Saxophonist Rex Amend grew up in Riverton, Wyoming, where he was influenced by the sounds of his musical father at a young age. In high school, Amend received multiple musical recognitions, including selections to the Wyoming All-State Jazz Band and the Wyoming All-State Concert Band, and won the Maestro Award at the Anaheim Music Festival in Anaheim, California. He also played extensively throughout the state of Wyoming as part of his father’s family band, which featured Rex and his brother, Tom Amend.

From 2009-2013 Amend attended the University of Wyoming, earning a degree in Music Education. During this time, he was an active freelance musician. From 2010-2013, Rex was a member of the GRAMMY® nominated blues band Blind Dog Smokin’. While with Blind Dog Smokin’, Amend played dozens of shows and festivals around the Rocky Mountain Region, including multiple performances during prime-time slots on the main stage at the Snowy Range Music Festival alongside blues legends, Billy Branch and Bobby Rush.

In May of 2015, Amend graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California with a master’s degree in Jazz Studies. At USC, Amend was awarded outstanding member of the Concert Jazz Orchestra, and studied with Bob Mintzer, Bob Sheppard, and Russell Ferrante. Amend also worked as an Academic Advisor for the USC Thornton School of Music, and served as Assistant Director of the Los Angeles Youth Jazz Ensemble — a big band made up of the greater Los Angeles area’s finest high school jazz musicians. From 2015-2022, Amend was an adjunct Professor in the Cypress College Music Department, in Cypress, California. He taught courses in Music Theory, Music Appreciation, and Jazz History. Additionally, he taught a studio of nearly 40 private woodwind students each week at the famed Palos Verdes Music Teaching Center, Amuse Music Center. Upon moving back to Wyoming with his wife and daughter in 2023, Amend now teaches Saxophone and Intro to Music at Laramie County Community College.