Hello, my name is Gabe, and I am passionate about music. I’ve been playing the trumpet since I was ten years old, and now I’m studying music and sound at UT Austin. I have been lucky enough to learn from some excellent teachers and am regularly humbled by the opportunity to work with classmates and friends who love music and performing as much as I do.

 

Last fall, I auditioned for The Blue Devils, a 19-time World Champion Drum Corps based out of Concord, California. Making it into the Corps was one of the proudest moments of my life, and since then, I have been making the trip from Texas to California one weekend per month to learn and rehearse with the rest of the 2022 Blue Devils. Together, we will create a 12-minute show for our competitions. I am a full-time student with a part-time job and have covered most of my own expenses so far.

 

This summer, we will tour all over the United States as part of Drum Corps International (DCI). I did this tour with another Corps in 2019, so I know what to expect. Touring isn’t cheap! It isn’t glamorous either. We ride on buses for hours, usually overnight, to get from show to show. Everyone is tired after about a week or so, the buses develop “interesting” smells, and we sleep on gymnasium floors in between stadium competitions all over the country. I absolutely love it though, and everyone on the Corps learns so much about music and themselves during tour.

 

Some bigger expenses are coming up that I need some help with:

 

$1,000 - Tour Fees (Blue Devils uses this money to pay staff, rent buses, and feed us)

$700 - Transportation (To help with getting to camp & home from tour)

$600 - Equipment & Touring supplies

$200 - Miscellaneous (Laundry, snacks, toiletries, etc.)

 

There are additional expenses, but I will continue to cover most of those on my own. This list includes the big costs, though, and your donations and shares will make this DCI summer tour possible for me. It’s an opportunity to work with a phenomenal coaching staff and dedicated musicians. The tour is grueling sometimes but ultimately rewarding.

 

Thank you.

--Gabe