were just phenomenal back
in those days, and you helpedus to know that we could do
things that we never dreamedpossible.
Let's talk a little bit abouthow you went from helping young
kids like me to you came to theuniversity.
(07:34):
How were you able to pass alongthose same skills of setting
goals and working to achievethat to future educators?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, you touch a lot of emotions.
You know my father was not oneto nurture I can assure you that
and build a positive atmosphere.
And if one person, like youjust said, reaches a young
person as a mentor, says you'recapable of this.
I see a lot of good in you.
And I had a teacher give up onme and I knew that they did Most
(08:08):
of them did but she gave up onme bad and I knew it, and I knew
that I knew it, but I couldn'traise my hand and say you don't
care about me, you don't thinkthat I can do anything, but you
haven't taught me anythingeither.
So I had three mentors in mylife that came to me as a young
man in the field, as you know MrCook, your next door neighbor,
(08:30):
dan Wright and Wilbur Smith thatactually were adults, that
believed in me and told me thatI could do it and gave me
confidence and built me up.
And I think everybody needssomebody that touches them on a
certain day and gives them thatspark to either turn their life
around or to keep going throughhurdles.
(08:52):
You know, I got here and I founda man in some poor morale and
disarray and the students that Iwere training for the future
just had this esoteric vision ofwhat was going to go on.
And I remember the very firstday of class I called my
chairman and said where is thebook for this class?
(09:14):
And he said, mr Wilson, this isa university.
You teach that class the wayyou think it should be taught.
And I hung up the phone and Ijust stared at the telephone and
I said, okay.
I remember within two weeks ofcoming here, I wanted my tuition
money back because I didn'tknow what I was doing.
So I taught them a little bitof vocation, a little bit of
(09:37):
critical thinking.
This is what you're going to dobefore you get to your first
student.
This is what you're going to dothe first day they walk in the
classroom.
How are you going to talk tothem?
How are you going to set theatmosphere?
What are you going to do withthe first smart aleck?
That's this, and really wroteit out and went over it with
them.
And when they got out into theteaching field, I called them
and stayed with them.
(09:57):
I mean, if they were threehours away, I'd call and say how
did you do beginner band today?
Because you just can't learneverything in college that
you're supposed to learn.
There's 50% of your coursesaren't in your course study or
your field of study, and then80% of those don't pertain to
what you actually do in theworkforce.
(10:17):
I don't care if it's being alawyer, a banker, whatever.
You just learn principles andphilosophy, but not what happens
if somebody doesn't like tocheck, or whatever.
So I try to teach them the realworld and talk to them about
motivating students that if youdon't have the room organized
and if you don't have a set ofplans, if you don't have
(10:39):
enthusiasm and if they don't seethat you know how to instruct
good and give positive feedback,they're not going to go with
you.
You know they're just not.
I've seen a lot of teachers outthere.
Some of them are clowns, someof them are motivators, some of
them are dictators, some of themare a combination of all.
(11:00):
But the ones that make it thestudents know that they're cared
about.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And your wise counsel helps when these teachers
encounter trouble.
It's great to have folks thatyou can call on wise counsel,
and I know that those folksnever forget your willingness to
do that.
Now you also did a beginnerband book that helps them just
to go by one, two, three.
That makes it easier.
What else have you done to tryto reach out?
(11:27):
We talked about a podcast thatyou've done and some different
things.
Talk about that just a littlethat you keep giving Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I'd like to do more.
Computer skills and vision ofhow to do it and want to do it
is lacking, but I try to callstudents periodically.
That I've had they call me.
I've got a friend thatrecognizes my work and he's the
one setting up the podcast onthe books and trying to put it,
I guess, in the social mediathat I don't really understand.
(11:58):
I try to stay a little activeand I'd like to write another
book about this is exactly whathappened and this is what I did
from that experience as ateacher, instead of continuing
to follow my face and yell atstudents.
This is what happened, and in aninstructional basis too, I
finally learned that if astudent didn't do what I asked
(12:20):
or expected of them, I eitherdidn't teach them exactly what I
needed them to do or I didn'tmotivate them to want to do it.
So I tried to quit blaming thestudent for anything anything,
even if they messed up badly andI knew it wasn't anything to do
with me.
