A Day in the Life of the Airmen of Note

Published March 25, 2010
By Technical Sgt. Paige Martin
The USAF Band

BOLLING AFB, D.C. -- As the vocalist in the Airmen of Note, I am one of 14 people in the history of the world to have ever "officially" held this position. Having waited the better part of 10 years in the civilian world for an opening in this band, I can assure you I absolutely adore my day-to-day life. To sum up what a typical day in the "Note" office looks like, however, is no simple task as there is no such thing as typical.

Since the band runs itself, there is much to accomplish even after we've done our average of four to five two-hour rehearsals a week. Each member of the band is assigned tasks or "collateral duties" outside of simply rehearsing and performing. These tasks include managing the scheduling of band passenger vans (used for transporting musical groups to and from jobs in town), monitoring the physical fitness of each member of the group via U.S. Air Force standardized fitness tests, and planning and scheduling tours for the Note. Additionally, many of the members of the Note are skilled composers and arrangers and can often be found at home, in the wee hours, writing new tunes for the band. Add these things to two community relations tours, a rigorous in-town performance schedule and the occasional weekend "run-out" job, and you have a very busy ensemble made up of some of the finest jazz musicians in the industry today!

Did I mention most of the members of the Note are married, with children? Most of those with families of their own are afforded the blessing of remarkably supportive spouses "holding down the fort" whenever the band is on the road. Me? Well, I married Master Sgt. Jeff Martin... a remarkably supportive, dedicated, loving husband who also happens to play Second Trombone in (what else?) the Airmen of Note! Jeff is a fabulous trombonist, gifted composer/arranger and, together, we are parents of a beautiful 14-month-old little girl, Natalie. This last bit makes traveling with the band an interesting undertaking, as we have to find someone to care for our daughter - sometimes for two weeks at a time or more. Our childcare plans usually involve one or both sets of grandparents--folks for whom we are infinitely thankful. This is pertinent to what "the job" looks like because there are several couples in The United States Air Force Band (and in the Air Force at-large) who met on the job, married and now juggle work and family in a similar fashion. Easy? No. Is it worth it? I can only speak for myself, but I say, "Most definitely!" I serve my country doing a job I love and my daughter gets quality bonding time with her grandparents!

Other day-to-day duties, represented by the work of Senior Master Sgt. Rich Sigler (jazz trumpet) and Senior Master Sgt. Joe Jackson (lead trombone, music director), involve hand selecting material from past Note recordings for a 60th Anniversary album (to be released later this year). Next came editing, mixing, and producing that project and the 2010 Jazz Heritage Series radio broadcast recording. Since its inception in 2007, the Jazz Heritage broadcast recordings have been enjoyed by an estimated 8.5 million listeners nationwide. Several members of the band, to include Technical Sgts. Ben Patterson and Tyler Kuebler as well as Master Sgt. Jeff Martin, also composed and arranged new charts during January and February to be debuted on the spring 2010 tour.

This is just a taste of what it looks like to be in the Airmen of Note studio on a daily basis. I could go on for pages and pages, citing the various collateral duties we all hold, work we do at home or otherwise outside the studio, and the various ensembles throughout the band we are known to augment from time to time, including the Concert Band, Singing Sergeants, and Ceremonial Brass. We all work together here in the Note and in The USAF Band, making the mission run as seamlessly as possible. Not only is this our job in the Air Force, but we love to do it!

Click to read a short biography of Technical Sgt. Paige Martin.

For biographical information about other members of The U.S. Air Force Band, please see the Ensembles section of our website.