September 20, 2021
By: Bill Conger
The DeKalb County High School Fighting Tiger Band traveled to Hendersonville High School over the weekend to compete at the 32nd Annual Hendersonville Golden Invitational. The band was entered in Class D Small Band division with Trousdale County, Watertown, Cheatham County Central, and White House Heritage high schools.
“I think they did a terrific job!” Band Director Don Whitt said. “When you look at where we started from band camp, from August to now, we have come a long way. Half the band has gone through the COVID situation. The theme of the show is “Getting the Band Back Together” by the Blues Brothers. Literally, we’re getting the band back together.”
People in the stands gave an enthusiastic reception to the band’s performance and a non-scoring judge gave the band a wonderful critique. Unfortunately, the band didn’t bring home any trophies Saturday.
Whitt points out that many in the band are new to marching and are learning the proper techniques.
“For more than half of the kids, this is their first year of marching. We have probably ten that we could call veteran marchers.”
“We’re learning how to perform in front of a crowd. Three weeks ago we weren’t performing; we were just going through the motions. We were learning our craft so to speak and how to count, getting on the field and off the field and playing in tune with each other. Now, it seems like they’re coming into it. Everything seems to be coming to fruition.”
Whitt credits his staff, Assistant Band Director Erica Birmingham and instructors Maxwell Patterson, Shannon Johns, and Emily Wallace with helping the band progress. He says while some things need to be cleaned up, it’s a very entertaining show.
“This is my first one [competition] as a 50-year-old band director starting my first year. I think we did a great job. There are some things we’re still trying to fix. For our first competition this was tremendous.”
The band travels to Gallatin Saturday (Sept. 25) for the Station Camp Marching Invitational and to the Sonic Boom in Livingston on October 2. They are scheduled to wrap up the marching contest season at the Mid-South Marching Invitational in Clarksville.