I would just look at them andsay I wish I could have
(12:40):
motivated you not to want to dothat, and when you do that, it
takes the venom that someteachers have against students.
You don't care, do you?
You don't know what the twohouses of our state government
are.
How are you going to live as acitizen Just constantly just
talking back to them instead of?
Let me help you learn this.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Well, that humility and caring.
It permeates the way you teachband and music and I know that
you have touched many lives fromthat.
We talked about the book thatyou did about basics book that
(13:21):
you did about basics and ifwe've got any folks out there
that are planning to be a banddirector, you certainly want
that beginner band book to helpyou.
Beyond that, I helped you writeyour memoirs and that's called
Every Day in Every Way.
It can be purchased on Amazonand let's talk a little bit
about that, because I knew youas a band director but I got to
walk through your life.
(13:42):
Let's talk just a little bitabout where you came from and
how you were able to understandthe difficulties other kids went
through, because of your ownexperience.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Amen.
I tell my students early on.
You have no idea what thatstudent has been through from
the moment they woke up tillthey get to your classroom.
You don't have a clue if it's asingle parent, if the kid had
to wake up on their own, or ifthey come and match a Mercedes
(14:18):
to school with their parents.
You don't know if they've had afriendship issue or they got a
first period and they say youdidn't do your homework, you
don't care about this class,you're going to wish you did.
They got a second period.
Why don't you ever get yourassignment done on time?
Therapy and by the time they getto you, band is an elective.
It costs money to buy aninstrument, you have to march
(14:40):
outside in the extreme weatherelements and if there's not some
kind of benefit other than justhaving an elective, they're not
going to stay with you and inband.
You need them for the entiresix or seven years.
They're in grade school thatyou start them in.
So I knew that you had to holdon to them and you did that
through goal setting, positivefeedback and good instruction.
(15:05):
A student is the smartestsupercomputer on earth and they
can tell you two things quickly.
Does this person's instructionmake sense and understandable
and do I buy it and do they careabout me?
And you can't disguise it, theyjust know it.
So I tried to do my preparation.
(15:26):
I spent some time at nightgetting ready so that I wouldn't
fail.
I had a fear of failure as well, but I just prepared a great
deal and used my steepest senseof energy and crazy personality
to try to get it across to them.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Oh, you most definitely have a crazy
personality.
Band was always a laugh, lotsof fun, and I think laughter is
a good medicine.
Takes a lot of the stress away.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
It does.
When a student sees a teacherhas a personality, I don't care
what it is.
I went to the grocery store oh,you go to the grocery store, or
just something that bringscommonality to the student and
the teacher at the same timehelps the atmosphere in that
classroom a great deal.
I knew that it had to beenjoyable.
(16:15):
And when you're marchingoutside in Mississippi and the
temperature's near 100, and yougot a 38-pound tuba on your back
and you got to do it again, doit again, and why are we doing
it again?
And it's just brutal, Irealized real quick I didn't
like being in that heat either,you know.
And to ask them to do that, Iremember the first day at
(16:36):
Collierville High School.
It's funny how students canteach a teacher a lot of times.
And it was the first coolmorning, like, let's say, 70.
And I was going where have youbeen?
They said it's a different band.
And some student raised theirhand and said Mr Wilson, it's
only 68 degrees out here.
(16:57):
And it hit me like a ton ofbricks, you know, because when
it's 90 degrees, even if you'rethe fittest person on earth,
it's hard to do it.
Anyway, I empathy what thosekids go through and knowing that
something could have touchedthat kid in a negative way that
morning that you just kind ofhave to walk delicately, and I
(17:20):
knew that every student thatwalked in that band room was
different and had a differentbutton to push and you just had
to search what kind of buttonand how to push it.
Whatever you had to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Let's talk about the music.
When you were in college, youwere in Uncle Sam's band as well
as the Ole Miss band.
But talk a little bit about themusic some of your favorite
performances that youexperienced as a participant as
well as a band director.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Well, I wasn't that great of a player but I was
fortunate enough to be asked tobe in a horn rock and roll band
called Uncle Sam and Iabsolutely loved it.
I tell people all the time I'dsell all my teaching career, my
marriage and everything else togo back and play again, which is
not true, but it was just tostand in a band and create that
(18:13):
kind of energy and fun.
It was just fantastic.
