Born in Pensacola Florida, I was born 7:12pm, January 27th  on a cool Friday evening at the Pensacola Naval Air Station overlooking the beautiful emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico and less than a mile from the home of the US Navy's 'Blue Angels' flight team.  My father, Leon Stephen Nader, Sr. from West Point, Georgia, was in the Navy stationed at Pensacola NAS at that time, and with my mother Nancy Kathryn (McArthur) Nader, from Walnut Hill, Florida, decided Pensacola was a wonderful place ‘to call home’.  

At nine years old and in the 4th grade at Saint Michael Catholic School, the band director Mr. Knight introduced me to the excitement of playing the trumpet. After only one year and a family move to another area of town to another school, (Little Flower Catholic School, a great school but no music curriculum), I continued private lessons with Mr. Knight but because of school and travel time it only lasted several months. Regardless, playing the trumpet was so much fun it became a dynamic challenge for me to practice at home, on my own, without any further formal instruction until High School 3 years later.

In 1970 Pensacola Catholic High School brought me the joy of playing four years in the concert and marching bands. I met another trumpet player, two years my senior, Joseph (Joe) Covino Jr.. Joe was First Chair First Trumpet, and I sat next to him as Second Chair, First Trumpet. Joe became my friend and helped mentor me, he taught me many things that I had missed while practicing on my own for 3 years, if it weren't for him I may have not turned out to be the trumpet player I am today. So I must say "Thank you Joseph Covino Jr."......Incidentally, Joe is still my friend...... I was quite talented that Freshman year even though mostly self taught, and was a little disappointed when our band Director Mr. Reed, named another musician with the title and trophy for 'Most Promising Freshman' of the Band. However, this actually motivated me to practice my trumpet and excel more than ever......two years later, as a Junior in 1973, I was given the opportunity to compete as a soloist with a piano accompaniment in local and state competition......I won the 'proclaimed' award of "Florida High School State Champion Trumpet Soloist". My solo "The Tower of Jewels" was the highest graded solo (most difficult) and I was the only trumpet player with a 'Superior' rating in that category. I performed in Tallahassee Florida at the Florida State University Music Hall, at the end of the day all of the trumpet players names and ratings were posted outside the Hall. With approximately 3,000 high school trumpet players in the State of Florida at that time, I was NUMBER ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

After High School, a drummer and friend of mine named Robert Kelson and I started a Pop-Rock band together that we named "The Sounds of Freedom". We recruited other talented musicians we knew from High School including Rusty Wright, Bass Guitar; Mike Massey, Saxophone; Raymond Bartusivich, piano; Mike (JW) Bagley, Rhythm and lead Guitar; Johnnie Deboe and Matt Kuryllo Trumpets. I also must mention Roger Britt who worked our light show many times and also helped us set up equipment for the shows, and James Herring who later played drums for us when Robert Kelson abruptly left the band....when James Herring resigned, we recruited another talented drummer, Ricky Norred....anyway, we were all young, talented and excited to play music. We played up and down the Panhandle coast of Florida from Pensacola to Tallahassee for several years doing nightclubs, weddings, dances, parties...you name it, and it was a blast!!

When the "Sounds of Freedom" band finally broke up in the late 1970's I quit playing my trumpet.....A decade or so passed and I realized something important was missing in my life....MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!! I got the trumpet back out of her case, blew off the dust and started practicing with a vengeance. I practiced harder than I ever had in my whole life, hours and hours every day, scales after scales after scales!! It was driving me slap nuts....BUT...... I started to sound terrific from all that practicing! AMEN!!! I got back to playing songs again with my accompaniment Bose CD player and realized I should be playing music in public. I joined the local Pensacola Civic Band, which is a group of about 100 talented members. After three Christmas Shows I needed to move on to something else. I joined a local Pensacola Big Band run by a local icon, 'Joe Occhipinti and his Big Band'. After doing three shows with Joe and his Big Band I moved on again.  I really enjoyed playing in public with the Pensacola Civic Band and also with Joe Occhipinti and his Big Band but was looking for more....That's when I decided I wanted to make professional recordings. I called an ole friend, Lucky Kelson who owns Lucky K Recording Studios and made my dream come true.

After recording my first CD/Album, I would like to quote another professional musician John Reynolds after listening to my recordings. ".....pleasing tones....amazing runs....sheer power and range..words that hardly seem adequate to describe your playing on 'My Date With Destiny'. Your performances on these songs bring to mind such trumpet icons as Severinsen, Mangione and Alpert....gotta love the way you breathe new life into such timeless classics as Unchained Melody, Begin the Beguine, Over the Rainbow and Stardust, one of my all-time faves...just wanted to say congrats! and many thanks for the wonderful Sentimental Journey. God bless you mate, and I can't wait to hear the next one...My Date With Destiny indeed". 

May Almighty God bless all of you and your families,

Steve Nader