West TN Marching Arts

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...

With so many great interviews, we decided to break this down into three episodes.  Here is what is in Episode 1 (apologies for any misspelled names!): 0:00 - Intro 0:45 - Marcus Milensky and Conner McEvans from Scotts Hill 5:30 - Brylee Bonds, Brian Huxema and Aliyah Wilson from Haywood 6:50 - Jacoby and Ethan from Haywood 11:20 - Kaitlyn Egbert, staff member at Crockett County 12:10 - Mason Locka...

We preview the 23 bands that will be competing at the 2024 Hornet Invitational as well as the 10 bands competing at the Arlington Invitational.  Competition season begins!

We talk about making the most of it when you get rained out on Friday night.  And then we preview all of the bands attending the Pete Evans Showcase in Milan this Saturday September 14!

We talk about when we think we should have the whole show on the field, and do some quick interviews with SGC students and parents to prepare for the upcoming competition season.  

On this episode, we discuss the feeling of that first performance, what the hardest part of marching season is, and we have an interview with Gibson County student Corey Worrell.  

We talk about getting ready for football games, the heat, and the sicknesses affecting bands from across West Tennessee.  And we talk about "Technical Difficulties" - a band's worst nightmare as the show is about to start!

We talk about our preview performance that just happened, getting ready for football games, and our excitement to finally get to perform!  Then we end with a great interview with Dyersburg's Field Commander.

We are back!  After a small delay getting started, we arrive with new equipment and new hosts (since the old ones all graduated!)  We talk about the start of the year, band camp, and our 2024 field show here at South Gibson County High School, and convey our excitement to see everyone's show in West Tennessee.  We hope to see everyone soon on the marching field!

The hosts of our inaugural season of the podcast - Chloe, Katie, Kaitlyn, and Jojo - gather to share their memories of band and say goodbye.  See you next season!

We talk about WGI and DCI with special guests Tico Parson, Johnathan Johnson, Wyatt Smith, and Jacob Barron.  Who is your favorite drum corps?

We talk about all the things we have been doing in the Spring.  We also talk about how they relate to the fall Marching Season.  And then we talk about field show reveals, both at the high school level and DCI.

What does a marching band do in the Spring?  One of the things many band programs do is a Winter Guard.  We interview the instructors of South Gibson's winter guard - Caleb Gresham and Patrick Carter - and find out how they got started and discuss the challenges and the benefits of a winter guard program.