One of the primary features of the new site is that the current and back issues of Drum Corps World are now accessible from the front page by clicking on the most recent cover.  Readers can reach the magazine, but no longer need to remember the previous Web site address — www.high-velocity-media.com.  The issues will continue to be available at no charge.  If you haven’t already signed up for your free subscription, click on the cover, then register your name, e-mail address and what country you live in.

We will also continue to notify readers each time an issue is available for viewing through regular e-mails.  The schedule will be monthly September through May, along with in-between weekly issues during July and August, for a total of 17 or 18 editions.

Readership has been encouraging according to Google Analytics statistics.  Between January 1 and November 20, 2012, the following audience overview details have been recorded:

• 31,915 unique visitors (more than the number of e-mail addresses we currently have on our list)
• 3,258,522 page views
• 59.86 pages viewed per visit
• 7:54 minutes average visit duration (we’ve been told this is a fairly high number for Web sites and magazines)

Statistics relating to the number of click-throughs for the banner ads and logos on our Web site, as well as the links in advertising that appears in the magazine, have ranged from 700 to 3,500 per month (banner ads — Drillmasters, DeMoulin Bros. Uniforms, Drum Corps International, The Band Shoppe, Yamaha Corporation of America Drum Corps Planet and Drum Corps Associates).  We encourage readers to make these connections from not only the banner ads on the Web site, but also the “live” Web site links in advertising that appears in the magazine.

I want to specifically thank Ricky and Tracy Fritzsching at Octavia Consulting in Cypress, TX, who created and have maintained the previous Web site for the past decade.  Their assistance and friendship has meant a great deal to me.  New jobs required more of their time, so they are no longer able to devote their efforts to making changes and upgrading the content.

Through the assistance of Doug Smith, owner of High Velocity Media in Kingston, ONT, the publication is still operating.  Without his help in the fall of 2010 and winter of 2011, the transition to the Internet would not have been possible.  He has been working with me to secure advertising support, as well as overseeing uploading each issue and maintaining our growing e-mail list of more than 29,000 “subscribers.”

A huge thank-you also goes to Eric Bremner, a gentleman who works with Doug Smith.  He has redesigned the Web site and worked very hard to get all the material that accumulated on the previous site over to the new site and into working order, making changes I requested and ensuring that all of the details are accurate before this final release.  Because I had no previous experience with developing a Web site, I had no comprehension of the enormity of this task.  Eric has been very patient with me through the entire process and I owe him a great deal of appreciation!

And, of course, I want to also thank the following advertisers that have believed in our mission by purchasing display space in our on-line magazines since May 2011 –

Commercial advertisers: Yamaha Corporation of America (Roger Eaton), Fleetwood Sounds (Wayne Terminello), DeMoulin Bros. Uniforms (Steve Trull), Drum Corps International (Dan Acheson), Vic Firth, Inc. (Mark Dyke), “BLAST!” (James Mason), Drum Corps Associates (Gil Silva), Xtreme Brass and Percussion (Wayne Downey), United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps (Chief Warrant Officer Brian Dix), The Band Hall (Keith Hall), Jarvis Industries (Jennifer Grissom), ChopSaver (Dan Gosling), McCormick’s Enterprises (Brian Anderson), The Band Shoppe (Jay Pearison), Gator Cases (Vikki Hayward), Dinkles/Upfront Footwear (Jeff Savoca), Drillmasters (Jon Farbman), Drum Corps Planet (John Donovan), CrownStore (Eric Sabach), World Drum Corps Hall of Fame (Roy Wilson), A Wish Come True (Renee Stojek), DEG Music Products (Mark Schafer), Sabian (Katie Bursey), Winged Instruments (Cedric Paques), DCA (George Iacono), Style Plus (Tim Mangee), FJM, Inc. (Terry Freeman), Pearl Corporation (Steve Armstrong) and Key Poulan Music (Key Poulan).

Drum and bugle corps in the “CorpStore”: Troopers (Fred Morris), Pioneer (Roman Blenski), Scout House (Nancy Weiler), Hawthorne Caballeros (Al Katz), New York Skyliners Alumni (Bob Gironda), Park City Pride (Gail Langan), Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights (Art Farrell), Swing House (Larry Kerchner), Crusaders Senior (Jim Gillette), Bridgemen Alumni (George Lavelle), Muchachos (Al Gagne), Defenders Alumni (Dale Powers), Crossmen (Fred Morrison), Pacific Crest (Stuart Pompel), Florida Brass (John Wilson), United Alumni (Gary Ferris), Empire Statesmen (David Bruni), The Cavaliers (Adolph DeGrauwe) and Music City Legend (Stephen Anderman).

Contest sponsors: Drum Corps International (Dan Acheson), Reading, PA (Amy Snook), Oswego, IL (Scott Nickels), Erie, PA (Ray Luniewski), Cedarburg, WI (Layton Olsen), Lawrence, MA (George Iacono), Omaha, NE (Rex Barker) , Hawthorne, NJ (Al Katz), Canton, OH (David Glasscoe), Wichita, KS (Ross Viner), Lewisburg, PA (Graham Showalter), Kingston, NY (Dr. John Carr), Dubuque, IA (Greg Orwoll), Baltimore, MD (Gary Dickelman), West Windsor, NJ (Kevin Surfass), Denver, CO (George and Lynn Lindstrom), Quincy, MA (Tom Spataro), Bayonne, NJ (George Lavelle) and Naperville, IL (Michael Embrey).

Now the responsibility falls on me to regularly update the articles that will appear on this Web site.  Nothing is included here will be duplicated in issues of Drum Corps World.  Visitors to this site are invited to submit ideas for what you’d like to see featured.  If you have an idea or a prepared article, please send it to me via e-mail as a Microsoft Word document — publisher@drumcorpsworld.com.

Because I now have a job outside the office, the hours I can be reached by phone are limited.  If you need to speak with me, please call between 8:00 AM and 11:15 AM or 6:45 PM and 9:00 PM Central time, Monday through Friday, or on weekends after 9:00 AM, before 9:00 PM Central time.

My commitment continuing to provide a comprehensive overview of the worldwide drum and bugle corps activity has not diminished and I thank each of you for continuing to support the existence of Drum Corps World!

