Fans of the Band - Inside Westlake Marching Band

Send us Fan Mail Another fun visit with Assistant Band Director, Austin Byers.  Always energetic and always entertaining.  Hear about his exciting promotion and his new attempt at work/life balance.  Take a chance to look for his TikTok videos too.

Send us Fan Mail Ever wonder how a middle school band gets going?  How do middle school band directors differ from high school directors?  Find out as Tania and Ayren branch out to talk with a middle school director about preparing kids for high school marching band.  Our guest may have the recognizable last name that is the same as Tania's because he is Tania's husband.  

Send us Fan Mail What does a Fine Arts Dean do you ask?  Find out here as we talk with Dianne Parks about her job at Westlake High School and being the Dean of Fine Arts.

Send us Fan Mail We start season 2 of Fans of the Band talking with Mr. Turpin about thge new show, new costumes and new props.  It all begins again every Fall.  

Send us Fan Mail Talking with Drum Majors Ved and Aubrey about their band experiences and what it means to be a Drum Major of a marching band.  Hear how they got started in band, how they chose their instruments, why they recommend band and how the drum major audtion process went for them.  This episode has a serious issue with sound as one of the microphone chords was not doing its job and we did...

Send us Fan Mail Looking back on the season with Mr. Turpin.  Where did Westlake marching band succeed?  Where did they fail?  Where are they headed?  What is everyone up to now that they are not marching anymore this year?  Get all of your questions answered here.  Check back for show links.

Send us Fan Mail Mr. Turpin got sick, so we just discussed the shows that we saw this season.  There were so many good shows and things that we loved.  Apparently, Ayren loved the Marcus show and we never learned how Round Rock used their big orange ball.   The Marcus Band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvHYaxVIrls The Westlake Band: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQxZOzeDjoH/

Send us Fan Mail Learn all about Westlake Band's fundraising.  How much do they raise? How is that decided? Where does it go? How can you give?  How can you help with fundraising?  So many questions!! A small warning about a hard story here.  The Guillots have suffered a huge loss and she talks very openly about it.  Ms. Guillot does give a warning right before she tells the story, so skip ah...

Send us Fan Mail A very serious and not serious conversation with music writer/arranger, Robert Selaiden.  Hear about the writing and arranging process for the Westlake Marching Band show.  Ayren and Tania make an announcement that is huge for them and Robert gets behind it completely.  Hear his ideas for cake music and what band meals were his favorites. https://selaidenmusic.com/about/ LD Bell&a...

Send us Fan Mail How do you feed over 200 people on a regular basis?  Find out here as we talk with Nancy and Carolyn, a couple of volunteers in charge of feeding the band for games and contests.  Discover why it is one of the best volunteer jobs and how to get involved.  

Send us Fan Mail CBS Austin Morning Meteorologist, Avery Tomasco, joins us.  He was recently knighted the Westlake Band Meteorologist and credits Westlake Marching Band with changing the direction of his life.  Find out how marching band can help influence the rest of your life and if the time commitment and effort are worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

Send us Fan Mail We learned so much talking with Kaysey Thompson about colorguard in Eanes ISD.  Hear how hard they work, when you can start and how well they compete.  So many things that band people do not know about the extra-visual part of the marching band.  Westlake's colorguard is very extra, just listen to how they have placed nationally.

Send us Fan Mail A short episode where we talk with two brass players that are both Seniors and in band leadership.  We ask them to think back about instrument selection day and their first days of band as a Freshman.  We also hear about the bus rides today and the foods they like to eat.  Most importantly, we learn what kept them in band and how band has made their high school experiences.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we learned about the requirements and rules for props, their entance and removal from the field and all of the time requirements.  We answer a listener question about the uniform and hear how Mr. Pearson made his mark on the Eanes School District. Here are the links to the videos of band shows that are referenced in the podcast. Tarpon Springs 2010 (7:30 in the vid...

Send us Fan Mail BOA (Bands of America) is one of the band's main competitions throughout the season.  Listen as judge Glenn Fugett talks about how and what they are judging as they watch the bands perform.  Hear about some of the differences in judging for UIL and BOA for the high school level and even some about DCI.  He shares his favorite programs throughout the years and really gets down...

Send us Fan Mail This week Assistant Band Director Austin Byers is featured.  He is the great implementer of marching basics and choreography.  Learn how they teach different moves, what he likes to eat on band trips and much more.  Video link  below.   https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGJPJKSx6oI/

Send us Fan Mail We have a very thorough discussion with percussion teacher, Mr. Armeni.  He is full of information both interesting and obscure and very excited to share it.  He turns the tables at the end, so both Tania and Ayren have to talk about themselves more than they had planned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6KbEnGnymk

Send us Fan Mail Mr. Taylor returns to the band office to chat with us about some of his favorite memories, share some information about judging marching band, and to let us know what he has been up to since leaving Westlake after 35 years.

Send us Fan Mail Westlake High School marching band season started at the end of July.  We talk with head band director, Thomas Turpin, about his plans and ideas for the band this year.  He also shares some memories of his life in marching band. Intro music is provided by the Westlake Marching Band Front Ensemble.