by Kara Fordyce of North Texas Daily

Duane Hargis, a jazz studies graduate student, joined the Latin band Ruben Ramos and the Mexican Revolution a year ago.

From living in his car for a semester of college and almost flunking to a Grammy nomination, Duane Hargis has worked hard to get where he is today.

Hargis, a jazz studies graduate student, said he joined the Latin band Ruben Ramos and the Mexican Revolution a year ago. Now, his eight-member ensemble is nominated for the Best Tejano Album award for "Viva La Revolución." Their album won the popular vote from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, he said.

"I was shocked, in complete disbelief," Hargis said. "I had to call every member of the band to make sure the Grammy nomination was true."

Before he heard about the group nomination, he was at the point of being physically and mentally drained, he said. After nothing happened for the group in the Latin Awards in Nov. 2008, he asked himself, "Is this really what I want to do?"

When Hargis was growing up, he said he constantly listened to music. He said there was never much talking in his house, with music almost always in the background. He grew up with his mother, who toured Europe as a famous soprano singer, taking him to the symphony. Hargis said his dad was a blue-collar hard worker who enjoyed listening to music with him.

When he was in fifth grade, his brother was in marching band. When the band performed a "Phantom of the Opera" show and one of the leading trumpets played a solo in "All I Ask of You," Hargis said he knew that he wanted to play the trumpet.

"I felt every bit of it-the beautiful notes and everything," Hargis said. "It was an emotional experience for me."

He started playing in sixth grade and has been playing for 18 years now.

Hargis said before he was admitted to NT in 2003, he attended college in San Antonio, where he almost flunked out. At one point while he was living in his car, the college told him to never come back to their institution, he said. He didn't ask his mom for help and got by on his own.

"Coming to NT was a huge stepping stone for me," Hargis said. "At that point, I proved to everyone what I could do."

When he got accepted to NT, Hargis served as the trumpet section leader for the Green Brigade marching band from 2003 to 2005. Throughout his undergraduate years, he played lead trumpet in the Three O'Clock through Nine O'Clock lab bands. In 2005, he was involved in an accident where glass sliced through his left hand to above his elbow. He said he couldn't get a job, pay rent or play his trumpet after the accident, and convinced himself not to leave college, since he was supporting himself alone.

Despite hardships and setbacks, Hargis received his bachelor's degree in jazz studies in 2007 and started working on his master's degree in spring 2008.

While finishing up his master's degree, he has played his trumpet for varying audience sizes, from the Jim Bakker show to the Rebirth Brass Band in New Orleans.

"I've always been the type of person who wanted instant gratification for my music," Hargis said. "However, the majority of the time, it isn't that way."

When getting ready for a show, Hargis said the main part to his creative process is self-confidence and focusing on the audience, making sure they get their money's worth of his performance.

In addition to his music career and school career, Hargis has been married for almost two years to his wife Esmi Hargis. They have two children, Gabriel, 19 months old, and Lilly, five months old. He said it is a daily challenge to balance the areas of his life, but he couldn't do it without his planner, his supportive wife and his kids.

"I have something to live for," Duane Hargis said. "This is my first life and it's the most beautiful one."

Esmi Hargis, NT alumna, said she has known her husband for six years. She said he is a humble and determined person. He is a perfectionist when it comes to anything he does and is harder on himself about his trumpet playing than anyone else, she said.

"He is a good student, friend, great trumpet player, husband and of course father," Esmi Hargis said. "He is an overall good person to know or have known at one point in time, whichever it may be."

She said when she first found out that her husband's band was on the final ballot for the Grammy awards, her first thoughts were "No way." She said Duane showed her the Web site and she realized how surreal the experience was going to be.

"I think that it's an awesome thing how so many artists and musicians get the chance to be among the nominees for a Grammy," she said. "It's truly exciting."

The 51st Annual Grammy awards will air at 7 p.m. this Sunday from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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