Jan/San Distributor Hits the Road to Support Musician Son

Bruce Heller, president of Cavalier, Inc., a Norfolk, Virginia distributor, spends his free time, as he describes it, “in an entire world that didn’t exist to me.” Bruce is a “band dad” (not to be confused with “dad band”, which is a great topic for another column, so please let me know if you are in a “dad band”). His son Miles is a musician in Princess Anne High School’s Fabulous Marching Cavaliers band in Virginia Beach. As a sophomore, Miles plays the mellophone, an instrument similar to a French horn and commonly used in place of French horns in marching bands.  

A band dad is not something that one can succinctly describe. In Bruce’s case, he's a jack of all trades. He is the band’s treasurer, a member of the prop set-up team, a chaperone, and a corporate sponsor.  

“My newest job is serving as treasurer, and it’s focused on raising money. Bands cost a lot of money because their expenses include uniforms, instruments and their repairs, music royalties, transportation, and more,” says Bruce. “I’m hoping I can help create a scenario in which the band doesn’t have to worry about their budget.”  

And then there’s the prop/set-up team that Bruce serves on as a Fabulous Marching Cavaliers parent.  

“The band’s props are similar to those used in a musical stage production. Our job is to run out onto the field and quickly build a ‘stage’. The band’s theme this year is ‘Bazaar Harmonies’. We had smoke machines to give it a Taj Mahal feeling, and we dressed up the set to look like little shops,” Bruce shares. “We build the stage set, they run around and over it, and then we take it down. I’m there to do whatever I can for the band.”  

In this arrangement, Miles plays the music and Bruce tackles the props. They’re in the same place doing different things, but they are there together as team, which is what matters.  

There's also the chaperoning part of being a band dad, which comes with its own set of challenges, as well as a few rewards. 

“Imagine holding a large group of high school kids — 60-some band members — accountable in the middle of New York City!” exclaims Bruce.  

The backstory: Grammy award-winner Pharrell Williams (he wrote and performed the lively song, “Happy”) is an alumnus of Miles’s high school, and like Miles, Pharrell was in the marching band. Pharrell asked the band to perform in his recent biopic movie, “Piece by Piece”, which premiered in New York last October.  

Pharrell invited the band to New York City for the premiere, where they performed on the event’s red carpet.  

“The band, in uniform, marched down the premiere’s red carpet playing the song from the movie, and stopped at the end of the carpet to finish the song,” Bruce recalls with pride. “It was surreal.”  

After that performance, the band and all the chaperones were invited to watch the movie premiere with Pharell and the other actors at the Jazz at Lincoln Center. The band was also listed as the artist on the single recorded version of the song. The band members — who actually recorded the song four years before the movie premiere — are individually mentioned in the movie credits. As a bonus, Pharrell also arranged for the band to play on the Today Show that morning.  

“My favorite part is that my involvement with the band allows me to connect with Miles through the music, which I love. It allows me to actually see him grow during his formative years,” remarks Bruce, reflecting on all the experiences he’s had as a band dad. “This is just wonderful to me, because teenagers usually don’t want to hang out with their parents.” 

Gretchen Roufs, a 25-year janitorial supply industry veteran, owns a marketing and public relations company in San Antonio. To suggest someone you think should be featured in “Freetime,” contact her at Gretchen@GretchenRoufs.com.