Junior has passion for music
By Erika Massek
October 11, 2004
On Friday nights, as many local football fans watch the Silver Lake Eagles score touchdowns, they also hear the sounds of a loud, deep saxophone bellowing from the band section. The musician behind the saxophone is junior Josh Ruby.
This summer, Ruby, who is a member of the Silver Lake band, attended a Lions Club band camp at Friends University in Wichita. He commented that the most stimulating aspect of the retreat was meeting new people.
"The most exciting memory at camp would be meeting people who have a love for music, and it was fun to play with those people and get to know them. I would attend camp again because it was fun and I learned a lot from it," he said.
Band coach Kendall Phelps stated that Ruby participates in different levels of band.
"Josh performs with the band on Friday nights and is a very big part of our marching band. Due to us having so many football players this year, Josh is one of the two lower instruments that I have left on Friday nights.
“He also plays in a jazz band that we are forming. He will be involved in pep band and will be part of an ensemble for league, regionals, and hopefully state. I feel it is my good fortune and the Silver Lake band program's good fortune to have a student of Josh's caliber and abilities," he said.
Ruby stated that his dad has influenced him to play better.
"My dad inspired me to play the saxophone because he played it in high school and college. It is a very interesting instrument, and I decided to play it. I would follow in my dad's footsteps because he is a cool guy, and he knows a lot," he said.
Phelps commented that Josh is a model student.
"Josh is organized, ambitious, and dedicated to doing the best that he is possible of doing. I would hope that Josh would stay in band until he graduates and then pursue music at the college level," he said.
Ruby explained his favorite type of music.
“My favorite genres of music to play are jazz and pop. The most difficult songs to play are the slow and quiet ones because it is hard to play soft with my instrument,” he said.
Ruby commented that the easiest thing about playing the saxophone is playing loud, and the hardest is getting your breathing techniques down and learning to control your sound to make it soft and loud. Ruby also stated that he enjoys playing with the pep band.
“My best musical moment would be playing with the pep band because playing at the games are a lot of fun, and we get to play jazz charts,” he said.
Junior has passion for music
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| Date | Subject | Posted by: |
|---|---|---|
| 10/12/2004 | I enjoyed reading this article. My... | Mary A. Barker |
| 10/13/2004 | Erika, You did a great job on... | Megan |
| 10/13/2004 | This was a very well written article,... | Anonymous |
| 10/14/2004 | Great article! Eagle Marching Band, UH! | A. Blush |
| 10/21/2004 | Great Job!!!! Thanks for making this... | Joshua Ruby |
