Press Release

July 20, 2007

George Strait sideman joins Lamar State College-Port Arthur faculty

Story and photo(s) by Bobby Summers, Coordinator of Public Information

Jeff Sturms

When country superstar George Strait takes the stage after September 1 this year, a familiar face in his Ace in the Hole Band will be missing.

Strait’s long-time arranger and rhythm guitar player Jeff Sturms will be on a different stage. He’ll be in a classroom at Lamar State College-Port Arthur teaching commercial music courses and overseeing the operation of the college’s state-of-the-art recording studio.

“I love teaching, and I love music. I’ve been playing in working bands since I was 15, but I’ve always wanted to teach at the college level,” Sturms said. “I’m really excited about coming here because Lamar State has the potential to be a world-class music school.”

LSC-PA music director Michael Judy first met Sturms in 1994, when Judy was producing music shows at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Sturms was hired as an orchestra leader and arranger.

“Jeff is a superb musician and one of those rare people with experience in many aspects of the music business,” Judy said. “Our students will get excellent training and gain a great deal of insight into the real world of commercial music from him.”

Sturms, a Missouri native, started his musical career as a classical trumpet player.

“I was accepted to the Eastman School of Music when I was a junior in high school, but I didn’t go there because I started playing guitar in working bands, and that’s what I wanted to do,” he said.

Sturms started playing keyboards in college, then spent four years as a staff arranger, keyboardist and guitarist in the U.S. Air Force Band of the West.

After leaving the Air Force, c Sturms did a year as the leader and arranger of the band at the Merv Griffin Casino Theatre on the Ohio River before taking a similar position with Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio.

He joined George Strait’s band in 1998, and played on two multi-platinum albums and a multi-platinum DVD during his 10 years with Strait.

During short periods of time off from touring, Sturms started producing records for Texas-based artists.

Judy had been talking to Sturms about joining the Lamar State faculty since he set up the music program at the college in 2005.

“Jeff brings an incredible amount of expertise to our program,” Judy said. “In addition to being able to teach songwriting, arranging and the performance end of the business, he also is a studio expert, always up on the latest recording and production software.”

Although the world of a touring musician has an aura of glamour, Sturms said that after 10 years with George Strait he was ready to settle down and be home rather than being gone for months at a time, living out of a suitcase and riding thousands of miles on a tour bus.

“Part of my decision to take this job is physical. I had spinal surgery a year ago, and need another operation. I attribute a lot of that to riding the bus,” Sturms said. “From January to March this year, we logged 45,000 miles on the bus. Even after you’ve been off the bus for awhile, you still can feel it moving.”

Lamar State College-PA offers two associate degrees in music – Music and Commercial Music (Audio Engineering). Students can pursue the music degree, which satisfies all the requirements for the first two years of a bachelor’s degree. Or, they can opt for the commercial side of the music business and learn audio engineering in the college’s state-of-the-art recording studio.

This fall, the college is expanding its commercial music course offerings to include songwriting, commercial arranging, commercial piano and music business. Sturms will teach all three courses and will add a course in commercial guitar in the 2008 spring semester.

“I hope to teach my students what it takes to survive in the real world as a musician, a producer or an engineer,” Sturms said.

The college currently is accepting student registration for fall semester, which begins August 27.

The class schedule is available in the Admission Advising Office and the Admission and Records Office on the third floor of the LSC-PA Student Center, at the Help Desk in the Student Center lobby of the Student Center, or on-line at: www.lamarpa.edu.

All students must be admitted to the college before registering for classes.

Admission to the Audio Engineering Program requires an interview. Current LSC-PA students or high school students should call Mike Judy at 984-6520.

For information about admissions or registration, call the Admission Advising Office at 984-6186, 984-6183, 984-6184 or 984-6185.

For information about financial aid, call the Financial Aid Office at 984-6203 or 984-6205.