CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH ESCANABA MUSICIAN ALLY SPENCER
Escanaba’s Allison Spencer is preparing for a big trip to perform at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, on New Year’s Day.
The 25-year-old Spencer plays in the Escanaba City Band and has also played with the Salvation Army. She will join Gladstone High School student Isaiah Boyce, and the entire Pulaski (Wis.) High School Red Raiders Marching Band at the nationally-televised parade.
“I started playing instruments for the Salvation Army when I was seven years old, and my parents were actually pastors in the Salvation Army for 13 years,” Spencer told RRN News on Wednesday. “That’s how this all kind of got started. When I was in school, almost every summer,I would go to music camp. Took the last few years off to get some personal matters settled, then I joined back up this year.”
Spencer says she went to a “relatively intense” camp this summer, and that’s where she was asked to be a part of the Rose Bowl gig.
“I’ve had a lot of friends who were marching in the Macy’s Day Parade (Thanksgiving in New York City) with the Army band, and also in the Rose Bowl Parade with the Army band,” Spencer said. “I thought it would be a great opportunity to experience something new, and to meet people from throughout the United States that are still kind of connected to me.”
Spencer says that, like Boyce, she’s a little nervous about flying, and about marching for more than five miles on national television. But the opportunity was too good to pass up, she added. So, while Boyce plays the trombone, what does Spencer play?
“I play what’s called the Alto horn,” she said. “It’s the English version of the French horn. It looks like a mini-baratone, almost, but usually, they play the same parts that a French horn does. The British version of that mid-range instrument.”
Spencer says she has the two songs that they will be playing in the parade memorized, but she’s bringing the music sheet with her just in case. But unlike Boyce, Spencer will not be making her national television debut.
“I’ve been on national television for years,” she laughed. “Doing bell-ringing for the Salvation Army and I’ve been in newspapers and on TV for that. I’m just super-excited to try something new.”
Spencer and Boyce will be flying to Los Angeles from Green Bay early Thursday morning, and will arrive there later in the day.
The Tournament of Roses Parade will run for more than five miles down Colorado Blvd., on New Year’s Day, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET (8 a.m. California time). It will be broadcast live nationally on ABC (Channel 10 in the Upper Peninsula), NBC (Channel 6 in the U.P.), the Cowboy Channel (836 on Spectrum Cable), and RFD (Rural Free Delivery) Channel (806 on Spectrum Cable).
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