Steve Vickers, publisher

It’s been a number of years, but we’re preparing to launch a brand-new look for our Web site, sometime in early June.

All of the content from the old site will be transferred, including all of the articles, scores and schedules. The “store” will also have a new look, with easier-to-read descriptions of all the historic CDs, DVDs and books we have available for sale.

The big news is that the issues will be accessible through the front page of the Web site rather than by going to www.high-velocity-media.com. We’ve found that most readers weren’t remembering the name of the site, so this change will make the magazine much more accessible.

In the meantime, please remember that you can see the current issue (May 2012) and any of the back issues since we went on-line for the May 2011 issue, by continuing to go to www.high-velocity-media.com until the new Web site is introduced.

The redesign is being accomplished by Eric Bremner, who works for Doug Smith at High Velocity Media in Kingston, ONT. High Velocity is the company that releases our monthly issues and e-mail blasts during the course of the year and the owner, Doug Smith, also represents Drum Corps World by selling advertising in the publication. None of the changes that have taken place for the magazine and Web site would have happened without Doug Smith’s help.

We’re preparing a summer of excellent coverage — both through articles and photography — as Drum Corps World continues to celebrate its 40th anniversary during 2012.

Is your favorite corps on CD yet? Check again before answering, because we’ve added another dozen discs to “The Beat Goes On” drum corps audio recording selections. These compact discs are the digital versions of the original recording work of Stetson D. Richmond and Alf Wateska, optimized for your listening pleasure. Treat yourself to recordings of your favorite corps or surprise someone you know with a holiday gift from our audio library.Here’s what’s new in this releaseMore classic junior corps are available via Volume 3 of the 1954 American Legion Nationals (#5404). The four top Jersey junior units led the activity that year, sweeping the top four spots at American Legion Nationals; two of them are included on this disc. St. Joseph’s Cadets are an essential part of any collection of this era. Their 1954 repertoire epitomized the classic arranging work that made Hy Dreitzer a drum corps sensation, delivered with spine-tingling urgency by a corps whose roster reads like a hall-of-fame list.Meanwhile, 1954 was considered a rebuilding year for St. Vincent’s Cadets. But at fourth place in the nation, perhaps they were already rebuilt by the time this show came along. Also on this CD, hear the Austin Grenadiers from Chicago blow the stadium apart on their way to leading the Midwest contenders that day. This disc is also your best opportunity to hear the Irwin Kingsmen and Kenwood Cavaliers in any year.

The 1955 VFW Nationals was not recorded, but Stetson Richmond attended a nearby contest the next night to cover the same corps. The 1955 Tournament of Drums (#5505) was the first of a number of well-deserved visits Richmond paid to Massachusetts. The only recording of the 1955 Madison Scouts was made at this event; hear them compete with top home-state entries like the St. Thomas More Cadets and Most Precious Blood Crusaders. Also included are a second Braintree, MA, unit, the Warriors, and Holy Trinity Cadets, all in the crisp clarity the evening’s recordings are noted for.

While Newark, NJ, was a drum corps hot spot in the 1950s, there was once a drum corps show in Newark, NY, where some treasured sounds were recorded for posterity — 1957 Cavalcade of Drums (#5705). Vying for top spot at this contest were storied names like the Hilton Crusaders, forerunner of their Rochester namesake; the Grey Knights, frequent Legion competitor whose later merger with the Crusaders would create a national champion; and Geneva Appleknockers, legendary for their groundbreaking jazzy brass line and Hall of Fame soloists. Close behind were the Brockport-Batavia Cavaliers. Rare recordings of the Buffalo Continentals and the host Spartans round out this disc.

At last, the 1959 Dream Contest (#5909) joins recordings of his legendary competition from surrounding years in “The Beat Goes On” product selection. This year’s edition of the show did not include enough corps to fill two CDs, so we were careful to select six corps that were not already available on other CDs from that season. This is the place to go to hear either side of the annual Reilly/Archer-Epler duel, as both corps are featured in late-season form here. And no collection of drum corps audio is complete without these two Philadelphia-area icons. Then again, the same claim could be made on behalf of the crowd favorites from Massachusetts, the Lt. Norman Princemen. On the junior side, St. Kevin’s Emerald Knights won their first of three straight Dream titles in 1959. Audubon Bon Bons and Paterson Cadets also had strong seasons in 1959, to which their inclusion in the Dream contest slate attests.

1960 Spectacle of Brass (#6012) presents the Kewanee, IL, contest that gathered top Midwest senior corps from five different states all in one convenient place, with the solid sound of Ken Kobold’s recording work. Leading the field at this contest were the RSacine Boys of 76. This may be your best chance to enjoy the Edison Lamplighters, as all three of their recordings from nationals (one from VFW, two from American Legion) have technical problems. Satan’s Angels, in their final season of competition, were still exchanging victories with the four Legion finalists and are also featured on this disc. Spirit of St. Louis, one of those aforementioned finalists, lived up to their name in this show. Relative newcomer Kenosha Kingsmen and host Kewanee Black Knights complete this set.

Toronto Optimists were arguably the most highly-competitive unit Canada has ever fielded. The 1962 Music in Motion (#6212) show in Titusville, PA, was one of their opportunities to demonstrate why, as they took their junior corps to a senior contest and won top honors. Hear them in late-season form, with the scintillating clarity of Alf Wateska’s audio. And while you’re at it, check out the seniors, too. Pittsburgh Rockets had one of their finest seasons in 1962, while the Westmoreland Esquires and Meadville Thunderbirds provide evidence of the depth of area corps activity we’ve been probing with two previous 1962 releases, NY-Penn Selections (#6207) and West Penn Selections (#6211). Hamburg Kingsmen and Flying Dutchmen crossed state and national borders to spice up the event.

The 1965 Symphony in Brass (#6507) captures several of western Pennsylvania’s usual entries, but top honors at this event went to a visiting corps, Kitchener’s Flying Dutchmen. In fact, runner-up Hanover Lancers aren’t from the Western half of the state, either, so they and third-place Albion, NY, Grenadiers could also be considered visiting corps, except they visited more frequently. Leading the Western Pennsylvania contingent in this show were the Meadville Thunderbirds. The Warren Cornplanters had announcers apologizing for their depleted manpower in 1965 introductions, but you’d never know it from hearing them perform. Westmoreland Esquires might have prevented the visitors from sweeping the top three spots, but as the host corps, the performance you’ll hear was in exhibition.

