Key Leaves officially launched at the 40th annual International Saxophone Symposium hosted by the US Navy Band in Washington DC, January 12-14. The symposium brought together sax lovers from around the world to buy, sell, and attend masterclasses and concerts by internationally respected players.
Key Leaves is a "mom and pop" family business so Rulon and Kristen (the pop and mom) brought their two kids with them and met up with family members living in DC. It was wonderful to launch Key Leaves surrounded by our family and friends from the saxophone community.
The US Navy Band invited Rulon lecture on the science behind sax care Key Leaves products. The lecture was titled “The Most Disgusting Science Every Sax Player Should Know”. It was great to answer questions and discuss sax hygiene with a room packed with sax geeks!
We had the honor of meeting and serving some of the great sax teachers, players and repair techs.
YouTube educator Jeff Antoniuk came buy the booth to get a Premium Kit for his tenor. Jeff is an inspiring teacher and player that you should definitely check out. Turns out that both he and Rulon share the same cobbler!
Michael Hernandez had us custom fit his vintage soprano sax with a Key Leaves sax key prop. Michael is an exceptional classical saxophonist and a founding member of the Mana Quartet. We were thrilled for Michael endorse Key Leaves.
We kept hearing saxophonist Eddie Baccus Jr. test drive sax mouthpieces at the symposium. What a sound! Eddie tried some Key Leaves sax key props on his sax and called us two weeks later thrilled by the results. Eddie became one of our first jazz endorsers!
We met the acclaimed DC repairman Eric Beach of Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center. He loved Key Leaves and immediately became a dealer.
Classical saxophonist and repairman Will Peak was attending from Missouri. He and Rulon hit it off and Will has some great things to say about using Key Leaves as a player and repair tech.
We had the pleasure to being booth neighbors to Dave and Teresa of Morgan Mouthpieces. Rulon has played Morgan Excalibur sax mouthpieces for decades. So he stole some time to try out their models and visit during the symposium.
We visited with MusicMedic sax gurus Curt Altarac and Ryan Walker. Curt bowled us over with kindness when he invited Rulon to share Key Leaves with his team at NAMM - the worlds largest music gear conference! That opportunity opened countless doors and we are deeply grateful for Curt's friendship and MusicMedic becoming a dealer!
Thanks again to the United States Navy Band for hosting such a great event! Double thank you to all the sax players who took home some Key Leaves product! The response was overwhelming and we can't thank you enough!