- You know, it's just kind of the standard stuff.

I've got my rosin, my pencils, my eraser.

I do have like a little lucky charm in there.

It's like a little tuft of bear fur.

(laughs) I think my mom gave it to me.

So I'm from Montana and for years I've had it in there.

It's just like my little lucky charm.

- The things that I keep in my case are really just kind of journeymen things: oil, grease, a metronome; stuff like that.

Because really the trumpet is what I do.

It's not who I am, but who I am that is represented on my case is an old, tattered up sticker of an American flag.

And wherever I go, whether it's domestic or international, and people come to where I am and I'm standing next to my case, I want them to see that old battered up flag.

And I want them to know that I'm an American musician.

It's a point of pride for me.

- I'm sort of a minimalist, and so I keep the bare essentials, the bare minimum of what I need.

I used to have a lot of pictures, but I have a much smaller case because I like to travel light.

- I also have a picture of myself in my bow case from when I was a little kid, and it's Christmas time.

And I think I have my pajama bottoms on my head and I'm wrapped in tinsel.

And I put this in my bow case when I got this job to remind myself not to take myself so seriously.

I can look at that picture when I get my bow out and laugh at myself.

So that can be really helpful in stressful times.

- One of the things that I've been known to do in the past 10 years is leave my ligature at home.

And if you don't know, a ligature looks like this, and you use it to keep your reed on your mouthpiece.

And so if you leave your literature at home, you're kind of sunk when you get to work.

So in order to alleviate the worry about that, I leave it on the music stand and in my practice room occasionally.

I bring this little shoelace and I can wrap it around my mouthpiece and hold the reed on the mouthpiece in an emergency situation.

And so then I can play the clarinet if I have to.

- In my instrument case, I keep a couple of things.

First is a picture of me and my sister at my school graduation.

And the second is a note from my best friend that is very encouraging and I'll read sometimes before concerts.

- I mean, it's a little embarrassing what I keep in my case.

But I have this rag that I used to use to clean the the oil off of my slide that I've had since ninth grade.

This is all that's left of it.

(laughs) It used to be white, but- (guffaws) But it's just kind of a little good luck charm of mine I've always carried around with me forever and ever.

When I got my trombone was in ninth grade, and I still use that trombone to this day.

It's like an old shoe.

(laughs) It fits; it still works.

And I haven't found one I like better.