Now on the Web: 'Tuba Guy ♥ My Local Hero'

Editor's Note: "Like" him on Facebook here. And, while you're at it, like Patch on FB too.

During the weekdays, Fairfax resident Milton Jennings “Jay” Converse earns his paycheck playing accounting systems integrator. Nights and weekends he morphs into “Tuba Guy,” playing his sousaphone while walking miles around Fairfax entertaining passers-by who wave, honk and cheer.

“I do it because I like it, I need the exercise and it keeps my chops strong,” said Converse.   

Tuba Guy added, this town is “so bloody serious. Let’s lighten it up.” 

Not lucky enough to see him ‘live?’ No problem because now, thanks to modern technology, anyone from Fargo to Timbuktu can enjoy Tuba Guy’s antics via his public Facebook. 

Converse, 55, started his musical career-playing sousaphone in his south Alexandria high school band (Groveton Tigers). Next stop was the University of Virginia (six year plan) where he was a founding member of the University of Virginia’s zany Pep Band (video in upper right corner).

A few years ago Converse broke out his horn and has been perplexing or entertaining locals ever since. 

“No one remembers how it started, no one knows when it will end,” said Tuba Guy’s Facebook page.  

It’s clear no one wants it to end, least of all Converse. People are joining like crazy. Since launching the page in early June, he has already captured 1288 “likes.” 

TubaGuy posts his route using Google maps and photo editing along with witty commentary.    

On June 2, his 5.6-mile jaunt looped past a local cemetery.  

“People have said my playing could wake the dead," he wrote. "Today went past the [Fairfax] memorial park, and nobody woke up! HA!!!”

People respond to his posts with their own daily comments:

“Tuba Guy ♥. My local hero”

“Tuba Guyyyy!!! You brighten my day each time I see you!”

“Moms for TubaGuy! Great seeing you at the Fairfax City Parade!”

Now posters are inviting TubaGuy to local events. Elaine Murray Sullivan recruited TubaGuy to play the National Anthem last Wednesday evening “at the Commons pool, right on Roberts, near the VRE.” 

Afterwards, TubaGuy shouted out to his fans via Facebook, “Many thanks to Elaine for inviting TubaGuy to the Commons pool swim meet tonight, he felt just like Justin Bieber. The joyous chaos of a swim meet is an ADHD dream. TubaGuy signed many swimmer's hands and arms tonight, hopefully it will wash off in a day or two.”

Converse calls his hobby “whimsical.” It symbolizes a simple pleasure—music, antics and smiles. He said his gig is “apolitical, irreligious and PG rated.”  

“I’m a dad, I’m a local guy, and what can be stupider than a sousaphone with a couple of propellers.”

Kevin Quigley is a Facebook fan that lives on one of TubaGuy’s well-traveled routes. 

Quigley’s dog, Chopper, a six-year-old German Rottweiler, keeps a lookout for the one-man band. His barking, said Quigley, is the “distant early warning that Tuba Guy is on the way.” 

Quigley attributes Tuba Guy's popularity to shock value.  

“Seeing a guy, in triple digit heat, hauling and playing a metallic 30 pound instrument for no apparent reason other than his own enjoyment… what’s not to love?”

Have you seen TubaGuy recently?  Tell Fairfax City Patch about it.