Brownstown Central, Seymour marching bands gear up for football season

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Attending the first Seymour High School football game this year at Bulleit Stadium, be prepared for some showstoppers at halftime.

That’s when the 250 members of the Marching Owls and color guard will fill the turf field to perform music from three popular musicals. They also will throw in a Bruno Mars song for good measure and be joined by the cheerleaders.

On Brownstown Central High School’s new turf field at Blevins Memorial Stadium, things will heat up at halftime with the sunshine show.

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The 38 members of the Band of Braves will play songs revolving around a sun theme, and the drill team will dance to a few of the numbers.

Marching Owls

During band camp the last week of July, the Marching Owls played “The Greatest Show” from the hit 2017 musical film “The Greatest Showman.”

The halftime show at the first home football game Aug. 24 against Jeffersonville also will feature “Defying Gravity” from the musical “Wicked,” “One Day More” from the musical “Les Miserables” and Bruno Mars’ “Finesse.”

“Three of the four songs are from musicals that I’ve seen, so I think it’s just really fun to play that music,” senior drum major Sam Schmidt said.

“They are all just kind of like the iconic songs from each of the musicals, so everybody is going to be like, ‘Wow!’” senior drum major Haruka Taguchi said. “They are all really flashy and exciting.”

Junior drum major Harrison Cottrill said all of the songs were popular when they were released and still are today, so they will be fun to play at football games.

“I think people just need to get excited about it,” he said. “It’s a fun time. Friday night lights, it’s a great time. It’s a great place to be.”

Evan Baurle, a senior drum major, said the band’s presentation will be unique.

“It’s kind of like a different form of the music, so they get a different take on it,” he said. “It’s more upbeat.”

Schmidt was happy with how the band sounded while playing “The Greatest Show” for the first time during band camp.

“I am hoping by the time we get to the show in front of the crowd that they can actually do this with confidence and get used to playing and marching, putting those two together,” he said.

Taguchi said she liked conducting the song at band camp.

“I’m really happy with it,” she said. “It looks really cool being able to see all of the visuals from up high, so I just imagine what it’s going to be like to everybody up there (in the stands). I think it’s going to look great.”

Director Kevin Cottrill said he has a lot of freshmen this year, and they have been working hard since June learning the fundamentals of marching.

“We had four rehearsals with everyone in June, so it’s a progression, but the group that we have, they are going to be great,” he said. “It’s going well, and I think the new kids are blending in.”

He said the 250 students have gelled.

“It’s an extra added challenge, but it’s a challenge I think we like, we look forward to,” he said. “This is my 26th year of teaching, and I get a lot of great energy from the students. You can get a little sedentary going in, but every new year, I have a lot of enthusiasm for what we’re doing.”

Seeing numbers continue to increase is a good problem to have.

“Just a tremendously positive number in this day and age where there are so many activities for the kids to be a part of,” Cottrill said. “To have that many kids affirm that that’s an activity that we want to do, we want to be in the Seymour High School Marching Owls and guard and with the cheerleaders, it’s a really neat thing.”

The band also appreciates the support of the band boosters and the community.

“In this community, it’s especially exciting because people stay and watch us,” Cottrill said of halftime. “I’ve had jobs where at halftime, people get up and go to the concession stand, but if you look back at the stands (at Bulleit Stadium) there are thousands of people that stay and watch the band, so it’s a testament to the tradition of the group but also to the excellence of the kids and the fact that they want to hear the music that we’re playing.”

Band of Braves

With all of the adversity the Band of Braves has faced this summer, Director Richard Branaman decided a sunny disposition was needed.

The high school construction project forced Branaman to move everything from the band room to the middle school and later into a storage pod, and he wasn’t sure where they would have band camp when that time came around with work also being done outside the building.

Fortunately, a couple of months ago, he had pulled the music from a sun show he did more than 10 years ago to use for the upcoming football season.

“I just thought I needed something that isn’t going to cause me stress,” he said, smiling. “I already have the music. I know where it’s at. … I knew the music for the show, so it’s something that gives me a lot of variety for the drill team. It’s a football game, so you want lots of fast and lots of energy, and those all pay homage to that.”

The songs include “Apache,” “Sunshine of Your Love,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “Touch the Sun,” “Catch the Sun,” “Soak Up the Sun” and “Beach Baby.”

“They give a happy vibe,” said senior Alex Caffee, who is in her third year as a drum major. “I think (the band members) are doing a great job. It’s going to be really fun to see the crowd’s reaction to how they are playing it because this group is really, really good. Usually, it takes a little long to play and march, but they are already into more than past bands.”

Junior drum major Emma Hamm said the music should resonate with the crowd at football games.

“Our songs are all happy, so it will set a good mood for the game,” she said.

Sophomore drum major Andrew Wheeles said the music is not incredibly difficult and it is fun to play.

Freshman Kirsten Raisor said it has been challenging because it’s her first year of learning how to march and play, but the experienced band members have been a big help.

“I like being with the upperclassmen and learning from them with the higher notes and some of the rhythms,” she said.

Hamm said everyone in the band has worked together.

“Out of the beginning, they were very cooperative and helpful,” she said. “It lifts a lot off of our shoulders knowing that we can tell them something once and they’ll listen to it instead of having to repeat it over and over.”

Now, they are ready to see everyone come together on the football field.

“I can’t wait for it to get started,” Wheeles said.

“It’s different than anything we could ever do,” Hamm said. “It’s much better than being in the stands because you’re actually a part of it.”

Being able to play on a new field and practicing in a revamped band room brings a lot of excitement, too.

“It’s classy,” Branaman said of the new band room. “I think all of them are impressed with the way that it looks. I’m flattered that the corporation and the community have supported this so that we can have this. When you go to another school and you see things and it’s like, ‘Oh man, I wish ours looked like this,’ well now, we have one of those and somebody will be like, ‘Oh, that’s the band room, and it’s sharp.’”

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The Seymour High School Marching Owls will play at home football games Aug. 24, Sept. 7 and 28 and Oct. 12.

The band is directed by Kevin Cottrill. His assistants are Debbie Carroll, Ellen Mirer and Kyle Lutes. The drum majors are seniors Haruka Taguchi, Sam Schmidt and Evan Baurle and junior Harrison Cottrill. The color guard instructors are Steve Nauman and Lacey Money, and the cheerleading coach is Julie Rueger.

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The Brownstown Central High School Band of Braves will play at home football games Aug. 24 and 31, Sept. 21 and 28 and Oct. 12.

The band is directed by Richard Branaman. The drum majors are senior Alex Caffee, junior Emma Hamm and sophomore Andrew Wheeles. The drill team sponsor is Angela Blann.

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