Today we’d like to introduce you to Utah Hamrick.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started my musical journey as a 6th grade violinist, just so I could get into orchestra in 7th grade and play the bass. Why the bass? I honestly still don’t really know, but I knew that’s what I wanted to play! I went on to also play tuba in marching band and bass in the jazz band in high school. My admiration for my high school band director led me to Central Michigan University to get my Music Ed. degree. While there, I really fell in love with jazz and decided our jazz band director had a job that looked incredibly fun and fulfilling. After graduating I worked as a public school band director for 6 years, but my love of jazz pulled me back to CMU for my master’s and then to Texas to get my DMA in Jazz Performance. My first college jazz band directing job was at UT-San Antonio, where I taught for 10 years, before getting a job at Texas State University directing their top jazz and and teaching jazz bass students. Three years later I became the Director of Jazz Studies, and it really has been my dream job ever since! I’m very fortunate to have a job I love.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m very fortunate to have a family that supported (and still supports) my musical endeavors. While navigating the path from small-town band director to moving across the country to my current position hasn’t always been smooth, I am happy to say that any setbacks just make me appreciate what I have.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the Director of Jazz Studies at Texas State University and also a professional bassist. Both are fantastic jobs and I’m fortunate to be able to do both.
As the jazz director at Texas State I’m proud of all of our students and their many successes. I’m proud to have a hand in assembling the amazing jazz faculty there, and the growth of the Jazz program. I’ve been able to direct our top jazz band at the Texas Jazz Festival, the Notre Dame Jazz Festival, the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival, TMEA, PASIC, and many more. And I’m quite proud that we renamed our jazz festival the Butch Miles Jazz Festival to honor the world-renowned drummer and our former colleague at Texas State.
As a bassist I am proud of all of the amazing musicians I’ve played with over the last 23 years. Whether long-time associations with bands like Monster Big Band, Mr. Fabulous, and the Magnificent 7; multiple gigs with Beto and the Fairlanes, Baker’s Dozen, the Austin Symphony Big Band; or occasional gigs backing up great artists like Willie Nelson Ginger Leigh, Ray Benson, or Kat Edmonson, I never get tired of the variety of the central Texas music scene. Playing with Willie Nelson for the grand opening of the Moody Theater was a career highlight, for sure!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I think luck is reserved for things you have zero control over, like roulette. I think good fortune comes from knowing what you want, and tirelessly working towards that goal. You then set yourself up to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, big or small. Every opportunity taken leads you to another.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dr_utah_hamrick
- Facebook: @utahhamrick
Image Credits
Kim Yarbrough
