On A Water Break

A marching band kicked out of a football game for playing music? Grimsley Senior High School's band was escorted out of a game against Varina in Virginia following a disagreement about playing while the ball was in play. Ashlee Amos, Bill “Woody” Woodward, Bobbey Biddle and Hayley Harrington discuss what happened and where the line falls between football rules and band traditions. In more marching...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. DCI’s 2027 World Class field is getting bigger. Chris Rutt, Grantis Peranda and Jeremy Svoboda break down the Mandarins’ approved return after a one-year hiatus and Gold and The Battalion moving from Open Class into DCI World Class beginning in 2027. The panel also remembers longtime Drum Corps World publisher and DCI Hall of Fame member Steve Vickers. Gr...

WGI’s new Color Guard Chief Judge Denise Bonfiglio joins Trish O’Shea and Sadie Wallace for a special installment of the WGI 50th Anniversary Series — looking back at nearly 50 years of winter guard history and ahead to what comes next. Denise has been part of WGI since its earliest years as an instructor, designer, adjudicator and educator. She revisits the programs that transformed color guard,...

WGI 2027: waitlists already? Color guard registration is already putting championship capacity in the spotlight. Whitney Stone, Jeremy Denzer, Sadie Wallace, Trish O’Shea and Garrett Lippie break down the early WGI waitlists, WGI percussion changes, European drum corps, whether BOA should judge color guard separately, and more. Garrett’s 60 Second Tech Block is all about why practice doesn’t make...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. Marching band season is fully underway, winter guard planning is starting, and this week Chris Rutt, Dalton Stout, Cynthia Bernard, Jeremy Svoboda and guest Monica Drohan tackle the Nimitz High School marching band shirt pulled by Aldine ISD, heat concerns at the Sullivan Marching Band Festival, Indiana’s 2027 Teacher of the Year Jason Witzigreuter, Sound...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. Joey Montes III, Jeremy Denzer and Courtney Coffey check in on the fall marching season, then break down the Hawkeye Marching Band’s tribute to Derek Phillips and what it means for marching-band heat safety; Penn State’s Blue Band and Morgan State’s Magnificent Marching Machine bringing Hamilton to MetLife Stadium; the NCCU Sound Machine altercation with...

WGI Jobs, JD Shaw Retires & Marching Band Recruiting | OAWB S4EP36 Haley Harrington welcomes new OAWB team members Garrett Lippie and Devin Rossey for WGI opportunities, DCI offseason changes, marching band and color guard recruiting, JD Shaw’s Phantom Regiment retirement and Garrett’s 60 Second Tech Block on staying engaged through every hold. The panel also remembers Hawkeye Marching Band me...

On A Water Break celebrates the life and legacy of Dolly Parton through her Tennessee roots, her connection to music education, and an unexpected part of her story: the marching arts. Ricardo Robinson-Shinall, Jeremy Denzer and Alicia Sharp are joined by Bri Eskenazi, Assistant Band Director with the Sevier County High School Band, Dolly Parton’s alma mater. Bri shares what Dolly’s legacy still me...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. That rattling weight inside your color guard flagpole? Bob from SouthEnd Precision 3D decided there had to be a better solution. In this OAWB Quick Sip, Trish O’Shea and Nicole Younger talk with Bob about the Quiet Spin Anchor System , a flexible 3D-printed inse...

On A Water Break is your all-access pass to the marching arts — on the field, in the stands, and behind the scenes. Join directors, instructors, performers, designers, judges, alumni, and fans for weekly conversations about marching band, DCI drum corps, WGI, color guard, indoor percussion, baton twirling, parades, education, design, and the stories shaping the activity. Expect marching arts news,...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. Color guard educator, choreographer and adjudicator Wanda Conway joins Whitney Stone, Sadie Wallace and Jeremy Svoboda / Drum Corps Today for a conversation connecting decades of color guard history to the activity today. Wanda shares stories from growing up near George Zingali, Quasar and the 27th Lancers to teaching the Cavaliers as a teenager, working...

