205: Trevor Jones on musical pit work, scheduling creativity, and finding balance - a podcast by Jason Heath

Today's episode features double bassist Trevor Jones. It actually amazes me that this is the first time that Trevor has been on the podcast. Trevor kind of does it all: he studied classical bass with Rob Kassinger at DePaul University but got a music education degree as well He has played for years in the rock band Molehill but also maintains a full-time performing schedule as a theater musician, and he has a salaried double bass teaching job at Illinois Wesleyan University as well.

About Trevor:

Based in Chicago, independent artist Trevor Jones works in a variety of musical settings. He performs with regional orchestras throughout the Midwest including the Elgin Symphony and is a substitute with the Grant Park Orchestra. He has also recorded for Realize Records on Chris Bruni’s album Watch Me Burn and Kate Quinby's album Tribute To Water and has co-written and recorded two albums: Tin God and Equinox with his Chicago-based alternative rock group Molehill.

Trevor is the upright and electric bassist at The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, IL and his credits include Jeff®-Award Winning Musical Hero that was premiered in the Summer of 2012 and reprised in 2014 at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL. For the Glory with music Tony Award® nominee Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll and Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel), Battlecry by Paul Bogaev (Aida, Spiderman). and the World Premiere of October Sky.

While growing up in Gettysburg, PA Trevor studied double bass with Duane Botterbusch of the Harrisburg Symphony, and continued with Andrew Kohn of the Pittsburgh Opera at West Virginia University. In 2009 he completed his Master’s degree at DePaul University where he studied with Rob Kassinger of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. While studying at DePaul, Trevor performed with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the DePaul Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Cliff Colnot. Trevor earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at West Virginia University.

Trevor performs with the Chicago-based rock act Molehill. Molehill headlines some of Chicago’s most prominent venues and tours throughout the country. Highlights include appearances at CBS Studio Chicago, Metro (Chicago), Summerfest and SXSW. Their song “The Repeating” charted in the Top 10 of the KKBB Speciality Charts in 2015. Trevor has won an ASCAP+ Award for his songwriting for Molehill.

Trevor is in demand as an educator in the Chicago area and maintains a studio at Midwest Young Artists , the preeminent youth music program in the Midwest. In addition to teaching at MYA, Trevor is also the Instructor of Double Bass at Illinois Wesleyan University at DePaul University where he teaches String Pedagogy.

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