I have had a number of people influence my playing, including my past teachers but I can always remember my first two big influences.....
I'd been playing a year or two and was at my first ever Blackpool contest. Being far too young to drink :? I was sober enough to attend the soloist contest on the Sunday.
There was a guy who played solo euph with a local band up there playing Carnival of Venice. I thought it was fantastic and vowed that one day I wanted to play like that.
Over the years, I have played alongside him on a few occaisons and although *shock* he has migrated to baritone I guess the Blackpool memory is still there.
In 1998 I went on a banding 'holiday' with him and in a drunken state informed him that he had been my childhood playing idol which he thought was great and I thought (in the morning!) it was embarrasing! lol!
Oh, and I am happy to name names here.... Les Beresford when he was at Bestwood
There was also a lovely old man called Ernie who used to come down to Long Eaton when I was a kid and one day he handed over a worn copy of Jenny Jones and told me to practice..... still can't play it as I want to but he really captured a young teens imagination doing that. A big influence. Funnily enough, I am trying similar tactics with learners now :lol: