I was born and raised in Anderson, Indiana. I started playing the trumpet in 7th grade,
using my Aunt Vickie's old Conn Director trumpet (which I still own). I loved music right
away, however, like a lot of young musicians, I should have practiced more. My family
still gets a kick out of remembering how terrible I sounded those first couple years.
Though I did not take private lessons, I benefited from the great music programs at
East Side Middle School, directed by Sue Finger, and at Highland High School,
directed by John Parshall and Mark Finger. After graduating from Highland in 1987, I
attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and majored in music education.
The Ball State Years
I attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, for five years. (FYI: Ball State's
most famous alumnus is TV's David Letterman.) During my time at BSU I performed
in nearly every ensemble offered, including marching band, basketball band,
Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, all three jazz ensembles,
University Singers, trumpet ensemble, brass quintet and jazz combo. I still had
several classes to go, plus student teaching, when I left Ball State in 1992. Among my
mentors at BSU, I give great thanks to my trumpet professor, Paul Everett, and Larry
McWilliams, Professor of Jazz Studies. I am also grateful for the teaching and
direction of Dr. Joe Scagnoli and Dr. Wayne Dorothy.
During the last term of my freshman year at Ball State, I pledged and became and
brother in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national professional fraternity for men in the field
of music. It is an organization I am proud to be a member. To this day I am thrilled
every time I meet another Sinfonian!
During the summer of 1988, I was employed as the Jazz Assistant and camp
counselor at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan. Though Blue Lake
didn't pay much, I had a great summer, gained invaluable experience and my earnings
paid for my first C trumpet, an old Bach 229 I bought from a friend.
In the spring of 1990, I auditioned for and was hired by Cedar Point Amusement Park
in Sandusky, Ohio. It was quite a thrill to play for a living that summer, but the best
thing to come from my Cedar Point gig was meeting my wife, Peggy, during my first
season on the Point. She was a Supervisor for Park Admissions, but we met through
some mutual friends. I played three seasons at Cedar Point in all, had a great time
nearly every minute of each summer and made a lot of friends!
Post-BSU
After my final summer at Cedar Point in 1992 I knew I needed a break from school.
Instead of returning to Ball State I went on the road with The Russ Morgan Orchestra, a
two-beat dance band lead by Russ' son, Jack Morgan. Just before I left for Cedar Point
that summer I had played on the road for a couple weeks with Guy Lombardo's Royal
Canadiens and with Jack Morgan's band. The three-month tour with Jack that fall took
us through over 30 states and on a cruise to Hawaii and back. It was a terrific
experience but I didn't want to live a life out of a suitcase, especially once I got married
and started a family. I knew a life on the road was not for me.
After I had been back about a month, Peggy and I were married in January, 1993, at the
First United Church of Christ in Kent (across from the Kent State University Music &
Speech Building) by Reverend Eshler. It was a warm day for January and more people
came to the wedding and reception than we expected would come. Still, it all worked
out great. A fellow trumpeter from Ball State, Todd Lehman, played for our wedding
ceremony and I had a quartet of friends from BSU play live jazz at the reception.
Local music career begins
Just before 1992 ended, Peggy checked out the music classified ads in the local
paper, looking for any bands that needed a trumpet player. She knew I'd soon be
missing playing in a band, so she was trying to find something for me to do. She told
me about one ad that said a local Chicago-style band was looking for a trumpet player.
Of course, I thought "Chicago" the band, as in "Saturday In The Park", etc. Nope. It
was a Chicago-blues style band seeking a trumpet player. Not knowing that, I called
"Larry" and he asked me to come down to their next gig (that weekend) and sit in with
them so they could hear me play. No problem - I'd love to!
It wasn't "25 or 6 to 4", but I loved it instantly anyway. An 8-piece band with horns and a
great female lead singer that belted out awesome blues and R&B - who wouldn't love
it? They brought me up onto the stage and I played a few tunes next to their existing
trumpet player, who was leaving the band for a cruise ship gig. They liked my playing
and asked me to sit in again with them the next night at a different club. That went
well, too, so they asked me to join the band and, of course, I said yes! That band was
The Business with The Wall Street Horns. Thus was born my career in local bands in
northeast Ohio.
The craziest part of this is that "Larry" is Mr. Larry Dickerhoff. Dickerhoff is my wife's
maiden name. The night before our wedding, The Business played a date in
Barberton. After the rehearsal dinner, everyone came down to the nightclub we were
playing in Barberton. During a break, Larry and my father-in-law, Jim, figured out
exactly how they are related. So, not only is Larry one of my best friends, he's also
family. Crazy, huh?
After a couple years and due to musical differences, several members of the band left
the group and formed The Wanda Hunt Band, in which I still play today. Some people
have come and gone but the band's makeup remains about the same - R&B, blues,
funk, soul and a little jazz. We're again an 8-piece band with three horns, just like in
the old days with The Business.
A few years ago The Wanda Hunt Band recorded a CD. Most of the music was written
by our keyboardist, Jeff Curtis, although the last track, "Wanda's Blues", was based on
a simple blues tune I had written the previous year.
