Lake Wobegon® Brass Band Member
Name: Bob Naslund
Instrument: B-Flat Cornet
Bob Naslund was born and raised a few blocks from the railroad tracks in Two Harbors, Minnesota with iron ore dust in his teeth and taconite tailings in his pants cuffs. His early introduction to live music came from his father and a few of his uncles who all played Swedish fold and dance music on the accordian by ear.
At age seven, Bob remembers letting a neighbor kid try out his brand-new Schwinn two-speed bicycle (state of the art in 1955) while he sat in the kid's yard playing on his cornet. It was love at first sight.
Bob graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth in 1970 under the guidance of James Murphy, and, like Dave Peterson, became one of "Murphy's boys." After being drafted into the Army for two years, he started teaching band in the Osseo School District. It was there that he met John Froehlich (they taught together at Northview Junior High for 20 years), Kent Frohrip (Bob's supervisor at St. Cloud State University while earning his Masters degree), and Jon Kuno (then band director at Osseo Senior High).
It was Jon who got Bob involved with the LWBB. In March of 1982, Jon and Bob began a string of monthly backpacking campouts that lasted for 15 years, until Jon's health failed. Bob has continued that string of monthly outings, which has reached 285 consecutive months. It was during those campouts that Bob heard about the LWBB. He has been a regular member since the 1997 season.
He recently retired from 33 years of teaching in the Osseo school district. His wife Jacky will retire at the end of this school year after 35 years as an elementary teacher in the Anoka district. Bob and Jacky have a 25-year-old son Erik, who graduated from the University of Minnesota with a trumpet performance degree. Erik performs around Minneapolis with several groups and has subbed in the LWBB. Bob and Jacky also have a 23-year-old daughter, Brittany. They are in the midst of planning an August wedding for her. Bob says that being the father of the bride will release him from any performance obligations at the wedding.