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It\u2019s no surprise that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga\u2019s Director of University Bands, Craig Davis, is drawn to exploring new styles and ways to approach music. Born and raised a mere 70 miles from New Orleans, the city\u2019s diverse soundscape of street musicians, brass bands, jazz, Afro-Cuban and Mardi Gras marching bands runs through his veins.<\/p>\n
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Davis knew he belonged when he first joined UTC\u2019s campus last spring and found an eagerness among students to venture out of comfort zones and a willingness among faculty to break through boundaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cTina Fey, in her book Bossypants<\/em>, tells about a lesson she learned when starting improv at Second City in Chicago,\u201d says Davis. \u201cShe calls it the \u2018yes and\u2019 principle. All improv comedy is created on the basis that anything is possible, the only thing you need is the other person in the scene to agree, and then you can build upon it. It\u2019s a wonderful lesson in respecting what others have created, even when you don\u2019t agree.<\/p>\n \u201cThe members of the UTC music faculty are avid believers in \u2018yes and.\u2019\u201d Davis explains. \u201cThe first thing that struck me about my colleagues was that they have no fear. They are willing to think beyond tradition, try new things and, most importantly, fail. Innovation requires calculated risk and I was thrilled about the opportunity to be surrounded by a community of academics willing to take chances.\u201d<\/p>\n Fairly new to campus, Davis hopes to build on momentum generated by looking to the future instead of dwelling in the past.<\/p>\n Marching Mocs practice on Engel Field. Sept, 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI want to introduce new ways of thinking about music performance, writing, education and philosophy,\u201d he says. \u201cThings that have worked in the past may not necessarily work in the future. It\u2019s not always about having the right answers, but asking the right questions and having the flexibility and artistic ingenuity to ask them and adapt to your discoveries.\u201d<\/p>\n That hasn\u2019t been a problem since joining the music faculty, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the warm nature of the students in the band program and their willingness to try new things. Bands are often so deeply rooted in traditions and routine that any departure from the well-worn path can be met with fear and skepticism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut,\u201d he adds, \u201cthis has not been my experience at UTC. The students are very open to new ideas, methods and revisiting what it is we should do as a band and as musicians, dancers, performers.\u201d<\/p>\n Marching Mocs practice on Engel Field. Sept, 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n This will sound like such a clich\u00e9, but if it\u2019s good then I love it. That being said, I tend to be drawn to musicians who incorporate various genres into their soundscape.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The beautiful thing about education is that we are the sum of all of our mentors, and every day I have the honor of imparting my accumulated knowledge to the students at UTC. On any given day, there are at least 15 to 20 people from my past who are teaching my students and the cast changes daily.<\/p>\n As an educator, I cherry-pick approaches that I have learned in my past\u2014both successes and failures\u2014and use those to teach my students. Whether it\u2019s one of the first things I learned in piano lessons from Mrs. Dugruise or something taught to me by Professor Junkin in my doctoral studies, these lessons and all of the ones learned in between, come together to shape the educator that I am.<\/p>\n The really neat thing is this: I was influenced by their teachers and how they chose to channel the education they had received and so on and so on. Every day we are educated by people we have never met and may never meet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Marching](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/09\/Band-Featurette-300x200.jpg\")
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![\"Marching](\"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/09\/Band-17-165-234x300.jpg\")
Getting to know Davis a bit more:<\/h3>\n
What’s your favorite genre of music?<\/em><\/h4>\n
Do you have a particular mentor\/teacher you like to channel as you work with students now?<\/em><\/h4>\n
From your bio, you seem to be quite the traveler. Is there a favorite place you visited or maybe a Top Three?<\/em><\/h4>\n