Family
Just before The Wanda Hunt Band played the Cuyahoga Falls Oktoberfest in October,
1997, Peggy gave birth to our first son, Alexander. I still get grief for taking time away
from the hospital a couple days after Alex was born to go play the Oktoberfest gig, but
hey, I had to pass out cigars! Besides, I had a family to support now, right?
Nearly two years later, our son Joshua was born. We thank God for our happy and
healthy family. He has blessed us tremendously!
The jazz quartet
In 1995 I formed my own jazz quartet and initially named it The Akron Jazz Quartet. Of
course, none of the members of the quartet actually lived in Akron, but we lived around
Akron and we knew most of our dates would be in Akron - thus the name of the combo.
Sometime later I changed the name to The Tim Coyne Jazz Quartet. Our pianist, Brian
Megilligan, moved to Raleigh in early 2006. We miss him a lot. The other permanent
members of my quartet are Larry Dickerhoff - bass, and Scott Velardo - drums.
For a year or so we also featured a lovely female vocalist named Kelli Gibson. We
were privileged to record a short album with Kelli, as well as include her talents on our
own demo CD we recorded a few years ago.
Other bands
During my years in Northeast Ohio, I've been fortunate to perform with numerous other
groups, either as a sub or just sitting in. Those bands include The Sugar Daddies,
Hot Souse, Noel Quintana's Latin Crew, Grupo K-Non, Ahi-Nama, Cleveland All-Stars
(salsa), Little Ed & The Boilermakers and Special Blend. I subbed for a couple of
these bands and recorded with Hot Souse, among whose members are old
bandmates Jon DeRhodes and Craig Wise.
Noel Quintana was kind enough to recommend me to Julio Rodriquez during the
summer of 2004 when Julio was looking for a lead trumpet player for his band, Grupo
Fuego. After one rehearsal with the band, they asked me to join. Again, I said yes.
Playing Latin music is fun, exciting and a challenge - and I love a challenge! We
played several dates around the region that summer and had a blast doing it! Playing
with Fuego was opened other doors for me, as well, with other Latin bands around
Cleveland. But I have to thank Noel for giving me a chance to play this music in the
first place. And to my old friend, pianist Pete Reimer, who recommended me to Noel
in 2002 when Noel was looking for a sub for his band for several dates his lead
trumpet player, Mike Martz, had to miss. My thanks, too, to Mike, who helped me learn
this style more quickly than I would have on my own! I'm a member of Grupo Fuego
and am picking up more dates with other Latin bands regularly.
During the falls of 2002 and 2003, I subbed for trumpeter Ed Kline in The Sugar
Daddies, another Akron-based blues, R&B and rock band. I always had a great time
performing and hanging out with these guys. When Ed left the band in the fall of 2004,
they asked me to join. The answer, again, was yes. How could I resist? Though my
wife still thinks I'm nuts, and wishes I was home more, I enjoy playing in all these
bands. I have to admit that it's a great feeling being in demand. My chops and abilities
are probably the strongest they've ever been and I'm having a great time playing all this
fantastic music with my friends!
Developments
After having dropped out of Ball State University in 1992, I attended Kent State
University part-time for three semesters from 1994 to 1995. But my heart really wasn't
in it anymore. I decided I didn't want to teach music for a living after all. Though I
taught private lessons at a couple local music stores, most notably at Brecksville
Music from 1999 to 2004, I did not resume the pursuit of a music degree. Instead, I
enrolled in Walsh University's accelerated IDEAL program, now known as the School
for Professional Studies.
Taking advantage of my employer's tuition reimbursement benefit, I majored in
business management at Walsh and finally graduated (with honors) in December,
2004. Finishing college has been a goal of mine since 1987, especially since I
dropped out of both BSU and KSU.
In February of 2005 we achieved our dream of owning our first real house. We still live
in Ravenna and love our house, especially the big back yard! Two dreams achieved in
two months. It was really terrific - and still is.
Segue
I spend as much time as I can with my family, which grew a little bit in 2005 when we
got a Golden Retriever and named him Satchmo. (Can you guess who chose the his
name?) Sadly, we also put down our longtime family cat, Dizzy. (Again, I think you can
figure out who named him.)
These days I play often, though it's mostly weekends, which is fine with me. Playing
with different bands keeps me well-rounded musically, which is terrific because the
worst thing a musician can do is become complacent. Head out and hear me play in
any band and in just about any setting and I hope you'll hear me pushing myself to my
limits. There are certainly times when you have to dial it back a bit when performing
(Cocktail parties come to mind.), but overall I'm always pushing the envelope a little bit.
How else can you improve your abilities if you don't challenge yourself constantly? It's
the same whether you're playing music or playing tennis. It's something I strive for
both musically and personally.
Speaking of challenges, the Wanda Hunt Band is planning to record a new album in
early 2007. I hope to post news about that project here in the future. I'm also hoping to
revive my jazz quartet in early 2007 and will post our schedule on this site as well.