What happens when Phantom Regiment alumni step back onto the field for the corps’ 70th anniversary? Ricardo Robinson-Shinall talks with Jamison Williams, Dr. Taylor Clements, Nikki Brose and Megan Mbengue about returning to drum corps after years away, what their bodies remembered, how the rehearsal culture felt different as adults, and the emotional payoff of performing at DCI World Championship...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. On this episode of On A Water Break, Jeremy Denzer welcomes Courtney Coffey to the team! Courtney shares her 32 Count Life Story before joining Jeremy and Bill “Woody” Woodward for conversations about the biggest topics happening throughout the marching arts. Courtney shares her journey from Honolulu, Hawaii, to James Madison University, teaching, choreog...

Punk Rock Irving Lopez is back on On A Water Break . Jackie Brown and Scott Ruiz sit down with Irving for a conversation about leaving color guard, finding himself outside of the activity, becoming a dad, and returning to the marching arts with a new perspective. Irving shares his 32 Count Life Story, from growing up in Los Angeles and discovering performance at an early age to joining color guard...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. Bluecoats finish an undefeated season as the 2026 DCI World Champions, Spirit of Atlanta returns to Finals for the first time since 2013, Carolina Crown wins the Jim Ott Award, and Rita Moreno returns to the DCI broadcast 46 years after her original appearance....

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. DCI Finances: Jeff Gill on Drum Corps Costs, Dues & Sustainability | Quick Sip Can drum corps keep increasing spending without making the activity less sustainable or less accessible? Trish O’Shea and Ricardo Robinson-Shinall sit down with Jeff Gill, former...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. DCI 2026 Finals Week is here. Chris Rutt, Whitney Stone and Jeremy Svoboda from Drum Corps Today break down the final stretch of the drum corps season after DCI East, including Bluecoats tying the Allentown stadium record, the fight for Saturday night, Open Clas...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. FloMarching camera angles, college marching bands, DCI drum corps and Santa Clara Vanguard’s jump-rope choreography are on the sidelines this week. Whitney Stone, Ricardo Robinson-Shinall and Sadie Wallace discuss how drum corps broadcasts can better capture the...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. Marching band heat safety, Fusion Winter Guard’s pause after winning the 2026 WGI Independent World Championship, and the future of regional DCI Open Class drum corps lead this week’s On A Water Break. Joey Montes III is joined by Nicole Younger, Ricardo Robinson-Shinall, Jeremy Denzer and Haley Harrington to discuss Fusion’s decision to pause beginning w...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. Marching arts news moves fast, and this week the panel takes on two stories reaching well beyond the rehearsal field: the ICE detention of Maria Rosales after a trip to Boston with members of her performing team, and a packed national championship season for bat...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. Blue Devils transportation team member Greg Case gives a firsthand account of the 2026 bus fire, how everyone got to safety, what members lost, and how the Loveland community helped the corps keep moving. Trish O’Shea, Nicole Younger, and Jeremy Williams also cover Brad Furlano’s appointment as DCI’s next CEO, Denise Bonfiglio becoming WGI Color Guard Chi...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. Color guard, winter guard, marching band, drum corps, DCI 2026, and WGI are all on deck this week. Whitney Stone is joined by Sadie Wallace, Jeremy Svoboda from Drum Corps Today, and special guest P.A. Kelly / Patti Ann Rego for a Water Break Weekly episode conn...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. Color guard, winter guard, and marching band news are moving fast as DCI 2026 gets rolling and WGI 2027 starts coming into view. Nicole Younger hosts Stephen McCarrick and Jeremy Svoboda for a Water Break Weekly episode covering Walnut Hills High School marching band rehearsal access , the Blue Devils travel incident , DCI Houston’s move to Katy ISD’s Leg...

Your All-Access Pass to the Marching Arts. A Podcast for Marching Arts Enthusiasts — On the Field, In the Stands & Behind the Scenes. Color guard, winter guard, and marching band summer prep are on deck this week. Grantis Peranda is joined by Jeremy Denzer and Emily Nee for a Water Break Weekly episode covering DCI Houston, major WGI 2026 proposal results, the WGI 2027 Opening Ceremony Alumni...

OAWB Bonus Episode: Smart Visual Design with Joey Montes & Kim Jones Originally presented during Guard Closet's "So You Run a Program" virtual workshop, this special bonus episode explores practical visual design strategies that help performers succeed, improve show readability, and create stronger audience impact. Topics include finding creative inspiration, choosing music with visual possibility...