Aww Reet!!
Hi there!! I'm Karen & I play t'horn, hence my username.... HorniKaz
I can't believe that I've only been a tMP BOC since January 2005. It feels like an eternity. Heard about tMP from Aidan who was on here as Nadia (he's since grown out of tranvestism!) & so I decided to check it out. This fantastic forum kept me from going completely insane shortly after I joined when I was off work for 6 weeks recovering from an operation. There's just no getting rid of me now.
So here's a little bit about me.....
Born in Bury, Lancashire (where black puddings come from) & I now live in sunny Bolton (home of Peter Kay, the late Fred Dibnah, Amir Khan, Stu "crush a grape" Francis, Vernon Kay, Sara Cox, to name but a few)
Been involved in brass banding since I was in the womb! Dad is a BBb bass player. Started my playing on cornet when I was 9 years old with Blackley Band in north Manchester & changed to horn when I was 11. Went to my 1st Nationals with Blackley where we competed in the 4th section. Can't remember where we came!!Was also a member of Bury Schools Music Centre Senior Brass Band from the age of 11. Left both Blackley & BSMCSBB when I was 18 & departed over t'hills to Yorkshire.
I studied Ophthalmic Dispensing at Bradford College & spent just over a year with Hammond Hawley Band (now known as YBS Concert). Went to my 2nd nationals with them. Again competeing in the 4th section. We came 3rd!!
Returned back to good old Lancashire & after helping Hoover Band (Bolton) out in a contest, I was persuaded to join. That was 1991. Played with them until 1994 & then decided to have a break from banding altogether. Even though we'd had a really good run of contest wins in 1993, I'd got a bit disillusioned with the whole brass band scene.
I did however help Middleton Band out quite a lot as my brother was their MD for a while.
Got married in 1996 & after a few months of sitting on my own 2 nights a week while hubby went to sea cadets, I decided that it was time to pick up my instrument again.
So, went back to Hoover on 2nd horn with Aidan Smith!! Moved back up to solo after about 4 months, stood down to 1st so Mr Smith could take the solo seat & ended up back on solo when Aidan moved onto bigger & better things. Been there ever since!
In July 2002, Chris Wormald took over as MD at Hoover & since then we have attended 2 Nationals. 2003 in Dundee where we were runners up in the 3rd section & then at Harrogate in 2004, Hoover Band (Bolton) became 3rd Section National Champions of Great Britain.
I became the webmaster (or mistress) for Hoover's website in Feb 2005 after volunteering to help "update" it. Ended up redoing the whole thing. Could never have done though if it wasn't for John (The Music Man) as he has been a great help. I use tMP as my webhost. (shameless plug!!!!)
I played in my 1st tMP band at Easingwold 2005 since joining here, I've depped for Old Hall, Huddersfield Brass, Wem Jubillee & Leyland!
Met some of the nicest people through this forum & have in fact found my new bestest buddy in the whole wide world. There's always someone here to listen & lend a helping hand.
So, my final words are......
WAKE UP!!because I've probably bored to all to death!
No, seriously, John & his team of merry men & women do a fantastic job& I'm honoured to be a member of tMP
Remember, there are lots of services provided like WEBHOSTING!!
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Kaz
Originally Posted by super_sop
