West TN Marching Arts

Some bands march Parades in the Spring, some don't.  What are these parades and why do some bands choose to march in them?  Also, there has been a foul odor across the West Tennessee Rural Area the last week or so.  What in the world is this smell?! With special guest host - South Gibson Student Natalie Curtis!

How does Concert Band fit into Marching Band, or vice versa?  Does your school charge admission to their Band concerts?  Why or why not?  We talk about these things and more!  

It's been a few weeks since our last episode.  Spring Break happened, and then the crazy weather happened!  Our thoughts go out to all those in the West Tennessee area who were affected by the storms, especially in McNairy County and the Obion County flood area.   We also talk about the Winter Guard Championships that just happened.  And we start our online stalking of bands as Show Reveals start...

This week we try to wake up from losing an hour of sleep to daylight savings time.  Then we talk about Concert Performance Assessment, better known as Concert Festival.  We talk about some of the scores from Memphis and preview the bands and songs being played at the UT Martin Festival.  We also discuss the benefits of going to concert festival as it relates to the Marching Arts.  

We talk about how we use time in the Spring to get the fundamentals and lines set for Color Guard and Percussion.  What do they do at these camps and what is their purpose?  Do you do the same thing or something similar at your school?

There is only so much you can do in class.  Students need to practice at home.  But how often? For how long?  What exactly do you need to practice?  We discuss these things and wonder at our recent crazy weather in West Tennessee.

We are joined in studio by some students who made All West Honor Band.  They tell us what they are excited about and give us their favorite memories of previous years at All West We are also joined by Eli Lickey, who just signed with Music City Drum Corps.  He fills us in on his experience with the audition process and what it has been like so far in his first time as a Drum Corps member.  

We discuss Concert Band how it prepares us to excel in the Marching Season and how it makes us more well-rounded musicians by exposing us to varied literature, skill sets, and musical styles.  And at a time when many students might consider Concert Band boring, we talk about why for many others this deepens their love for music and performing.  

Getting 8th graders and other new members to sign up for band next year is an important part of a marching program.  How do we do it here at our school?  Is the same or different than other schools?  Is there a best way to do it?   We talk about this and more as we fend off the sicknesses closing down schools across West Tennessee!  Stay healthy (or get better soon)!

In this episode Wyatt tells us about his All West Audition experience, we discuss what we learned about DCI rules after watching a video about proposed rules changes for this coming year, and we talk about Honor Bands in general and what they are for.

We talk about what we did during our break and what we did during our snow day!!  Then we discuss what we are doing in band this semester, from concerts to Winter Guard to All West Auditions this weekend.  Welcome back!

We talk about our Christmas Parade experience, our upcoming Christmas (or Winter) Concert, then we grill two of our Color Guard members with our pressing questions about Winter Guard.  We are probably asking the same questions as many of you out there - What is Winter Guard, is it just like Marching Band, when is the Winter Guard season?  Then we end our year with our Band Christmas lists - if the...

Band is a year round sport, with plenty of performances happening well after marching season is over.  So what are we doing now in band?  Are we at South Gibson doing the same thing other schools are doing? Also, we talk about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York and how it compares to the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA.

We congratulate the 6 bands from Tennessee who went to the last Marching Competition of the year - the Bands of America Grand Nationals Championship in Indianapolis!  We also talk about the top bands in the finals and what our favorite shows were this year that we got to see at Grand Nationals.  

We discuss our final decisions for favorites of the marching season.  And then we preview the official end of the marching season - the Bands of American Grand National Championships in Indianapolis!  

We recap the Division I and II State Marching Band Championships along with the Bandmasters Championship.  We also talk about how we feel about this being the end of the marching season and what we have in store for the off season.

We recap a fantastic Dyer County Competition - the Choctaw Classic.  Then we preview the Division I and II State Competitions as well as the Bandmasters Championship at the Liberty Bowl this weekend!  And we ask the question - are you nervous or excited when you perform at a competition for the final time?

We are back!  Fall Break is over and we recap the competitions that happened since then - Huntingdon, BOA Memphis, Bethel, and Gibson County.  And then we preview all 24 of the great bands that will be at the Dyer County "Choctaw Classic"!

A short and sweet episode of interviews from the Gibson County Marching Invitational.  We hear from Students from McNairy, Brookland (AR), Germantown, and Union City.  It was a beautiful day with some great performances by these students!!

We talk with David Aydelott, who hosts the Tennessee Bandmasters Association Bandstand Podcast.  You can also hear this talk when you search for TBABandstand podcast.   We share our visions of uniting the Band families of Tennessee, talk about our experiences in band, and discuss how doing this podcast has opened our eyes to a bigger world outside of our band room walls.

We interview a few judges and students at the Huntingdon Marching Invitational!

We preview a unique approach to finals with Huntingdon's contest, and a big event at the Liberty Bowl with the Bands of America national circuit.  

We recap the results from the Hornet Invitational and the Arlington Invitational.  Then we preview the 24 bands attending the Union City Invitational.  Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Our final installment of interviews from the 2024 Hornet Invitational.  (apologies for misspelled names!): 0:00 - Intro 0:45 - Emma and Macie from Gibson County 5:31 - John Robison, Band Dad from South Gibson 6:40 - Ella Kay and Nate from JCS 16:13 - Riley Robertson, Adalynn Melton, and Lauren Olson 30:33 - outro

Some more great interviews from the 2024 Hornet Invitational (apologies for any misspelled names!): 0:00 - Intro 0:45 - Students from Lexington High School 2:15 - Anthony Wright, Shane Gomes, and William Clark from Obion County 10:50 - Corbin Jenkins and Parker Hamilton from South Gibson 12:20 - Andrew Burriss, staff member at Peabody, and Trevor Mayhall, director of Crockett County 28:06 - Melina...