And I remember early on weplayed at a frat party at
Vanderbilt and the people likedit so much they passed the hat
and asked us to play a secondhour.
And when you got the crowd andI just remember it to this day
it was just one of the mosteclectic nights of my life.
(18:35):
And as a high school banddirector there were some things
that we did.
I know the year that we playedRussian Christmas music at
Colwell High School it justbrought the house down, you know
.
And then the year that we wentto Delta State and won
everything that they had overthere.
One probably shouldn't havebecause we were competing with
(18:57):
bigger bands and bands from whatI'd call more affluent makeup
we were po folks at Caldwellthat's right and for us to do
what we did.
I look back now and it was afeat and I'm really proud of it,
and Clinton and I had some thesame type moments when I played
advanced pieces of literatureand at Ole Miss.
(19:19):
The same way, it's hard, with40-something years of teaching,
to remember the exact ones, butthe best thing is when the kids
know it.
When they know it and they knowthat they know it it's fun and
they also know when it's notgood.
But I'm just very fortunate andthat's the thing that that book
that you encouraged me to writeit reminded me.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I should have stopped along the way and embrace that
moment more sometimes, whenyou're so busy in the moment
trying to get everything rightand by the time it all is
together, the the stress of itall, you don't really enjoy the
significance of it.
But boy did we bring joy to.
Not only it was joyful playing,knowing that we did our very
(20:09):
best, but it was great thatother people listening enjoyed
that as well.
So just a combination of givingand receiving at the same time.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
You said it better than I've ever said it.
I was so engaged in justgetting the music right, getting
the students where they weresupposed to be, and when it was
over, even though they announcedwhatever they announced, I was
so exhausted that, okay, let mejust get home and lay on the bed
.
So you're right, instead ofstopping and going.
(20:39):
You know what I just did withthese kids.
It's a miracle.
Now it's not going to make thenational news.
You're not going to get richdoing it, but there's a lot of
people in business that can'ttouch what good teachers get
Right, helping people andwatching their students do more
(21:02):
than you could ever imagine.
Some of my most successfulteachers in the field are those
that when they were in college,they'd be lucky to get out, but
they didn't give up and theykept doing all they had to do
until they learned their own way.
I didn't try to make and theykept doing all they had to do
until they learned their own way.
(21:22):
I didn't try to make anybody aDavid Wilson clone, but I tried
to teach them enough to givethem a basic, fundamental start
so that if they used my methods,they could have success and
then build their own style abovethat.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Now the shows.
I'm reminded of so many greatshows, both in high school, but
also Ole Miss you just really itwas an entertaining thing for
the crowd Tell a little bitabout what all went into that
for you.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Agony I listened to tunes and tried to come up.
Nowadays it's a theme.
You create a theme the day inthe life of a boy where they
wake up with a little springtimemusic.
I didn't do that, I just playedwhat I'd call energetic music
that people could tap their footto and enjoy a lot of rock and
roll and jazz.
But I listened to a lot ofrecordings and tried to pick
(22:13):
something that I enjoyed.
I knew the crowd would enjoy.
You don't.
In my opinion, if you lose yourcrowd you're hurting yourself
not politically but publicsupport.
I got here, I found the samething and I just tried to play
something that the crowd firstof all recognized could pat
(22:34):
their foot to and they enjoyedit.
I tried to find good arrangers.
I used the same arranger foryears, steve Barnett he was.
He wrote our music, almost allof it in Columbus, here and at
Clinton.
He was my assistant here forfive years.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Great guy let's talk about some of the students that
you taught.
I know some have gone on to befamous players mention just
throw a few names out.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Drop a few names the prominent one is keith carlock.
He was a percussionist drummerand he made it big time but he
worked.
You know, he's played withstevely dan four or five albums,
he's toured with sting toto,james taylor, and the list just
is on and on.
He's been on on cover of ModernDrummer five times, cover of
(23:18):
National Jazz Association ofEducators.
Instead of riding around hispickup truck acting cool, he was
in a practice room.
Not only did he have sometalent, he worked his heart out,
he was ate up with it and he'skept his composure Every time
I've seen him, since he doesn'tseem to have any arrogancy.
(23:39):
I mean, he's got confidence, ofcourse, but he's made it big.
