Low lights, tuning guitars, and fine tuning the lyrics. English teacher Mr. James Hanmer takes the stage with his band and shares his passion for music by playing in his own band.
“The band here in Omaha is called Brother East, Brother West,” Hanmer said. “It started with a friend of mine I met here in Omaha. He’s from New York and I’m from California so that brought the name.”
They began with a pretty simple goal.
“We just started playing together just to, I don’t know, have a good time and play some really challenging music,” Hanmer said. “We thought well we’ll just have a duo, just two guys. Base and drums and vocals, and try to play some really really hard stuff.”
As time went on, the pair developed their duo into a trio, adding former band PLHS teacher Brendan Yates as their drummer. With Hanmer being skilled in the English department, he is responsible for the creative aspect of their band.
“I play guitar and sing and do most of the writing of the original songs,” Hanmer said. “We do both [covers and originals]. For the last couple of years we were focusing on covers, and now we’ve got a bunch of originals.”
When it comes to covers, Hanmer and his band vary their range, playing all sorts of genres including country and blues, along with rock and jazz. Originals are more focused on the Americana sound, a genre featuring various sounds across the country.
Music is not a new passion for Hanmer, as he has been a part of various musical endeavors throughout his life, specifically a band in his home state of California.
“[In] my early years, yeah, we were pressing to do music full time and teaching on the side,” Hanmer said. “Then it just became that teaching just worked out so much better. I could do it both. I could teach and play music and not worry about it.”
This decision has provided several opportunities to grow in both teaching and creating music.
“[My favorite thing] right now is just getting better at guitar, playing challenging music, and having fun with my friends,” Hanmer said. “It’s just a great release, and very different from teaching.”
Hanmer shared that after retiring from teaching, he hopes to pursue his passion for music more seriously. Though he holds a love for both hobbies, Hanmer’s main priority lies where he feels he excels most.
“I think [I’m] much better at teaching story than teaching music,” Hanmer said. “I like to play music, but I’m not really interested in teaching it.”
Despite this, Hanmer still pursues his unique hobby solely for the purpose of having fun.
“It’s always just to have fun,” Hanmer said. “If you’re playing music at any time in your life, it’s a good thing.”
