About Us

     My name is Billy Walker and I opened up The Band Connection in April, 2007. I am a former band director of 17 years, having taught in Allen, Texas for 12 years and Richardson, Texas for 5 years. During this time, I was blessed with the opportunity to work with many fine students and parents.

     I also encountered a growing number of parents who could not afford the cost associated with obtaining a high quality band instrument for their child. It literally broke my heart to see students get so excited after trying out different instruments only to have their parents look at the price sheet and say that they would not be able to afford the cost of the instrument.

     During my final two years as a band director, I came up with a program where I personally purchased high quality used student-model band instruments, performed all necessary maintenance on them, and then offered them at my cost to the parents who could not afford to obtain an instrument through the local music stores. I did whatever I needed to do to guarantee that every interested student would have the opportunity to play an instrument in the band regardless of financial hardship.

     Over those two years through this program, we were able to help about 150 students in giving them the opportunity to play an instrument when previously they would not have been able to participate in band. It truly brought me joy to see the looks on the faces of parents and students when I told them that I would find an instrument that they could afford after they thought they were totally out of options.

     During the spring of 2006, I felt that God was leading me out of full-time teaching and into opening up a band store. I stopped full-time teaching in May 2006 and began planning for the band store. This was a huge leap of faith and I knew the Lord was guiding me in this major change in my life. I am now able to fully utilize my college degrees in Business and Music Education along with my own personal experiences as a band director and band parent through The Band Connection.

     Our oldest two children partcipated in band and currently our youngest child is in her 3rd year of participating in band. Along with my wife, Janice, and our three children, we have lived in the local area north of Dallas for the past 26 years.

     Through The Band Connection, I plan to serve the band needs of the local communities with personal and caring service, and continue to give parents an affordable option for obtaining an instrument for their child. Not only do I have the lowest instrument rental prices in the area, but I also have a large inventory of high quality used student-model instruments in different levels of cosmetic conditions ranging from “like-new” to “well-loved”!

     All of the instruments have been completely serviced prior to the transactions and are ready to be played immediately. The “well-loved” instruments have their prices discounted accordingly. I am committed to supporting the local band programs with a dependable band store that will take care of instrument rentals and sales, instrument accessories, and on-site instrument repairs.