Cozy’s Corpsdom – “A Christmas Corps-us”

VK, Troopers, DCK, Excelsior, NCR et al. are joyous!

Hark, the new clamor forth! Embrace the comeback corps! Happy holidays! Hopefully, your holiday shopping will include checking out these and other fine corps.

The holidays are much cheerier to have open houses and rehearsals for new names and never-forgotten corps. For Drum Corps International, check out the Troopers and VK. In Drum Corps Associates, click into Web sites for all-age corps like Derby City Knights, Excelsior and more.

Christopher Rutt, a 1998 Cadets mello age-out, recently Crossmen brass staff, Star United Minicorps (DCA champs), Blast! cast member and ’04 Syracuse Brigadiers, is now instructing for the VK and Bluecoats. Ohio’s "Bluuuuuu" "police corps" have been in corpsdom for a long time. The Velvet Knights were a fave entertaining corps until the late nineties. To have VK back in 2007 would be a dream come true for many fan$.

Rutt said, "I am teaching the Velvet Knights this summer as well as the Bluecoats, and this weekend is an audition/rehearsal camp for VK. In fact, VK is back. We have a full brand new line of Kanstul’s, and we have a great staff and 2COOLVK show for 2007!"

Rutt continued, "The rehearsal is this Sunday, December 10th, from 10am to 4pm at:

Canyon High School
220 S. Imperial Hwy
Anaheim Hills, CA

"For more information, people should go to www.vkyao.org and click on the Member’s section to read about exactly what they need to bring.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime to bring back an ‘infamous’ corps with a rich history!"

VK has a long history with Ziggy Kanstul. Charles Hargett, Kanstul marketing; Troy Emmons, production; and Ziggy Kanstul must be proud to see VK back in contention.

Mayra Iraheta, secretary, posted, "(Key) Bb, and it was Troy who worked on every single one of them."

Troopers to rehearse in Cheyenne, WY

From the DCI Troopers, www.troopersdrumcorps.org : December Audition Camp, Thursday 28th – Saturday 30th, Storey Gymnasium, 2811 House Ave., Cheyenne, WY 82007…Concludes at 11am Saturday." Rehearsals will also be in Casper, WY and other locales.

Derby City Knights, all-age in Kentucky

Matthew Basey is the founder/director of Louisville’s all-age Derby City Knights. Louisville has a rich music history with Jeff Cox’s Bluegrass Brass in the nineties, which included Scooter Pirtle and Nancy Brown, both Star alumni, Eric Landis, now CorpsVets bass drummer, Mike Folz, etc. It should help Derby City to be in the cradle of jazz education, the University of Louisville, with improv guru Jamey Aebersold. I’ve enjoyed two jazz camps at UL. Having Bloomington and Indianapolis nearby should also deliver some talent for Derby City.

The Derby City Knights will host an open house this weekend in the historic Spectrum Building, which has a large auditorium. Specifics from www.derbycityknights.com : "8 am to 8 pm on December 9th and 8 am to 5 pm on the 10th. The camp fee to help cover the cost of the rehearsal facility is $25 which is due during registration. Lunch on both Saturday and Sunday will be provided by the corps."

Check Mapquest to locate the DCK practice site:
Spectrum Building
911 South Brook Street
Louisville, KY 40203

The Kiwanis Kavaliers are back with us; well, not from Ontario but now in South Florida. Best of luck to Director Doug Darwin.

Excelsior excels in New York state

Excelsior’s Greg Morgan, percussion program coordinator, posted, "Please join us Sunday, December 10 for rehearsal at Shaker High School, Latham, NY from 12-5pm. With several new members at our last rehearsal and several inquiries from the Saratoga Victorian Stroll last Thursday, rehearsal should be a good one!"

For Excelsior’ all-age info, go to www.excelsiordrumcorps.org .

North Coast Rock near Cleveland

Gleaned from North Coast Rock’s all-age site: "The camp will be held on Saturday, December 9, from 10 am to 10 pm and Sunday, December 10, from 9 am to 4 pm at the Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Ohio. The address for the school is 3581 Center Road, Brunswick, Ohio. Please log onto our website at www.northcoastrock.org for information."

Prairie Sound spins in Kansas

Jeff, Kansan, posted, "Our Next Meeting/Practice is Saturday December 9th from 1pm to 4pm at the Olathe Wesleyan Church, Olathe, KS. We will continue to build membership and work on the music we have completed. We will scale show to the minicorps time limit. We have the equipment, we just need you." Check out this all-age corps, http://www.prairiesound.homestead.com.

Heat Wave scorches in Florida

Executive Director John Johnson invites folks to check out Heat Wave, a DCA all-age corps in Orlando, www.heatwavecorps.org .

Publisher’s Note: Cozy’s Corpsdom features updates from the world of drum corps as only Cozy Baker can deliver ….. in his own unique style and presentation. A featured Drum Corps World reporter and contributing columnist for many years, Cozy travels the country as a competitive marching member, instructor, observer, and commentator on the state-of-the-activity. The opinions expressed in this column are strictly those of the author.