“The Beat Goes On” aims to offer the widest selection of different corps to choose from. Discs like the next two are offered specifically with that goal in mind. The 1966 Garden State Circuit Championship (#6613) CD focuses on corps not previously offered. Turns out that four of the ten performers are already available on the AL state CDs, leaving a full six-corps disc of shows not yet released. Chief among them is the title-winning Lakeland Goldenaires. Also noteworthy are St. Martin’s Troubadours, whose entire audio history is owed to Stetson D. Richmond’s attendance at GSC Championships over the years. Also included here are the Rochelle Park Cadets, the Riversiders, the only-ever recording of the Wayne Cadets and an exhibition performance by the Corvettes.

Recording engineer Bill Domler gives us a rare glimpse into 1969 Yankee Circuit action with the 1969 Spectacular II (#6910). The Yankee Circuit was a prolific junior forum in the 1960s and early 1970s that didn’t always get full attention from the drum corps media (press and recordings). In fact, we don’t have the results on file for this August 2 contest, hosted by the Stafford Springs Crusaders (if you do, please contact DCW — publisher@drumcorpsworld.com). Based on other 1969 scores, this would have been the opportunity for the Fletcher Raiders to try and take top spot over past circuit mainstays like the Springfield Targets and their cross-town rival, St. George Olympians. Killmen of Wyantskill, NY, were improving and may have been in the mix. Fairfield Colonades and the host corps are among these recordings, noteworthy for their true dynamic range.

The 1971 World Open Senior Invitational (#7105) was a one-time-only attempt to resurrect the senior portion of the World Open as a stand-alone event staged in Bridgeport in late August. The 10-corps contest provided an excellent cross-section of DCA’s participants, making it a valuable source for recordings of corps just on the wrong side of DCA’s prelim cut. This is the only event to produce a recording of the Westshoremen in 1971 (all the more significant since 1972 is unaccounted for). Also notable is the only late-season recording of the Renegades — that is, the Everett, MA, corps. The exhibition corps, New Haven, CT’s Emerald Cadets, are also included on this disc, since this was their only 1971 recording. Along with those three collectors items, you will also find the perennially-strong Reading Buccaneers; Quebec’s finest, Les Diplomates, in their gut-wrenching prime (CLICK HERE FOR A SAMPLE); and a fiery performance from a Syracuse Brigadiers corps intent on rebounding from a previous off-year.

The 1972 Rhapsody in Brass (#7209) contest provides the season’s best set of West Penn junior recordings and an added treat for collectors. This show was the only competitive outing for the Brookhaven Crusaders in 1972. On the local front, competition was evolving into a duel between the General Butler Vagabonds and upstart Royal Crusaders, the two corps that would lead the region for the rest of the decade. Cambria Cadets of Ebensburg took third place. Quasar of Penn Hills and Butler’s Catholic Daughters of America occupy the remaining spots on this disc.

1977 Great Lakes Selections (#7704) brings together six interesting corps from the Great Lakes region, as they were recorded in action at the American International Open in August. The Marion, OH, Cadets were an Open Class competitor at that time, while the Saginaires were establishing forward momentum in Class A competition. This was far and away the banner year for the Windsor, ONT, Guardsmen, spearheaded by a creative drum line. Ventures from Kitchener, ONT, were already a top competitor in the all-girl category. Lions of London, ONT, and the earliest-ever recording of the Grand Rapids, MI, Coachmen fill, out the remainder of this CD.

“The Beat Goes On” is a series of recordings digitally remastered from the original tapes of Stetson D. Richmond and Alf Wateska, not scratchy albums or secondhand copies. Advanced digital audio workstation tools are brought into play to fix master tape defects, restore the full dynamic range and reduce tape noise, yielding a product vastly improved over the technology available when Richmond and Wateska reproduced these recordings personally.

Look for the ad with our product listing in ther latest version of Drum Corps World’s on-line magazine (see November, page 17 — go to www.high-velocity-media.com). Or search for your favorite corps (more than 550 junior and senior units) at the Drum Corps World on-line store (www.drumcorpsworld.com, click on “Richmond/Wateska Historic CDs” in the center of the front page), where you can view the full list of 196 compact discs (November, pages 68-75) — and counting — along with a small selection of historic DVDs from 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1976 (November, pages 62-63), along with the five history books produced by Sights & Sounds, Inc. over the past 10 years (1,800 total pages, 5,000-plus photographs and illustrations — November, pages 35, 43 and 47).

Since Drum Corps World went on-line May 1, the total number of pages produced in five interactive monthly issues (May, June, July, August and September) and seven e-mail PDF blasts (June 22, July 8, July 15, July 22, August 5 and August 22) totals 552.

And did you know it’s all FREE?

That’s right! You can now sign up for a FREE subscription to Drum Corps World. You’ll receive an e-mail every time we release another issue and when you take a look at the new one, you can also review all of the past issues.

To get started, please visit www.high-velocity-media.com and register. The only information we need is your first and last name, your e-mail address and there’s a pull-down menu where you indicate what country you live in. It’s that simple.

If you want to peruse any of the back issues once you’ve registered, all you have to do is go to the www.high-velocity-media.com Web site and they’re all there for your viewing pleasure.

What are you waiting for? Join the 15,000 fans who have already started reading the drum and bugle corps activity’s most comprehensive and up-to-date magazine. You can catch up on what you’ve missed at your convenience.

And don’t forget all the historic CDs (208 titles dated from 1950 to 1980, representing more than 500 different junior and senior corps), DVDs (1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976) and five books (1,800 pages, more than 6,000 photographs) for sale on our Web site. If you want to know where the activity came from and what’s been happening over the last 90 years, check out the content on our Web site – www.drumcorpsworld.com.

We also have an active Facebook page that has interesting and timely material added daily by staff members Dave Scott and Mike Ferlazzo, including a photo-of-the-day (Monday is a DCI corps, Tuesday is a DCA corps, Wednesday is a foreign corps, Thursday is an alumni or mini-corps and Friday is a corps from history) and a “Did you know?”-of-the-day by Brian Tolzmann, plus current news links to the latest details about all the junior, all-age, alumni and foreign corps. Head over to www.facebook/.com/drumcorpsworld to check it out!

