West TN Marching Arts

This week we recap the Crockett County Invitational and the Tennessee River Invitational that was at Camden High School.  We also look at how the Tennessee bands fared at the Memphis BOA Regional. Then we preview our experience at a BOA Regional this weekend and pick winners for the Dyer County Competition this weekend.  But we hope everybody wins!!! Good luck this weekend!

This week we recap the Gibson County Marching Invitational and then preview 3 West Tennessee Contests as part of a busy October weekend of competitions!  

We recap the Huntingdon Invitational and talk about who made finals, who won each class, and see how our picks fared from last week.  We also look at how the Tennessee bands fared at the Chattanooga BOA Regional. Then we preview the Gibson County Invitational and see which bands might win their class and have a shot at finals.   The cooler weather is almost here!

We recap who won each class at the Bethel University and Union City competitions and preview this weekend's Huntingdon Marching Invitational.  Plus we talk about another example of Band families helping each other out after an unfortunate incident happened to Covington this past weekend.

We recap who won each class at the Hornet Invitational and reflect on some of our favorite moments from the shows we saw.   Then we preview who is going to be at the Bethel University Renaissance Invitational and the Union City Invitational this coming weekend. Plus, we celebrate the long awaited arrival of... cooler weather!!!!  Good luck this weekend everyone!

A special episode where our student hosts interviewed other students at the 2026 Hornet Invitational!  Special shoutout to Danny for staying up extra late Saturday night to edit these interviews down. Here are the time stamps to each interview: 0:00 - Gibson County students interview 7:45 - West Carroll students interview 9:30 - Jackson Christian school students interview 11:40 - South Gibson Coun...

It's competition season!  We preview each band in the Hornet Invitational, try to guess what their show is about, and gush over the fantastic song selections we see!   In response to so much missed rehearsal because of the heat, we ask how much of their field show a band is expected (or required?) to have on the field by this point and whether they are expected to even wear uniforms in this heat....

In this episode we talk about the fantastic field show we saw at an away game this week.  Plus we discuss how to get prepared for the first competition.  It is so important that you eat, rest, and hydrate to make it through those long, but exciting, competition days!

What are the different phases of the Marching Season?  The hardest, the most stressful, the most fun?  What do you think? Also, we talk about our experience at the Pete Evans Showcase and how hot it has been this week!

We preview the Exhibition in Milan called the Pete Evans Showcase.  Plus we talk about what we like about performing about football games and how it is different than performing at competitions.

This week we talk about this extreme heat wave and how it's been keeping us inside!  We take that into how the heat feels different, almost worse, we school starts compared to Band Camp.  Then we discuss our band's first public performance of the season and how freshmen and new members can prepare for how that feels.  

We jump back into Marching Season with a new panel this year after graduating everyone last season.  We talk about our summer, how band camp went, and what we are most looking forward to this marching season!  

We talk about the things that have been happening in the Spring with our band, and with bands across West Tennessee - Indoor guard and percussion, Concert Performance Assessments, Spring Concerts, Recruiting Concerts, and all the many things that bands still do in the "off season" Then we take a few minutes to let our seniors reflect on their time in band, their time in school, and what they can t...

We catch up on what we have been doing this semester, including sledding during the snow/ice storm that shut down school for 2 weeks!  We also talk about indoor drumline and All West Honor Band.  Then we start talking about field show reveals for Drum Corps.  Yes, it's never to early to stalk bands for field show reveals!  

We give just one more look back at the 2025 season and discuss what makes a successful season.  Then we share our Santa Wish lists that include everything band related.  What would be on your Band Christmas Wish List?

We give out awards to the best, most fun, most improved, and many others to show our appreciation for all hard work, creative shows, and fantastic players that we see every week from the marching bands in West Tennessee!  Who was the best band in West Tennessee?  The most fun?  What was the best moment of the year?  Find out the answer to these and more as we celebrate this awesome activity!

We recap the BOA Grand Nationals Finals, the official end of the national high school marching season.  How did everyone place, and do we agree with the placements?  How did the Tennessee Bands do?  It was an exciting event as the best bands in the country went head to head in Indianapolis!

We preview the excitement leading up to the BOA Grand Nationals in Indianapolis, what we consider the official end of marching season!  We cheer on the Tennessee bands, talk about who might win this year, and discuss potential reasons why some of the top bands don't attend the Grand Nationals sometimes.    

We go over the results of the Division I and Division II State Championships as well as the Bandmasters Championships at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.  We also talk about how the rain and cold affected our performance and our experience on the last marching day of the year.   As a bonus we brag about the band family in Texas that came together when Vandegrift's equipment trailer got hit by a train...

Wow!  There are so many competitions happening!  It's great!   We recap the Crockett County Marching Invitational, the Choctaw Classic, Contest of Champions and take a quick look at the results from the BOA Indianapolis Super Regional.   Then we preview Championship weekend - The Division I and II State Championships and the Bandmasters Championship at the Liberty Bowl.  What a whirlwind to end th...

We are in the middle of the competitions season with multiple competitions happening in West Tennessee and across the nation.  We try to keep up by recapping the Gibson County Marching Invitational, the Bethel University Renaissance Marching Invitational, and BOA Regionals across the Nation.  Then we look ahead at this weekend's equally busy slate of competitions!   It is exhausting and exhilarati...

We are back from Fall Break!  We recap not only the Huntingdon Invitational, but also the BOA Memphis and BOA Chattanooga Regionals.  Then we preview the Gibson County Marching Invitational and try to pick the favorites from each class.   We also realized after the recording that we missed previewing the Bethel University Competition this weekend.  Sorry we missed it!  We will make sure that we re...

In this episode we do a recap of the Union City Invitational and the Championships at Bartlett Station.  Then we do an in depth preview of the Huntingdon Marching Invitational, which is happening this weekend with 19 bands!  We also go ahead and do a quick preview of which Tennessee bands will be at the BOA Memphis and Chattanooga Regionals because we will not be here next week because of Fall Bre...

In this episode we do a quick recap of the Hornet Invitational and the Arlington Invitational.  Then we do an in depth preview of the Union City Invitational and take a quick look at the Championships at Bartlett Station.  We finish the episode with a discussion on if there should be a minimum amount of the show a band must perform to qualify for awards.  Good luck to all the bands competing this...

It's the second set of interviews with students during the Hornet Invitational.  In this episode, we hear from students from Lakeland Prep and Union City High School.