I had a student that did acouple of years as a trumpet
player, kevin Lyons, with theAtlanta Symphony and people
locally play it in the localsymphonies and whatever.
But I wasn't here to makemusicians as much as band
directors, and I've had someaward-winning high school band
(24:00):
directors and some to go on tocommunity college and
universities.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
You know, it's amazing to me the math of all of
that.
You help one individual, thenthey go help hundreds and
hundreds of more.
So there's no telling theimpact that your life has had
and, as one of your formerstudents, I can't tell you how
much I appreciate that when wetalk about Mississippi.
(24:27):
You started out in Jackson,mississippi, as a young man from
a struggling family.
Your daddy worked hard, yourmom was not there and through
your discipline, band certainlyhad a huge impact of pulling you
from that to where you aretoday.
(24:49):
Talk a little bit about thathow band changed your life.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Not.
All of us come from anenvironment where the dad comes
out and pitches the ball withyou and have a basketball goal,
you have the money to join groupsports or the ability to join
group sports.
My dad raised a sister andmyself in the late 50s and early
60s and he had several brothersand sisters that urged him to
(25:19):
get us in some kind of activity.
One of his brothers had a bunchof kids in band so he bought my
sister what I call a pawn shopcornet and she joined band one
year and the next year she wasin eighth grade and I joined the
junior high band in seventhgrade.
He said she'll play that hornin eighth grade band and you'll
play it in seventh.
(25:40):
That's how we chose instruments.
Yeah, when I just went to bandkind of I don't I didn't take it
very serious.
Then I started kind ofpracticing a little bit but it
forced me since we didn't go tochurch and I didn't have a civic
group to be part of a group.
When I didn't want to be partof a group I was just going to
(26:01):
be that loner that worked as anassociate mechanic at the
service station or something.
It forced me to be in some kindof civic organization and have
civic responsibility.
You know, the band couldn'tmake it as well without me and I
certainly couldn't be a band bymyself.
I tried to quit band in theninth grade and it's in my book.
(26:23):
My dad was in the car shiftingthe car from first to second
gear and he had a cigar in hismouth and I said Dad, I'm going
to quit band.
He took the cigar out and hesaid a cigar in his mouth and I
said dad, I'm gonna quit band.
He took the cigar out and hesaid, boy, you are too young to
make that decision and heshifted to third and we never
discussed it again.
Now that's not gonna happen intoday's society, but I don't
know.
I don't know if I would haveeven finished high school.
(26:44):
So I got caught up into and ourhigh school band was okay but
it wasn't stellar at all.
But just being in thecamaraderie and fitting in and
working toward even though wedidn't talk about goal setting,
but working towards a commonmean with your peers.
(27:05):
It's just like any otherorganization.
People volunteer for Habitatfor Humanity, some church group,
some civic group.
You just get such a, I guess,sense of belonging and reward.
So I got caught up in it, myjunior year especially, and I
started working hard.
In my senior year I was electedband captain.
(27:25):
There's only like 60 kids in myhigh school band, but it taught
me, with leadership comes somerewards and some criticism too.
The first time you make onedecision, who do you think you
are?
I'm just doing my job.
You know, my high school banddirector was good friends with
the band director at Ole Missand he had him down to rehearse
(27:47):
the band one Thursday night andmy dad showed up to rehearsal
and said what the heck's hedoing here?
I said I thought I was introuble.
Well, so he said get your hornboy, and I went in there and to
audition.
It was a joke.
He wanted me to play somefive-star solo that I didn't
know and I just played some soloI had in the jazz band.
(28:07):
It was about seven notes, thesounds of silence.
But the next thing I know I'mstanding in the financial aid.
It was about seven notes, thesounds of silence.
But the next thing I know I'mstanding in the financial aid
line.
At Ole Miss.
It could have been Notre Dameor UCLA, I just didn't know
because I qualified forfinancial aid and I was
motivated not to go back homeand live in that God-foreseen
negative environment and I wasscared that I would go to
(28:30):
Vietnam like I saw one of mycousins get shot up pretty bad
and how.
So I just knew I had to keep mygrades up and when I got to
college I struggled in myreading courses.
If it was science or somethingthat, or math, I did fine.
But reading, comprehension andwriting.
It goes back to that teacherthat gave up on me and now that
(28:53):
I don't.
I wasn't one of those prolificpeople, but I had 17, 18
articles.