“For the first time ever, fans of all-age drum corps worldwide will be able to enjoy the outstanding performances of all 21 prelim competitors as they take the field at our championship event,” said Gil Silva, President of Drum Corps Associates. “We are very pleased to be launching the DCA Fan Network and are looking forward to introducing our unique brand of entertainment to a new audience.

“We’ll also be providing our existing fans with the opportunity to join us for all of the prelims excitement, should they not be making the trip to Rochester this year. It will undoubtedly provide a great ending to what has been an outstanding season for the corps and the fans.”

Another highlight of the upcoming DCA Championship weekend will be the ability for drum corps fans to purchase advance tickets to the 2012 DCA World Championships at the new location in Annapolis, MD, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

[Publisher's note: this will be the first time DCA has been in a football stadium for the season-ending event since Allentown, PA, in 1999. The new venue is not only a great destination for tourist-type activities, but the stadium at the U.S. Naval Academy offers dramatically more seats between the 35 yard lines than the entire concert side at the baseball stadiums in Scranton and Syracuse, as well as the soccer stadium the last few years in Rochester, NY. This is a GREAT opportunity for drum corps fans who have never been to a DCA or all-age competition to check it out for the first time.]

Representatives will be on hand Saturday, September 3, and Sunday, September. 4, at Rhinos Stadium in Rochester to take advance orders and assist fans with seat selection to ensure that the earlybirds will get the very best seats when the event rolls into its new home next year.

For those not in attendance, online ordering for 2012 DCA World Championship tickets will begin on Tuesday, September 6, at 9:00 AM ET through the Drum Corps Associates Web site — www.dcacorps.org.

Register NOW for the DCA Fan Network: http://dca.thefannetwork.org/

Learn more about the entire 2011 DCA Championship weekend schedule: http://www.dcacorps.org/?page_id=21

Find out more about tickets for the 2012 Drum Corps Associates World Championships: http://www.dcacorps.org

Read more about the new partnership between Drum Corps International and Drum Corps Associates.
http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=552ada2f-0951-4190-9e57-750b3d67db47

This article was originally published in the November 2010 edition of Drum Corps World.

If Dan Potter’s life is following the path of Phantom Regiment’s “Into the Light” program about the life cycle, he would probably find himself somewhere in the ballad’s contemplative mid-life segment. And Potter, host of Drum Corps International’s popular “Field Pass” podcast and celebrated public address announcer at top performance arts events, is hearing his life’s true calling, just like Phantom members heard the flugelhorn soloist in the distance.

That’s why the award-winning radio broadcaster left his position as news director and assistant program director for AM 740 and FM 102.3 NewsTalk KRMG in Tulsa, OK, at the end of August in a bit of a leap of faith.

He knew where he was headed, first to marry his fiancé, Kim Lucas, and to move back to Ft. Worth, TX, to be closer to their families; and then, to start his own broadcast-influenced    business. But what that business will be, exactly, is still taking shape.

“This much is certain. It will be a two-pronged business,” Potter said in an Indianapolis interview during DCI World Championship week. “One half of it will focus on pageantry arts and the other half will focus on food.”

This summer, in addition to his radio and DCI voice work, Potter launched a live-event, radio cooking show in Tulsa called “OK Foodie.” He previously hosted shows in Dallas/Ft. Worth, so making the decision to build part of his business around culinary arts was, he says, an easy one.

“I’m going to continue to do “OK Foodie” in Tulsa,” Potter said. “I’m going to go up there once a week to tape it. Once I’m back in Texas, I’d also like to re-establish a similar show I did there a few years ago called “Taste of . . .”

Cooking with pageantry arts passion

The rest will be built around his pageantry arts passion.

“I’ve enjoyed some really great success with the ‘Field Pass’ and I would like to take that model and expand it out to cover as many forms of pageantry arts as time and resources will allow,” Potter said. “Certainly that would mean the fall competitive marching band season, the winter drum line and color guard season, and the drum corps season. But beyond that, the possibilities seem endless. For instance, there are hundreds of drum corps that have sprung up all over the world in recent years — mostly on the other side of the globe. So there’s plenty of it out there to be covered and I think I’m uniquely positioned to do that.

“Maybe one day that also means Military Tattoos in Scotland and Carnival in Rio!” he said.

“Anywhere there’s pageantry going on, I think there’s an audience that’s being underserved.”

Nothing’s off his business bulletin board, but the key will be figuring out how to make it work financially.

“I’m just looking for the right distribution platforms and the right partners,” he said. “I’d say content is the least of my worries. There will always be content and things to cover. It’s just how do you monetize that and how do you make a living out of it?”

Given his self-imposed uncertain financial future, it might have seemed hard for Potter to walk away from being an award-winning news broadcaster. That career found him doing such things as flying with both the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds, and riding 50 yards in front of the presidential limo while reporting on the first inaugural parade of President George W. Bush. It sadly also put him up-close and personal with the tragic end of the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, TX, years ago.

But Potter didn’t look back when he made the decision to leave.

“It was surprisingly easy actually [to leave radio news] and maybe I’ll sound different in a year. A year of poverty will maybe change my mind, I don’t know,” he said. “Radio news isn’t what it was when I started to do it. And really, commercial radio news, unless it’s an all-news station, has trended toward serving an audience that listens to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Michael Savage and Neal Boortz — and targeting their news. I’m not saying its outright bias, but I’m saying they’re trying to serve their audience, which I understand. But it’s not for me anymore.

“I love telling stories with audio. I love theater of the mind. I love sound and working with sound. To me it’s like quilt work or woodworking or something. I’m in the zone when I’m playing around with audio and trying to tell a story. There’s not much room for that now in commercial radio.”

Contemplating his future life’s work

Potter now has time to contemplate what he really wants to do for the rest of his life. And what he’d like to do is continue to tell stories with audio, but on his own terms, something he barely had time to do over this past summer, which he calls “the busiest summer of my life.”

Between his radio news job, work for DCI, the new cooking show and preparing to move back to Texas, he was working almost around the clock. It was all he could do to grab a cold slice of pizza when he found time to eat while editing.

But even though his busy schedule found him out on the road with the DCI tour all but one weekend this summer, the former drum major for the Geneseo, IL, Knights wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I say all the time I have the best job in drum corps — I really, really do,” Potter said. “I get to do a little bit of everything that I love. I get to do the stadium announcing. I get to do ‘Field Pass’ and tell stories with audio that I want to do. I get to do live events and Jumbotron interviews and get recognized. And all those things are just so cool, yet I really don’t have to do the hard work that instructors and designers and certainly the marching members do.

I just really get to revel in their end result. How cool is that? I view it as my mission to promote young performers pursuing excellence. And there’s a story in every performer.”

Potter says he’s in awe of the mastery and excellence that the performers display today, every time he sees a show. He plans to continue to tell their stories for a long time to come. In fact, they’ll even be a bigger part of his life’s work if plans fall into place.

Publisher’s note: The exclusive material posted on this Drum Corps World Web page and in the archives has previously been presented in the print version of our monthly tabloid newspaper. We do this to show visitors what types of articles are available, but only a small percentage is included here. The publication offers a variety of topics and cannot be found elsewhere on the Web. PLEASE CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING TO DRUM CORPS WORLD! We offer not only current news, but also show reviews, interviews, human interest features, regular columns, worldwide scores and event schedules, as well as historical products like CDs, DVDs and history books.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Aaron Goldberg of the Texas Crossmen. Aaron is their brass caption head and has been with the corps as a performer and then an instructor for 12 years. For quite a number of years I have been able to watch him work the Crossmen brass line and have been impressed with how he has been able to bring the musical talent to life from the new and veterans members of the corps.

My first question to him was about the direction of the Crossmen now that they are firmly in place at their new home in San Antonio. There has been much discussion on the difference in style from the old Pennsylvania days to the new Texas days, so who better to ask than their caption head.

Bob Fields: Tell me about move to Texas and how it has worked out for the Crossmen so far?

Aaron Goldberg: We are very thankful for what YEA! did for the Crossmen. They helped out the corps in a big way in the mid-1990s and the organization certainly did experience some success under the management of YEA! With the move to Texas came a refreshing feeling of being self-managed, of being the only one in the driver’s seat. The corps is becoming more and more rooted in Texas, with people coming out in larger numbers every year to be a part of a great World Class corps located in their own backyard.

Students have shared with me that they were waiting to join the Crossmen to see how we would fare competitively in Texas, but even though we are still working to climb the competitive ranks, they see and hear the corps getting better year after year and they are attracted to that.

BF: Is the corps drawing strictly from Texas or are you getting people from other areas?

AG: We have had our largest number of auditioning members this past year and still draw members from all over the country, including the Northeast. We even have several students in the corps who currently attend West Chester University in Pennsylvania, the area where the Crossmen    originally hailed from. Our ties are still strong in the Delaware Valley and we feel the love from fans and alumni when we travel up I-95 into the region that is so familiar to this corps.

Becoming increasing more rooted in San Antonio is healthy — we are now establishing in our new area what the Crossmen have always been familiar with, diehard fans.

BF: There has been a lot of discussion regarding the difference between the classic Crossmen arrangements and those of today. Can you fill me in on that?

AG: The corps’ choice to use the music of Pat Metheny for this year’s program, “Full Circle,” is one that has pleased a lot of fans. Throughout the last decade, the Crossmen have found a niche with the groove-based jazz style of Pat Metheny and the corps has used his music successfully in three different competitive seasons before this one.

The thick jazz harmonies, rich voicing and textures, and infectious rhythmic interplay have given audiences something to groove to during a number of memorable shows over the years. Our current design team looked to revisit some of the music that has been well-liked in our past competitive programs and revamped it to be “next decade.”

The modernization of the Metheny charts should not shock audiences — it’s designed to be slightly different from what we’ve done in the past. I’m not sure how many folks in the crowd are familiar with the original tunes, but they should be! Go out and buy the live album “The Road to You” and tell me if it doesn’t make your heart beat in mixed meter.

The most noticeable differences between the charts that we’ve played in the past and the current version is the musical layering. Our versions of the Metheny material in the past have been more or less verbatim, bringing to the field the excitement of the originals with some compulsory “drum corps moments” added by great drum corps arrangers. This year’s take is different by design, paying homage to those successful shows of the past while experimenting with a new, varied musical style, still with those   compulsory moments added.

BF: Can you give me an    example of the differences?

AG: The themes of First Circle, Heat of the Day, Minuano and Letter From Home are heard sometimes in a straight-up, ifted-from-the-original fashion and sometimes in a complex, interwoven variation. We consider it being reverent to our past shows while being different for today.

My rookie year marching in the Crossmen was 1998, which was a wonderful Pat Metheny show.

My first year teaching the Crossmen was 2002 which opened with a thrilling and memorable version of Heat of the Day. And now, as I take my place in the stands each night during competition, having come “Full Circle” with the Crossmen, I still uncontrollably “bob” my head to these great tunes, night after night.

BF: Can you share what the staff might be adding to finish the show before Indianapolis?
AG: In order to clean up and amp-up during this point in the season, we are expanding some effect moments in the show and continuing to clean, clean, clean. There is a lot of detailing yet to be done to make the show cleaner, crisper and to make every aspect of it readable.

There are effect moments that we are continuing to maximize from a full-ensemble standpoint.

The “coolness” is built into the show. We must continue to refine each moment of the program in order to attain a high level of excellence. The teaching staff is excellent, the members are hungry and we are all digging in to elevate the level of our performance and to make this show a memorable one for years to come.

This article was originally published in the February 2011 issue of Drum Corps World.

Publisher’s note: Jim and I met back in 1974, but hadn’t stayed in touch. When Paul Jasionowski passed away on January 4, Jim contacted me about contributing this piece on his good friend. Paul and I never met, but we did correspond as I prepared to put together the DCI history book, “Drum Corps International: The First Decade, 1972-1981.” Paul work with author Nic Waerzeggars who wrote the book’s text. Some of Paul’s quotes from that chapter are included below.

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Some time in the late fall of 1979, the 27th Lancers had announced that they would be performing at the opening and closing ceremonies at Lake Placid, NY. As a member of the drum staff — and being a Lancer alum — I had my doubts that it would ever happen. Even as we were boarding the busses I still had my doubts that we’d ever get there.

With that news, the corps’ normal winter program of small numbers in every section suddenly swelled. And I dare say, the staff was recruiting alumni to perform as well. Heck, there was no age limit, It was the Olympics and we were afraid of not having enough members to represent ourselves, the city of Revere, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the entire nation– and all of drum corps.

As luck would have it, we did get many new members to walk through the doors at corps hall and Revere High School. It was a very rare occasion when a single member would walk through the door. It was usually two or more kids from a corps, locally or nationally. We were also fortunate the local drum corps scene was still flourshing.

I remember the groups of kids that joined. The kids from the ValleyAirs in Northbridge — two snares, a tenor and a cymbal player. From Athol/Gardner area and the Simplex Minutemen we got Michael Lore and Paul “Jazz” Jasionowski on snare and Jim Polana on tenor. While I am certain the defection from their former corps was criticized back in their home town, this was a huge contribution for the 27th Lancers. All of these kids were very talented, all were ambitious, all were respectful and hungry, they were “ripe” to be brainwashed into the Lancer world of corps.

I remember all of the characters from these two corps in particular. They were from small towns in central Massachusetts and the transition to Revere was as much of a culture shock to them as it was for us to meet them. There was a sense of a “time warp,” although these communities were within 50 miles of each other.

Paul in particular was well-positioned to play. Bill Jamsa never received the credit he deserved for getting those Minutemen versed in the art of rudimental snare drumming. Paul also had a superb stance when marching with his snare. In every picture of the Lancers’ snare line, Paul stands out remarkably due to his great posture, shoulder and arm/hand position. He was an avid learner and certainly earned his spot in the line.

Lake Placid was part 1 of our 1980 season. Perhaps as many kids quit after the Olympic experience as had joined. And although we had learned our summer routine, it was as if we had to re-teach the show to another corps before the season began. I can say, however, that none of the kids from Athol/Gardner or Northbridge left the corps. These guys were true blue collar workers and were there for the season.

Paul and Michael and Jim not only survived, they also flourished in the competitive enviroment. It wasn’t just the kids who were performing at a world class level — winning and winning and winning that year. The staff had never expereienced such success. It was as much of a new experience for us, a staff of complete alumni. We had been competitors when we marched, but none of us had experienced the success that we were training these young people for. They competed so well, in the drumming subcaption and overall score. Not many kids can ever say they actually beat the Blue Devils, but those members can say it proudly.

Paul wasn’t ever satisfied with just learning/playing. He was curious enough to ask for help, for clarification, to have a better understanding of why something should be done a certain way. I believe Bill Jamsa deserves credit for making Paul feel comfortable doing that and I’ll take credit (along with many other Lancer staff members) for giving Paul the courage and stamina to instill confidence and, with his ability, to become a great success at it.

I have no doubt that 27th had a positive affect on his life. But he is the one who deserves the pat on the back for taking the tools presented to him and putting them to good use. His love of music and percussion (are they two separate things?) and the self-descipline from drum corps, surely allowed him to excel in college and to earn his Master’s Degree. His ability to judge, to verbalize and critique, and to evaluate with numbers — that courage comes from within, but the confidence is gained over years of effort and personal experience. I know he was a great influence and I am certain there are many others whom he affected, but have not chosen music as a profession.

There was an expression I heard many years ago — “No one knows how far a teacher’s influence goes.” It suggests that we all take something from our previous experiences and those mentors perhaps learned something and we in turn use those tools. I have no doubt that [those who went through the Lancers] are using lessons or remember techniques learned from Paul, who perhaps learned from me or Jack Cash or Charley Poole or Bill Jamsa . . .

* * * * * * * * * * *

Paul J. Jasionowski
Pine Lake, GA
July 20, 1962 – January 4, 2011

A native of Massachusetts, Paul Jasionowski received a Bachelor of Music from the College of Music at the University of Lowell and a Master of Music and teaching credential from California State University at Long Beach. During his graduate studies at Cal State-Long Beach, he was a teaching assistant and the recipient of performance scholarships, and chosen as one of the winners of the 1989 Concerto Competition. He also pursued additional studies as a scholarship student at the Aspen Music Festival and the Music Academy of the West.

Paul held percussion positions with various regional symphony orchestras, big bands and theater shows in the greater metropolitan areas of Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta. He toured extensively and performed 12 times at Carnegie Hall with the New England Symphonic Ensemble.

Paul recorded for Columbia Artists and appeared on local Los Angeles radio and television, as well as the Australian Broadcasting Company. He also performed under the batons of film composer John Williams, Lawrence Leighton Smith, John Alexander and Donald Neuen.

In 2003, he performed on the world premiere of Paradigm Shift by Raymond Chase, with the Cincinnati Horn Connection at the International Horn Symposium, Indiana University School of Music at Bloomington.

In May 2005, he performed with the Cincinnati Horn Connection on the world premiere of Cor Magnificat by Raymond Chase.

Besides his involvement with orchestral and big band   percussion, Paul was a member of the famed 27th Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps from Revere, MA, from 1980 to 1983. He was on the percussion staffs of the DCI-member Spirit of Atlanta and the Anaheim Kingsmen. He also wrote for and taught various high school and college marching bands in Massachusetts, California and Georgia. He was an adjudicator and clinician for Drum Corps West, the American Drumline Association, Southern California Marching Band Association, WGI Regional Percussion, Drums Across California and other circuits.

After moving to Georgia, Paul performed with the Savannah Symphony, Orchestra Atlanta, Gainesville Symphony, DeKalb Symphony, Cobb Symphony, Augusta Symphony and Macon Symphony, where he played on the recording “Bravo!” In August 2005, he was named principal percussionist of the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra.

He also branched out into conducting, leading wind ensembles at Georgia Perimeter College, the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and the Atlanta Concert Band. In February 2004, he was named music director/conductor of the Atlanta Lawyers Orchestra.

At the academic level, Paul held teaching positions at the elementary, middle school, high school and college levels. He was most recently a music specialist at Smoke Rise Elementary School in Decatur, GA, where he taught chorus, eurythmics, general music, music theory and percussion. In 2003 he served as chairman of the DeKalb County Elementary Honor Chorus Festival. In August 2005, he joined the board of directors of the Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde.

* * * * * * * * * *

The following comments are about the 27th Lancers’ performance at the 1980 Winter Olympics performance in Lake Placid, NY, from an article he provided for the DCI history book released in 2010.

The temperature was around 30 degrees when we performed the opening ceremony. Our equipment manager, Wayne Kelly, used antifreeze on the brass instruments to keep the valves from freezing.

During the recap of Folk Song Suite toward the   end of the performance, my snare drum head shattered and my stick broke, flying off into the back of the stadium.

Thank God the performance was finished.

During the closing performance, we had to march out on to the ice. In order to keep us from slipping, Kelly put sand paper on the soles of our marching shoes.

Moses Pendleton, the choreographer, wanted us to roll around on the ice. George Zingali kept asking, “What? You want everyone to roll around on the ice?”

Moses kept saying, “Yes, yes! I want everyone to roll around on the ice.”

Moses and George were like Abbott and Costello, telling everyone to roll around on the ice. No one was complying. All of a sudden everyone erupted in protest. Gerard Dwyer, the drum major, shouted, “Corps, ten-hut!” Everyone went to attention. There was silence in the rink. Moses turned to Gerard and asked, “How did you do that?”

A compromise was made. Instead of rolling around on the ice, the entire corps — without our instruments, rifles and flags — made a large circle by leaning over and putting both arms around each other’s shoulders, then rotated the large circle across the rink. Every four or eight counts, we rose up and gave a big laugh.

As the athletes from the different countries marched into the stadium during the opening ceremony, I was able to stand inside the entrance and watch them march by. When the U.S. team marched in, the audience erupted into cheers and applause. When the Russian team entered, the audience booed them. I was standing right next to them. I could see their faces.

After taking some pictures near the speed skating rink outside on the football field of Lake Placid High School, I walked up to the entrance of the ice hockey rink. Suddenly the doors burst open and a large crowd of people came running out with the U.S. hockey players. I managed to get stuck right in the middle of the crowd.

The hockey players still had their skates on. One of the players had the U.S. flag draped around his shoulders. They were spraying champagne and beer in the air and on each other, including me. I asked, “What is going on?” Someone answered, “You don’t know? The Americans just beat the Russians!”

These comments by Paul Jasionowski are from chapter 15, pages 191-192, of “Drum Corps International: The First Decade, 1972-1981,” produced for DCI by Drum Corps World and published in June 2010.

This book and a companion volume, “Drum Corps International: The First 35 Years in Photos,” are available on the DCW Web site — www.drumcorpsworld.com — currently priced as a package for $35.00 plus shipping and handling.

Reprinted from the Waubonsee Community College Web site

Margie Kiley of Oswego, IL, has been named Waubonsee Community College’s Distinguished Contributor for 2010, along with the memorial scholarship fund established in her daughter Susan’s name, the Optimist Club of Oswegoland and the annual “Festival of Brass” drum and bugle corps show.

During their lives, Susan Kiley and her father, Jerry, impacted countless lives just by being themselves. Through his involvement with the Optimist Club of Oswegoland, Jerry helped thousands of children in the community. But perhaps the greatest contribution the Kileys and the Optimist Club have made comes in the form of the 51 young adults who have been able to attend college thanks to the Susan M. Kiley Memorial Scholarship Fund.

In recognition of this great contribution to the college, the cause of education and the community, Waubonsee Community College named the scholarship fund, the Optimist Club, the Kiley family and the “Festival of Brass” as its Distinguished Contributor for 2010.

Sadly, the fund that has helped improve so many young lives started when one young life was tragically lost. Susan Kiley was killed in a traffic accident in 1989, on the very day she was to register for classes at Waubonsee. Her parents, Jerry and Margie, did not know where to have the memorials sent until a friend suggested the Optimist Club, of which Jerry was an active member and past president. Once several thousand dollars had been raised, the club suggested using the money to set up a memorial scholarship in Susan’s name.

“We wanted scholarships for the average student who wants to go to college, but perhaps otherwise wouldn’t be able to go,” said Bill Powell, Optimist member and secretary/treasurer of the scholarship fund’s board of trustees.

“Perhaps it’s a student with average grades, but who has a really positive attitude or who has been holding down a part-time job while attending school.”

When it was first awarded in 1991, the Susan M. Kiley Memorial Scholarship went to just one graduate of Oswego or Oswego East High School each year, but by 1999, the fund had grown enough for two annual scholarship winners. The next year, three awards were given out and 2002 saw four scholarship winners, which remains the number today. Winners are awarded $600 per semester for four consecutive semesters, for a total gift of $2,400.

But as with most scholarships, the meaning, for both the recipients and the donors, is larger than sheer numbers can communicate.

“This is a big thing to help give young kids a start,” said Margie Kiley, Susan’s mother and Jerry’s widow, who now serves as a scholarship fund trustee. “These kids can stay home and get their basic courses and go on. This scholarship has been so important to so many who maybe did not have the finances or didn’t want to leave home to go to school. It’s very rewarding to see how successful they are.”

The success of these students and of the scholarship program is due in large part to the success of Oswego’s “Festival of Brass,” which has been the project’s main fund-raiser for the past 20 years.

Each year, nearly 1,000 young people from across the country perform at Oswego High School at this drum and bugle corps competition, which draws a huge audience from Oswego and surrounding areas.

“The Optimists are for the youth, so this is a good project for them,” said Margie Kiley. “And if it weren’t for the Optimists, the scholarship fund and this event wouldn’t fly. They are the working group behind the ‘Festival of Brass’.”

The 2010 show honored the man who was the main driving force behind the Susan M. Kiley Memorial Scholarship Fund since its inception, Susan’s father and Margie’s husband, Jerry Kiley, who passed away in February of this year. He had been an active member of the Optimist Club of Oswegoland for 27 years and headed up the scholarship fund’s board of trustees from the beginning.

Waubonsee President Dr. Christine Sobek was on hand at the “Festival of Brass” to present a plaque to Margie and the rest of the Kiley family.

Addressing Margie that night, Sobek said, “It is with sincere appreciation for Jerry’s dedication to the Oswego community and its thousands of young people that I am very proud to present this recognition to you tonight and to thank you and your family for sharing Jerry and his many talents with all of us during our lifetime.”

Of that honor and on being named Distinguished Contributor, Margie said, “My husband would be thrilled with this honor. He spent many hours at the computer, crunching numbers, working on the scholarship.”

