The Beginnings of a BandleaderDuring
his junior year in college 1926 Kysers
bandleader career began in earnest. UNC can boast of several
successful musicians, and Hal Kemp was one of them. Kemp led
the schools orchestra and, nearing graduation, decided
to pursue a music career. Kemp thought Kysers
popularity on campus would result in bigger audiences for
the band and asked Kyser to take over. He did. Six
guys none of whom displayed remarkable musical talent
showed Up
until this time, Kyser had never studied music. He began
clarinet lessons but to no avail. The lessons "failed
miserably," his wife said years later. And when he tried to
play with the orchestra, the boys in the band talked him out
of it. So instead, Kyser performed a tap routine to the
music and followed the advice that Kemp had given him:
"Its very easy," Kyser recalled in Seventeen. "All you have
to do is stand in front of the band, jump around there and
make faces the boys will do the playing." Kyser also
began using his middle initial as his first name, deciding
his given name sounded too dignified for a bandleader. The
band played dances at UNC in the "Tin Can" and at other
southern schools. The musicians grew in popularity and were
hired to play the Georgia Tech finals, a traditional
big-name band gig, for a whopping sum of $2,000. As he
neared graduation, Kyser decided to seek musical success on
a higher level.
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