Independence High School Marching Band consists of at least 30 determined students, who put in their time and effort to make each performance their best.
They come in almost every school day at 7 a.m. to practice, and every Tuesday afternoon to perfect their performance for Friday night football games. However, what most people don’t know is that the band does a lot more than just perform at football games.
This year, the band welcomed William Meldrum, the new band, orchestra, and guitar director.
Meldrum said, “This is a great school, with fantastic kids. I love learning the traditions and hope to establish some new ones.
“This band has a giant heart. Everyone truly seems to care about every member of the group.”
The Independence band has great hopes for this year.
Meldrum said, “The goal for the band is to perform to the best of their abilities, make great music, and have fun.”
The band hopes to go onto state competition and win. Manuel Miranda, a senior at Independence and drum major for the band, said their goal has “always been to make it to state.”
Like any other sport, band practices hard to achieve its goal in supporting the football team and to pump up the Patriot crowd.
To achieve this, Meldrum said, “By having clear goals for each day and by using time wisely,” they will reach their school year goal.
This year, the marching band’s theme is love.
The band’s 2016 show is called “Somebody 2 Love” and it features “Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane; “Say Something” by Christina Aguilera; and “Somebody to Love” by Queen.
Aside from state competition, band also does a few free concerts at Independence during the winter and spring, and band members encourage students to attend.