High school marching bands are a fixture under the Friday Night Lights during football season as they pump up the crowds and cheer their teams on to victory. Yet it is on Saturdays each weekend in the fall when they are truly put to the test in competitions of their own.
Practices which begin in the heat of summer ramp up as August turns to September, and then to the crucial month of October. Each marching band in the Palmetto State works hard and has a goal of reaching the South Carolina Band Director’s Association (SCBDA) State Marching Band Championships. They are tested in successive weekend competitions held across the state, after which they refine their shows by adding new visual and musical elements that highlight their unique creative concept.
Three marching bands in Aiken County Public Schools – North Augusta High School, Aiken High School, and Midland Valley High School – reached that state finals goal this season. North Augusta’s Jacket Regiment finished in Fifth Place and earned a Superior Rating, while the Aiken High Marching Band and the “Pride of the Valley” Marching Band from Midland Valley High finished in 15th and 16th place, respectively, at the 2019 Class AAA Marching Band Championships held Saturday, October 26, 2019, at Chapin High School.
Each of the three school’s directors – Chuck Deen, Greg Priest, and Kaitlyn Myers Priest, respectively – reflected recently on their 2019 competition season, and where their marching bands are headed in the future.
NORTH AUGUSTA HIGH SCHOOL – “IMAGINELAND”
“The Jacket Regiment really enjoyed a successful and competitive marching band season,” commented North Augusta High School Band Director Chuck Deen. “We finished with a Superior Rating and placed fifth in a very competitive Class AAA division, and our finals performance was riveting and powerful.”
The Jacket Regiment brings a unique style to each of their themed marching competition shows, which are well known for their beauty and attention to artistic detail. This season’s show was titled “ImagineLand” and concluded a trilogy of related shows for the band in recent years, including “Imaginarium” and “Imagineaire”.
“The band received numerous standing ovations this season and ‘ImagineLand’ definitely left an impression,” Deen commented. “Our program continues to grow in student leadership that is cultivating a mentality and culture that continues to propel North Augusta Bands.”
When asked where the Jacket Regiment could improve, Deen says there is no real substitute for practice and repetition.
“We always need to play better, march better, spin better and drum better,” Deen stated.
He also teased the imaginations of his students and marching band fans with the name of the Jacket Regiments’ 2020 show.
“The Jacket Regiment enjoys being a band that entertains through our concept and creative approach, and ‘ImagineThatNight’ is in our near future.” Deen said.
AIKEN HIGH SCHOOL – “SWING CITY”
The Aiken High School Marching Band got into the “swing” of the band season quite literally during the 2019 season. With a show entitled “Swing City” the band dove into jazz tunes and entertained fans with the idea of relaxing after a long day at work.
“Our show was based on the idea of getting off of work and going to your favorite jazz club and unwinding after a hard day,” commented Aiken High School Band Director Greg Priest. “This is the first year in which we’ve used a custom arranger for our show music, and it helped us create a more unique show. The students worked very hard and had a ton of fun with the show this year and I was so pleased with their efforts.”
Priest says when he arrived at the school in 2015, certain goals for the program were developed, and this season’s success has demonstrated much progress.
“This was one of our most successful marching seasons ever at Aiken High School,” stated Priest. “We placed seventh at the AAA Lower State championships, qualifying us for the AAA State Marching Band Championships. I looked online at the South Carolina Band Directors Association online history of the marching band championships, which goes back to 1996, and Aiken High School had never qualified for State contest in that time period.”
“In 2015 I sat down with the marching band leadership team and we created a list of goals to improve both the marching band and overall band program as a whole here at Aiken High,” Priest continued. “We’ve been moving our way through that list over the past five years, and making it to the State Championships was the next goal.”
The students have bought into Priest’s vision for the future. Even as that vision continues to ask more of them each year, he says they have responded with determination and hard work.”
“There were a lot of challenges this year,” Priest admitted. “This is the first year we had used so many props on the field, and with there being construction on campus it was almost a half mile for some of the band members to roll their props and percussion just to get to our practice field. The students never complained. They just did their jobs and their positive attitudes really helped us excel this season.”
The future of the marching band at Aiken High appears bright, especially when Mr. Priest speaks about the season’s most memorable moment.
“It was at Lower state this year,” commented Priest. “When the ninth-place band was announced and it was not us, just the sheer joy of knowing that we had put all of the hard work in during the season and it had paid off was overwhelming. The leadership team of students were all crying with tears of joy, and the band, which was already back at Aiken High School, was watching the awards ceremony on a live-stream and they were going nuts. The feeling of pride we all felt in knowing we had made it to the state championships is something I will never forget.”
MIDLAND VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL – “THE GIVING TREE”
At Midland Valley High School, band director Kaitlyn Myers Priest says her students in the “Pride of the Valley” Marching band took on every challenge sent their way this season.
“This season presented some unique challenges for my students, and I am very proud of how they met those challenges,” stated Myers Priest.
The marching band had not advanced to the state championships since 2012, but certain character-building moments along their journey this season pointed to an eventual return to the finals in October.
“We were performing our show at the end of rehearsal one day and it started to rain out of nowhere, but the students finished the show in the pouring rain,” commented Myers Priest. “It was awesome to see them make the decision to get to the end of the show without any input or guidance whatsoever. It was probably the most memorable moment from this season for me.”
The marching band’s entertaining 2019 show, entitled “The Giving Tree”, featured a distinctive group element that set them apart from other shows – singing. At one point during the show, the music ebbs and stops, while the band sings together in unison. It was a popular moment for fans.
“One of the most talked-about moments in our show this year was when the students sang,” stated Myers Priest. “Seeing the reaction during competition and hearing the feedback from that moment gave me some great insight in to future planning.”
Speaking of the future, Myers Priest offers just a small hint as to what the “Pride of the Valley” has planned for their next show.
“All I will say about 2020 is that it looks like it will be very different from 2019.”
Videos of the band’s performances from early in the 2019 season may be viewed online at https://www.facebook.com/ACPSD/videos.
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LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2019 PR MARCHING BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS