Inside Out History

Inside Out was established in 1992 as Steelband "Bandandee-A" This quartet consisted of three Steel Pan players (C.J. Menge, Bill Manley, and John Piskora) plus percussion. C.J. Menge renamed the group Inside Out in 1996, the same year he established an Arts-in-Education program promoting the Steel Pan tradition. In addition to presenting performances and single day Steel Pan workshops in the schools, Menge wanted to offer more in-depth exposure to the instrument. With support from both the City of Austin Cultural Contracts program and the host school, he was able to offer a nine-week residency at Bowie High School. The program proved to be very popular; the students were enthusiastic and responsive, and the Bowie Band Directors (Rosendo Sanchez and Allen Sanders) were very supportive. For the 1997-1998 school year, Menge was able to offer a weekly Steel Drum Ensemble class after school at Bowie High School.

For the Spring semester 1998, C.J. began work as Artist-in-Residence with the McCallum High School Steelband. Carol Nelson, head Band Director at McCallum, has had an interest in the Steel Pan for some time, and she worked to obtain instruments for the school. McCallum became the first school in the Austin area to offer Steel Drum Ensemble as a daily class.

Today, both Bowie and McCallum offer Steel Drum Ensemble as a daily class (McCallum has two separate classes; Bowie has one). C.J. continues to work as Artist-in-Residence at both of these schools. He also works as Artist-in-Residence at Covington Middle School, which established a Steelband class in the Fall of 2001. These groups give numerous performances throughout the year, including school performances, private engagements, and festivals. In the Spring of each year they are featured at the Inside Out Steelband Festival, alongside some of Austin's finest professional musicians and nationally known Steel Pan artists.

C.J. continues to present additional workshops, school assembly concerts, and performances, (as a solo artist, with the High School Steelbands, and with his own professional group of the same name) throughout the Greater Austin area. He has also directed Steelbands at the University of Texas (Austin) and Round Rock High School.