I did probably 85 workshopsaway from here, even at the
national level or internationallevel, and three books, and now
that same teacher gave up on me.
I'd like to say show me yours.
(29:14):
I shouldn't be that.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Well, we're wrapping up here, but I want to give you
an opportunity to speak just alittle bit to the parents along
the way.
I know in high school therewere some parents that were
friends, parents that had a hugeimpact on you, and then three
mentors that took some time foryou and it was because of their
(29:40):
investment in your life that youwere able to invest in lots of
other folks.
Why don't you call out a fewnames of those sweet folks?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
I was scared to death of parents I'm talking just
shaking because they reminded meof mine and I thought they were
all just going to be brutal.
And the longer that I taughtand I saw what parents would do
for their kids because they wereenthusiastic about something, I
(30:08):
just overwhelmed me with whatthey would do.
The one that comes to mind themost is Joy Kay Hill House.
Anytime the Baptist Church doorwas open at East End she was
there.
She did stuff for them.
She was the secretary of theBand District Club for four
(30:29):
years.
She rebuilt uniforms, sheworked on the fundraising
committee.
She just did so much stuff.
And I could go on.
Wayne West and, oh gosh, rodAdams.
And then I got to Carolyn Imean she was a city council lady
went to your church CeciliaJones, was that her name?
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Cecilia Jones was her daughter.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Yeah, and I got to Clinton.
Bette Douglas is dead.
He did a lot.
Charlie, saul, david, nolan'smother I can't remember her name
but what they did and how hardthey worked.
I mean Merle Taggart, who justran the concession booth at
(31:19):
Columbus-Colwell, killed himselfand he drove a Frito-Lay truck
and he would start on Thursdayafternoon and filling that truck
with stuff and going over tothat concession stand making
sure he had 20 workers.
I'd go up there at halftime andit was a business.
(31:41):
I mean they worked their heartsout but they did it because
their students liked it and Iwas just dang lucky that three
people grabbed me.
One of them was gary cook,finest band of richard and the
state at the time, in my opinion.
He just asked me one day at amusic store if I had a recording
(32:03):
of my band and I know that mrdan wright sicked him on me and
he owned the music store and hesaw a lot of good in me and I
didn't trust him because my highschool band director said he
was a crook and I thought he wasa crook but he slowly came
through the door and became justlike a father figure to me.
And then Wilbur Smith Iroad-rubbed him.
(32:24):
They were my three main mentors, but I I was smart enough or
insecure enough to know that Icouldn't do it by myself and I
ended every class I ever hadwith this.
There's only two things it takesto be successful, be a good
(32:44):
bandwagon.
One is you gotta learn how tomotivate and discipline kids at
the same time in your ownpersonality, whether it be the
quiet type, the motivator orwhatever.
And then the second thing isjust whatever you don't know
somebody does, and if you'll askquestions and listen, you can
learn what to do, filter itthrough your own brain and
personality and then spit itback out for it to benefit you.
(33:07):
But there's so many people outthere that quote don't want to
be saved unquote that you couldwrite it down in your own blood,
hand it to them and they justwon't even read it and they keep
making the same mistake andit's sad because their teachers
are like surgeons.
They're working on somebody'slife and if they make a blunder
(33:31):
they don't kill them.
But kids quit, you know, orthey give up.
And it could be just an Englishclass and they just give up.
You don't give up on kids.
You're a surgeon and you'reworking on their life and you
want to keep them alive.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Well, you certainly invested in lots of folks,
including me, and did not giveup, and we're forever grateful.
And to the folks out therelistening to this, we want them
to be encouraged to step up.
Whether your kids are in bandand you need to help support
that, there's joy in serving andin seeing something like a band
(34:10):
accomplish great things.
We're all here because somebodyelse invested in us and it's
important that we give back andyou can accomplish great things
when you work together.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
One person is going to be that pivotal moment in
somebody else's life.
Just one little word ofencouragement, one arm around
somebody and just saying we'regoing to get this.
I won't give up if you won'tgive up.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
That's what Hope Mississippi is all about
encouraging folks to step outthere.
Hope you'll tune in again and Iknow you'll take a lot of
positive things from thispodcast today.
Thank you so much, mr Wilson.
I love you dearly, HopeMississippi.
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