Reflections on Band Camp

Well, we made it through band camp. The music continues to develop as does our playing and marching abilities. I don't think I am far off in saying that this was the hardest two weeks for many of the band members. No one quit though! That is exciting news to me. We should have closer music posted on the website very soon, so look for it daily.

We will be phasing in a new marching shoe this year- the MTX. This is one of the most popular marching shoes on the market right now. It is the shoe I marched with in Phantom Regiment. Most corps use this shoe. Members who already have drillmasters from previous seasons have the option to wear those or purchase the new MTX. New members may only buy the MTX. We will order them through the band boosters, but you may want to go ahead and order your own through Fred J. Miller Inc. http://www.fjminc.com/store/products/MTX-85-0.html. They are $28.25 per pair.

The member show shirts are being ordered soon. The initial shirt for members is free, but member dues must be up to date to receive it. We will take additional orders throughout the fall for additional shirts.

Mr.C

I don't like the Desert

I am in Phoenix Arizona today......................and it is HOT!!! I can't imagine why anyone would live here!! Anyhow, we had a 6 hour rehearsal today and then had 5 hours off in the middle of the day. When the hornline was warming up today, it was 105 degrees out. This was at 10 am. WOW. We have a show tonight where will see Santa Clara Vanguard for the first time. Hope it all goes well for us. We have had 4 straight days of rehearsal leading up to today. The show is getting better, but we still have a long way to go.

See ya in a couple of weeks!!

C

Awesome Week Down in Dova

This past week has been percussion and colorguard camp for the Cadets of Cordova. The drumline, pit, and colorguard have been working away on fundamentals and the opener for this year's show. A few Cadets have been volunteering their time to help me clean up the band room and get it ready for camp. We have completely cleaned the band room, made copies of music for camp, and reorganized every room. We took a lot of the trophies off the truck and displayed them in the band room again to get the competitive spirit back up in the band. The Cadets will be excited to see what we've done to the place. It looks like a different room all together.

I'm very proud of the Cadets who have been here this week rehearsing and cleaning.

I just got the second movement to the show yesterday. Man......if you liked the opener, you are gonna LOVE the second movement. We will have parts to the second movement up soon.

Tomorrow starts car wash season for the Cadets. We will be having car washes every Saturday throughout June and July to help members work off band fees. Please contact Bob Stoecker or Lorie Howard for details. Tomorrow the car wash is set up from 9-1 at Wachovia Bank on Germantown Parkway next to Sonic.

Get on those band fees!! If you need help paying them, give me a call or send me an e-mail. We do have scholarships available. Plus, you can use ISA money from last year to pay them if you still have money in your account. Let us know!!

C

Percussion and Guard Camp 2008!

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at Colorguard and Percussion Camp next week! We have some great people coming in to help. Please plan to be there if you are going to be in these two sections. Times for camp are 1-8pm June 16-20. See the website for further details. Also, remember to stay up to date on your band dues.

C

Rain, Rain, Rain........and a Copier

So, for the past three days we have been blessed with a series of large thunderstorms in northern Illinois. When you are outside for 13 hours a day, rain can become quite an issue!! When it isn't raining the wind blows at 35 mph. Its a little difficult to set drill when you can't hold on to the drill sheets. I felt really bad for the colorguard. Those folks were trying to clean flag work in that mess.

Anyhow, so we are in almost constant transition from inside to out, outside to in trying to get something accomplished in all of this mess. Before we played the first note in horn arc this morning the sky lit up with lightning. We just barely made it in to the cafeteria before the skies opened up. We spent the remainder of our brass rehearsal on fundamentals and the opener.

Now I am in the Regiment office at Rockford College making copies for the trumpet section. Our new trumpet teacher/assistant brass caption head is the trumpet professor at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville Alabama. You might know this college as the home of Spirit Drum and Bugle Corps, or the corps formerly known as the Spirit of Atlanta. Interestingly enough, the founder of that drum corps, Mr Freddy Martin, is our brass coordinator. Yes, I have many bosses! But I am so very lucky to work with some of the finest brass and music teachers in the country. I learn something everyday while I am teaching with these fine musicians. The Phantom Regiment Hornline is going to be something to witness this year, regardless of wherever we place at the end.

I can't wait for percussion and guard camp next week at Cordova! The show is gonna be a lot of fun to work on and even more fun to perform. Check our website to download your parts for the opener.

C

4 days away from the Regiment

Hey everyone.........or hey you........whoever is reading this,

So a lot of people have been trying to contact me this weekend. I didn't have Internet access because I was either in the airport, a car, or at a wedding. Hopefully by the end of the summer I will have a blackberry or iphone so I can keep up with e-mails a little better.

Yeah, so I left Rockford Thursday morning on the VanGalder bus to Chicago's Midway airport to catch a flight to Nashville. My best friend Paul was there in Nashville to pick me up and take me to Huntsville for our friend Mark's wedding rehearsal. I was sitting outside doing a crossword puzzle waiting for him to pick me up. When I saw his truck, I got my bags and walked over to get in. About 10 minutes later after having driven down the interstate a little bit, I realized I had left my phone on the bench outside the airport!! We rushed back over to the airport. Luckily the phone was still sitting there. I guess it's lucky that I have a "not so cool" phone or it would have been gone.

The wedding was really nice. I met a lot of wonderful people that I hope to get to know in time. A few of them were East TN band directors and one was an assistant director at UT Knoxville. Nice folks. Being there made me nervous about my wedding that is coming up in April though.

Soooooo.....I'm back in Rockford now (see map). I met up with the staff over at Outback for some dinner and now I am back at Rockford College catching up on e-mails. I am getting excited about the fall marching band show. I should have the opener tonight. When I get it I will post an mp3 and parts in the member area of the website. I hope everyone is looking forward to getting busy this fall! Check out the colorguard uniform in the member area and let me know what you think.

C

End of Week 1- Drum Corps Boot Camp

Well, we made it. After 5 days of intense work by the hornline, boot camp has finally come to an end. This has been the toughest one yet. We have been pushing these guys and girls hard and they stayed right there with us. A few tears were shed in pain as some dug inside themselves for more heart and energy. But, they kept going and didn't give up. I am pleased with our accomplishments and progress thus far.

So, now on to full corps "everydays". We call it everydays because it is the point in the year when we start to rehearse EVERY DAY versus on weekends like we do throughout the winter and spring. The corps will kick it off tonight with music ensemble rehearsal and then parade rehearsal. PR will do the Memorial Day Parade tomorrow as we have always done. Hopefully once we get the corps marching down the parade route tomorrow the staff will go have Swedish pancakes like always! If you've never had them, you are seriously missing out.

Anyhow, we did a little show and tell last night for the volunteers, drumline, and guard. The drumline is smokin this year for real. They play with so much intensity and I've never heard them this clean this early in the year. We still have like a month until our first show! Cordova percussion/guard camp will have come and gone by the time Regiment's first show rolls around. I forget how long "everydays" really is.

Well, I will post again in a few days. I am leaving Rockford next weekend to be in a friend's wedding, but I am only gonna be away from the corps for like 3 days.

Peace-
Mr. C