Staff
Dr. Jeffrey Crowell
Drumline instructor
Dr. Jeffery Crowell is an Emmy Award winning percussionist and Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he teaches applied percussion and percussion techniques, conducts the UW-Eau Claire Percussion Ensembles, instructs the Blugold Marching Band Drumline, and leads Jazz Ensemble III, part of the outstanding UW-Eau Claire award-winning jazz area. Before joining the faculty at UW-Eau Claire, Dr. Crowell taught on the faculties of several colleges, including Purdue University.
Dr. Crowell received his DMA in percussion performance (classical/contemporary) with minor fields in jazz performance and electro-acoustic media from the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. He is active throughout the United States as a performer, clinician, adjudicator, and educator with performances internationally and nationally including South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.
A versatile artist and a champion of diverse music of many genres, Dr. Crowell's performance and recording credits include such artists as Bobby Shew, Louie Bellson, David Samuels, Henry Mancini, Joan Rivers, Lou Harrison, Kent Nagano, David Garibaldi, Buddy Baker, Glen Velez, and John Bergamo. He has performed at the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella Series, presented and performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention several times, and is in the motion picture "The Majestic" starring Jim Carrey.
Dr. Crowell has over 32 years of experience in the marching arts, having taught numerous award-winning high school programs, marched with the Velvet Knights Drum and Bugle Corps, and has taught on the staffs of other groups including the Tournament of Roses Marching Honor Band. He has also been a consultant for the Open Class Drum and Bugle Corps River City Rhythm. He is currently the Front Ensemble Supervisor for the World Class Drum and Bugle Corps The Academy from Tempe, AZ.
He has been active member of the Percussive Arts Society, having served on many PAS Committees including the University Pedagogy Committee, Education Committee, and the Technology Committee. Dr. Crowell has also served as a member of the Wisconsin PAS Chapter Advisory Committee in addition to having been the Wisconsin Chapter President for several years.
Dr. Crowell is also active in the publishing realm. He has an arrangement, Nanafushi for percussion trio, published through Tapspace Publications, LLC and has had many articles in School Band and Orchestra magazine and Percussive Notes, the journal of the Percussive Arts Society. The most recent issue has his newest contribution.
Dr. Crowell is a performing artist/clinician for Tama/Bergerault Concert and Marching Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets, Tycoon World Percussion, and REMO Drumheads. He is also an Ensemble Artist and Educator Network member for Black Swamp Percussion.
Ty Zastrow
Color Guard and Dancer Instructor
Ty Zastrow, a Wisconsin native, began teaching the Blugold Marching Band in 2014, where he serves as the Color Guard Instructor/Choreography and Dancer Coordinator.
He previously worked with many marching band programs in the southern Wisconsin area including Oak Creek High School, Shadow Armada, and the UW Whitewater Marching Band. Since moving to Indiana, he has continued to share his passion for the marching arts with local high schools as well his most recent involvement with Pattonville HS and Francis Howell HS in St. Louis, MO.
Ty is a proud alumnus of Shadow Armada (2011), Blue Devils B (2011), The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (2012-2014), and The Pride of Cincinnati (2015-2016). He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from UW Whitewater, and currently resides in Indianapolis, IN.
Guy Dee
Voice of the BMB (Announcer)
Guy has been part of the Blugold Marching Band for more than 20 years, starting as a marching member in the 2004 season at the age of 14. After ten seasons on the field he became the full-time Voice of the BMB in 2014, providing PA voiceover at every BMB performance ever since. In addition to announcing, Guy also assists with equipment and logistics, coordinates the BMB Alumni Band, and records performance videos.
In 2023 Guy celebrated his 20th season with the BMB, and marked the occasion by getting the old uniform and trombone out of mothballs and performing his trademark solo "Shout" at the band's fall concert at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire.
Guy lives in the Madison, Wisconsin area, and when not volunteering his time with the Blugold Marching Band works in the software industry as a corporate educator.
Scottie Krueger
DrumLine & Logistics Coordinator
Scottie has been with the Blugold Marching Band since 2007. After marching in the Drumline for four years and then one year on undergraduate staff, he graduated from UW- Eau Claire with a Bachelors in Theater Arts. After graduation, in 2012, he joined the Blugold Marching Band as the Drumline Coordinator. Scottie works with the Drumline at performances and football games and also drives the BMB equipment truck.
