This week, The Daily Tribune News will highlight the efforts the local high school marching bands have made all season to keep spirits high by entertaining ears and eyes.
The Adairsville High School band performs its show, "Celestial Sojourn," with the pieces "Fanfare for the Third Planet" by Richard L. Saucedo and "Mars" and "Jupiter" by Gustav Holst.
"It's supposed to take the listener on a journey from Earth and then travel farther out into the universe," band director Kevin Brown said. "I wanted to do that theme all along, but it was a matter of finding the right arrangement that would fit our ensemble and be accessible for our kids, but also be very entertaining and educational for our audience."
The Cass High Band this year has used the 10th anniversary of 9/11 as the backbone for the music in their show selection, performing patriotic pieces ranging from "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Director Mack Roberts explained that developing a show is a work in progress.
"Just about all the bands statewide, when they start the season they don't normally have their entire show on the field because the shows are so intricate and take so much time learning everything and teaching everything to the kids ... It's really not feasible to get it all done before school starts," Roberts said.
This year the Cartersville High School marching band joined Cass' patriotic spirit by performing a salute to the heroes of 9/11 and local heroes during a special half-time show Sept. 2.
However, the band regularly uses the theme of the Old West in its show.
"It's sort of a serious western show that has a little bit of everything in it, lots of fun stuff and some really serious music for the kids to learn off of," said band director David Snipes. "We wanted to do something that a lot of people would know, but we still wanted to do something the kids would learn a lot from. We took some ideas from some old drummer-bugle chorus and turned it into a show."
Woodland High School this year is performing a three-movement show titled "Jericho."
"[Jericho] is a depiction of the battle of Jericho and the walls come tumbling down, so it's a combination of some original music and some editing and arrangements of the folk tune 'Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,' and we're also utilizing some music from the film 'Prince of Egypt,' ... and we're also doing some other music to support the thematic elements of the show," said band director Eric Willoughby.
With several more games on the schedule, each band will continue its efforts and The Daily Tribune News will report on their post-season accomplishments as they develop.