Happy sixth birthday to Trumpet Journey: six facts

I’m incredibly proud and grateful for the past six years of Trumpet Journey. Really, it has been my journey, and I am so glad that I got to share it with you.

Here are six facts about TJ that are worthy of a list:

1. There are 163 posts on TJ, including this one.
2. There have been 245,000 visitors from all around the world.
3. Trumpet Journey was recently judged to be one of the top-ten trumpet-related blogs in the world by Last Row Music website and as a top site to help beginning trumpeters by TrumpetHub.
4. My top-ten lists are the most popular posts that I have written. People love these lists–it gives them a place to start, and it gives them an opinion to embrace–or disagree with. The top top-ten list is from a long time ago: jazz trumpeters living today.
5. I love to do interviews with other trumpeters. I’ve done 27 so far. Two of them were bilingual (Portuguese/English and Italian/English).
6. There have been 300 comments on the site. But thousands more on social media shares of the posts. I love the positive comments, but I also like the more-critical ones–they make me think.

My future plans for this next year:

1. Continuing with my “Trumpet Happiness” exploration. It’s been on pause a little bit, but I’m ready to get back to it! It makes me happy.
2. Writing about some of the big changes in my life over the last few months: retiring from the U.S. Navy Band and starting to teach full-time at Colorado State University. (by the way, I’ll be looking to recruit new students for the fall of 2019!) I will also be looking into my forthcoming recording project and the publishing of my compositions.
3. More interviews.
4. More special content. Like the “This Day in Trumpet History” widget that appears from time to time on the webpage. Like more entries in the Trumpet History Timeline.
5. More lists. What can I say? I love lists!

Here are some wonderful photos from past posts. Enjoy!