Scottie recently earned his Masters in Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs from St. Cloud State University. When he is not with the band, he works a full time job and lives in Eau Claire with his wife, Carissa Krueger (whom he met in the band) and their two daughters, Olivia and Julia, also known as the BMBabies.
Dr. Ward Miller
Music & Leadership Consultant
Ward Miller (b. 1978) grew up in Loachapoka, a small farming community near the city of Auburn, Alabama. He earned his bachelors of music education from Auburn University in 2001, where he served as webmaster, arranger, and an undergraduate teaching assistant with the Auburn University Marching Band. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2003 with a masters in Trombone Performance. While in the Phoenix area, he served as a part time assistant and clinician with the Paradise Valley High School bands, the Mesa Community College Wind Ensemble, and the Phoenix Symphony Guild Youth Orchestra. He taught public school in Alabama for three years, serving as Director of Bands at Andalusia and Pleasant Grove High Schools. In 2006 he accepted a graduate teaching assistantship at The University of Iowa, where he studied with Dr. Myron Welch in Band Conducting. While at Iowa, he also worked as a teaching assistant with the Hawkeye Marching Band, where he wrote, taught, and conducted multiple arrangements and halftime drills. He also conducted the Iowa University Concert Band, as well as the Southeast Iowa Concert Band at Iowa Wesleyan University. He earned the 2008 outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant award for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Dr. Miller graduated in 2011 from the University of Iowa with his D.M.A. in Band Conducting.
From 2008 through 2013, Dr. Miller was the Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Alabama, in Mobile. While at South Alabama, Dr. Miller founded the 250 member Jaguar Marching Band, overseeing all recruiting, teaching, and writing for the band. In addition, he directed the basketball pep bands. His teaching duties included Marching Band Techniques, Brass Methods, Trombone Quartet, Symphony Band (the second concert ensemble, auditioned and approximately 65% music majors), and undergraduate conducting. He also guest conducted the Wind Ensemble, the school's top instrumental concert ensemble.
Dr. Miller served as the Musical Arranger, Drill Writer, and Assistant Director of the Macy's Great American Marching Band in New York City from 2006 through 2018. He was the director of the All-Star Band at the 100th annual Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C. He has appeared as a guest conductor and clinician to multiple concert honor bands throughout the United States. His marching band arrangements have been performed at competitions, including in Bands of America regionals, by high schools and colleges across the country, as well as the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA. His arrangements have been performed at regular season and bowl games by the marching bands at Auburn University, Emory and Henry College, The University of Hawaii, The University of Illinois, The University of Iowa, Iowa State University, The University of Kentucky, The University of Louisville, The Ohio State University, UCLA, and Youngstown State University. He has served as an adjudicator at marching and concert band assessments in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin.
From 2018-2023, Dr. Miller served as the Education Director for Youth in Music, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization that hosts marching band events and clinics throughout the upper Midwest.
From 2015 through 2019, Dr. Miller served as the Brass Caption Head for the World Class Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps of La Crosse, WI. Every year under his leadership, the hornline placed in the top 12 and made finals. The hornline achieved "Box 5" scores in the regular season and in finals in the 2017-2019 seasons. In 2018 and 2019, the hornline and drum corps placed in the top 8. He oversaw the brass ensemble and staff, recruited for the horn line, and administered the Blue Stars brass audition camps throughout the country. In addition, he traveled with the corps for the majority of their tour. In addition to his work with the Blue Stars, Dr. Miller has also served as the Brass Arranger and an instructional consultant for Minnesota Brass, the Louisiana Stars, the Govenaires, and River City Rhythm. In 2025, his arrangement of “Campus Clash” as recorded by the Auburn University Marching Band was selected as the main title theme music for the EA Sports video game College Football 2026.
In addition to his writing and his many appearances across the country, Dr. Miller has ongoing educational consultancies with multiple college and high school programs throughout the United States.
In 2023, Dr. Miller co-authored a textbook with Dr. Cathryn Foster entitled Developing Error Detection Skills in the Wind Band Educator, published by GIA Publication. He is nationally certified by the National Federation of State High School Associations to adjudicate musical events. His arrangements and compositions have been published by the DevMusic Company, and he is a published composer with the Tuba-Euphonium Press. He has had articles published in the Alabreve (Alabama's state music education journal), the Illinois State Music Educators Journal, and the Journal of Band Research, as well as regular articles in School Band and Orchestra Magazine. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). He holds memberships in Pi Kappa Lamba national honorary music society, and Golden Key national honorary society. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN where he lives a vibrant personal and professional life.