Calkins: A graveside concert for the leader of the band
Joe Sills shows his son, also named Joe, the 1956 F.E. Olds trumpet that he played at Memphis State in “The Mighty Sound of the South” and at sidegigs with the Bar-Kays in the 1960s. (Submitted)
Geoff Calkins
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.
Joe Sills — a legendary high school band director throughout West Tennessee — died of COVID-19. His former students are gathering to play a graveside concert in his honor Saturday. One of them will be playing Sills’ own silver trumpet.
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