901-323-8888 Contact

Podcast

After Hours Podcast

After Hours: Conversations for Music Educators is a music education podcast from Amro Music Stores, Inc. Our After Hours podcast host, Nick Averwater, facilitates engaging conversations each week with band directors, private music teachers, general music educators, orchestra directors, and other music industry professionals just like you. Each podcast guest shares practical advice on classroom management, placing beginners on instruments, band and orchestra recruitment strategies, band boosters, fundraising, and more. The goal of After Hours is to provide a podcast for band directors, orchestra directors, and music educators with strategies for both "on-podium" and “off-podium” skills that can help create a school music program that you can be proud of.

Category: Director Spotlight

Monday, September 26, 2022

Great Mentors Are Essential To A Band Director's Early Success

In this episode, Nick Averwater talks with Mikaela Littleton, Director of Bands at Mill Creek Middle School in Nolensville, TN. It's part of the Williamson County School System, which is just south of Nashville. This week we'll learn more about Mikaela's early influences that encouraged her to become a music educator, some of the lessons she has learned as she begins her fourth year of teaching, and more. Our conversation was recorded July 29, 2022. It's broken ... Read More
at Monday, September 26, 2022
Band Directors Director Spotlight mentorship Women Band Directors Young Directors

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Tips For Retaining Most (Or Even All) Of Your Band Students

In this episode, Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Benjamin Easley, Director of Bands at Nolensville High School in Nolensville, TN. We'll learn more about Benjamin's approach to maintaining high retention rates in the band program at Nolensville, how his approach to teaching has changed as a result of Covid, and more. Our conversation was recorded July 1, 2022. It's broken up in to two episodes and this is part two. Podcast Resources In this conversation... Read More
at Sunday, September 18, 2022
Band Directors covid-19 Director Spotlight Professional Development retention

Monday, September 12, 2022

Directing A Successful Non-Competitive Marching Band in Middle Tennessee

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater talks with Benjamin Easley, Director of Bands at Nolensville High School in Nolensville, TN, a town of around 16,000 located a half hour south of Nashville. Benjamin comes from a family of music educators (his father, John Easley, is featured on After Hours episodes from December 31, 2021 and January 7, 2022), so we'll learn more about his early influences, and also learn more about Nolensville's non-... Read More
at Monday, September 12, 2022
Band Directors Director Spotlight marching band

Monday, August 1, 2022

How One Music Educator's Videos Have Been Seen More Than 3.5 Million Times

Podcast Episode Summary In this episode, Nick Averwater talks with Tyler Swick, a celebrated and award-winning music educator from Robert and Sandy Ellis Elementary School in Las Vegas, whose YouTube channel, Swick's Classroom, has over 14,000 subscribers and has been visited more than 3.5 million times. We thought Tyler's enthusiasm for music education, and his innovative ideas would be just right as a new school year is about to begin. This conversation was reco... Read More
Posted by Emilee McGee at Monday, August 1, 2022
Band Directors Director Spotlight Social Media technology YouTube

Monday, July 25, 2022

Successfully Supporting and Engaging Students With Exceptionalities in Band and Orchestra

Podcast Episode Summary In this episode Nick Averwater talks with Emily Kelley, Director of Bands at Southview High School in Sylvania, OH, and author of the new book Inclusion in Band and Orchestra, which is part of the Maximizing Student Performance series by the Kjos Music Company. Our conversation was recorded July 20, 2022.   Podcast Guest Emily Kelley Emily Kelley is the Director of Bands at Sylvania Southview High School in Sylvania, Ohio. Mrs. Kelley rece... Read More
Posted by Emilee McGee at Monday, July 25, 2022
Director Spotlight Diversity Inclusion Women Band Directors

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Starting The Year On Your Left Foot

Podcast Episode Summary This week Joel Hurd, one of the producers on the podcast, talks with composer and educator Brady Massey, who spent more than 20 years as a band director in three different school districts in Arkansas (Hoxie, Trumann, and Pocahontas), and is currently Director of Bands at Williams Baptist University in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. Joel talked with Brady just after he had given a talk at Amro University, which is a 2-day event in Memphis for college... Read More
Posted by Emilee McGee at Saturday, July 16, 2022
Band Directors Collegiate Music Education Composer Director Spotlight Professional Development

Sunday, July 3, 2022

Sound Reinforcement for Marching Bands: What To Use, and How To Use It

Podcast Episode Summary This week Nick Averwater talks with Hunter Durham, Director of Bands in the Rivercrest School District in Wilson, Arkansas, a small town near the Mississippi River around 30 miles north of Memphis. He is originally from nearby Paragould, Arkansas. Hunter has written a guide to sound reinforcement for marching bands. In this episode he'll be sharing his ideas on mic techniques, how to make wise purchasing decisions and more. This conversation wa... Read More
Posted by Emilee McGee at Sunday, July 3, 2022
band camp Band Directors Director Spotlight marching band technology

Monday, May 16, 2022

Strong Community Support Results In Decades of Success For A Small Town's Band Program

Podcast Episode Summary In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater talks with Jason Deem, Director of Bands at Union City High School in Union City, Tennessee, a town of just over 10,000 people in the northwest corner of the state. Jason joined the Union City schools in 2006, and has been Director of Bands for five years. In this conversation, we'll learn about his early influences, how he carries on the tradition of success in the band... Read More
Posted by Emilee McGee at Monday, May 16, 2022
administration Band Band Directors Director Spotlight