Powell, who was also Jerry’s best friend, echoed the sentiment. “This scholarship has meant an awful lot to the Kiley family,” he said. “It was something that Jerry was really proud of and spent a lot of hours on. He was so dedicated to keeping it going.”

* * * * * * * * *

The show wasn’t held in 2009, but was back in 2010, co-sponsored by the Madison Scouts.

This article was originally published in the November 2010 edition of Drum Corps World.

“A curmudgeon’s reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They’re neither warped nor evil at heart. They don’t hate mankind, just mankind’s absurdities.”

As I watched the Southwest Regional in San Antonio, then semis and finals this year in Indianapolis, I started to get a bit grumpy. In past years I have written this column and grumbled about stuff and, lo and behold, the Earth went around the sun and some of the things changed my way . . . for example, I suggested that it was sort of dumb to have the corps come out for finale at finals in the order that they appeared and set up starting at one end zone, then finish with the ones actually in competition for the top spot in the other end zone. Now the top two end up in the center, between the 40s. 

So, what am I muttering about now, you ask?

This year it seemed to me that posturing and posing was substituted for drill. Back in 2000, when the finals show was at the University of Maryland, my wife and I were sitting next to an older man who kept making tic-marks on a piece of paper. We finally asked him what he was doing and he said he was counting “kneels and leans.”

We knew what “kneels” meant, but had to ask about “leans.” At that moment, whichever corps was on the field stopped, they all put one foot forward and leaned into it with one arm outstretched and he said, “Now that’s a lean.”

If you want to see a classic “lean,” look at the position of the members of the 2010 Carolina Crown at the very end of their show. Lots of corps did one version or another of both kneels and leans this year . . . it beats having to write a few more counts of moving drill.

Then there’s the trick of having the corps stop and play something, loud, fast and with a definite beat, and have the horn line spread their feet, lean back, blow hard and pump their horns as if they were all jiving to the music.

Oh, come on! We know that you’ve practiced that hundreds of times and the visual techs have gone through the ranks making sure that everyone does it adequately. There is nothing spontaneous about it and it’s starting to get comments in the stands. Truly. And no, it wasn’t me making the cynical smart-a– remarks.

Another “effect” that is being greatly overdone is the drum solo ending — it has become one variation or the other of “POW! POW! POW! . . . IN YOUR FACE, DRUM JUDGE! . . . POW!” This is often accomplished as the snares and/or tenors take a couple of sort-of pivoting steps forward, toward where the judge just happens to be standing.

I wonder what would happen if the solo were written with a big fortissimo crescendo about eight bars from the end, then a diminuendo decrescendo to end in nearly complete silence, with the drummers standing mute their sticks at their side and no sound from the field at all? 

I imagined this conversation between a couple of visual designers –

BlueCavaCru: The music here is too fast for the horns to march. What can I do?

Madiglasstar: I know! Have them all stop with their feet pretty wide apart and bend their knees so that they look sort of like the top of a set of parentheses.

BluCavaCru: I dunno . . . how long can we keep them like that?

Madiglass. etc: You only need four counts . . . then they can kneel down, pivot, hold their hands out in front of themselves and bob their heads sideways . . . those new plumes shaped like corncobs are great for that.

Blue, etc: Not bad, not bad.

Madiglass: What else can we do?

Blue: How about some calisthenics?

Madiglass: You mean like jumping jacks?

Blue: That would be sort of hard with a tuba, but we could have them drop their horns and do push-ups.

Madiglass: But what if it’s a muddy field?

Blue: Too bad. Besides, they have all those volunteers who like to gripe about doing the laundry, but deep down they love it.

Madiglass: Hmm . . . okay and you know what . . . let’s give equipment to people who don’t know how to handle it and let’s make bass drummers run 10 yards obliquely backwards in eight counts and make the tuba players make big hops sideways while they play and see if the snares can do pirouettes en pointe while they play the solo . . . that should be good for GE, particularly if we do all of them at once!

[Cell phone rings, Blue answers]

Blue: Yeah . . . yeah . . . okay, bye. Listen, it’s only four days to quarters. I have to go write three minutes of new drill for the ending because the music guy took out some stuff and added something else. Don’t they know that you shouldn’t do that? I’m going to use some of this stuff we’ve talked about.

Maybe that conversation didn’t happen . . . but don’t count on it.

In one of my previous grumps I made a comment about how I thought that a “scatter drill” represented either laziness, lack of ideas or lack of talent.

Fortunately, it has nearly, but not quite, disappeared. There were still a couple of episodes of it this year, but it seems to be getting less. Good thing.

Next I’ll make the mandatory gripe about sound in domes. For finals, we were in the top deck, on the side-two 45 yard line. Many of the sounds from the pits seemed to be coming from somewhere around the far-lefthand rear corner of the field. This was true mostly of non-amplified sounds, such as cymbal crashes and concert bass drum thumps.

Now I’ll admit that I enjoyed the cool, non-humid air inside, but the wretched acoustics (which were helped a bit by the additional curtains hung around the field) certainly don’t make it a good auditory experience.

Let’s see, what else? How about abusing the members? Like shouting at them (more like screaming, but I thought I’d be polite, then decided against it) anyway, shouting that the only reason they’re there to is to “. . . WIN! and you are a bunch of p—–s and wimps and I never thought we’d recruit such a bunch of lily-livered a——-!”

That’s a direct quote from about three years ago here in San Antonio.

I thought this was all about musical development and education. What? You say that it’s a “sport” and sports are all about winning? True, but those college and pro athletes are getting paid, one way or the other, and these young people pay for the privilege of being abused. 

Speaking of abuse, what about inadequate sleep time, excessive drill in the sun during the heat of a South Texas afternoon?

What about three-minute water breaks? What about telling someone with a new sprained ankle that if she didn’t practice that day she’d lose her spot in the line for the rest of the summer. 
It all happens and I have personally watched and heard corps being treated this way. It isn’t necessary.

“Well,” you say, “why do you keep hanging around if the activity is so awful?” 
Partly because, after 57 years of drum corps, it’s a hard habit to break . . . but also because there are people who are trying to make it better.

In my own experience, that includes the men and women who make up the Drum Corps Medical Project, the writers for Drum Corps World who highlight the positives and the young people I meet each year who exemplify the best among our youth.

That’s why!