Eklipse

Just a little bump...auditions are in two weeks!!!!! Sunday Sept. 16th!!!!!!!!!!

I have had all three here at Eklipse: Winter Guard since 2001, winter Drumline since 1999 (went inactive in 2004), and a drum corps for a half of a summer (2003). I know that for my guard staff and drum staff all of them were used as a recruiting tool for each individual ensemble as well as a training tool for each individual ensemble. PR or any other Div. 1 corps is (I would think) using it as a way to both train incoming talent as well as recruiting and finding young, unkown talent. PR and SCV being both in world class level of competition (highest level of skill sets),are I am sure seeing this chance as a wonderful way to get an edge on recruiting as well as keeping their corps name in the minds of any young people that will see them in a season. Most guards, of their level will be seen by around 50,000 fans (just a quick guess) in a winter season. With the bulk of that at WGI championships (in Dayton OH. in April) where finals will have about 15,000 or so. There could be more at finals. I'm not really sure about how many people UD arena can hold on one side and the end zones. Hope that helps a little. Brad Deason Eklipse

Eklipse Makes Major Changes for 2007 After an exciting and successful season in the WGI World Class, Eklipse debuts it’s 2007 season with many changes. Due to a large influx of young, talented performers, Eklipse will be competing in Open Class this season. Their show is entitled “Crazy” and is sure to be a hit with the fans. Eklipse has also moved the base of its operations to Nashville, Tennessee. Executive Director, Brad Deason stated, “Eklipse has made this move to make it more beneficial for both staffing and member access. We are very lucky that Nashville School of the Arts has opened its facility to us. We are truly excited about being able to provide such a rewarding experience to the youth in the Nashville area.” The staff of Eklipse is excited about the season and the great talent that will be performing! The staff includes: * Brad Deason - Brad founded Eklipse in 1999. * Matt Caudill – Matt C. has previously taught with Stoneman Douglas, Durant, and the Alliance of Miami as well as many other Florida groups. He was also a member of Alliance of Miami for over 4 years and was a soloist(green guy) in the ‘Hotel California’ show. * Matt Humphrey - His experience includes teaching high schools such as Kings, Brentwood, Center Grove, Centerville, Northview, and the Bluecoats Drum Bugle Corps. He was also a 4-year member of the Cavaliers and Escapade. * Amanda Jones – She was a 5-year member of Eklipse who now comes on board after aging out in 2006. * Other staff members include Chris Dulin, Whitney Sarbacker, Amanda Stone and Stacie Flood-Popp. Eklipse is part of the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit and will be seen at several circuit shows around the middle Tennessee area. Eklipse will also be competing at the Dayton Regional, the Chesterton POWER Regional, the Nashville Regional and WGI World Championships. We strongly encourage everyone to come out and see the new direction our guard is taking. You can learn more about us and the at http://www.eklipsewinterguard.org/

I never said I was on staff at Hypnotix. Joe called me almost weekly and actualyy at times several times a week about this. I gave him my opnion on recruiting. I never said anything to him about his money or how to spend any of it. You need someone to shoot at and it's me. Fine. I hope good things for you and your family. I never had a problem with you until now but I will be just fine. I hope Hypnotix becomes what people want for the corps and the kids... I hope for the same things. Never tried to hurt anyone....but I guess I'm a good target. Brad

Jim your comments are both childish and plain false in several areas. Eklipse will not be coming out with a corps ever again beacuse of "GOOD" managment. It is my repsonsibility to NOT bring out a corps unless it can be done right. If my kids couldn't eat right, sleep right, and travel right I wasn't going to do it (example of good managment). Bingo looked as though it would work here...but I was wrong. My bingo hall failed beacuse of casinos too close to us. No bingo, no corps...plain and simple. I made my decision to fold Eklipse in December of that year when ANY, AND I MEAN ANY kid that wants to march a division III corps could still find a home easily (example of good managment). As far as Hypnotix is concerned. Joe informed me of his move over two weeks ago...I had no idea he did not tell anyone about his decision. He told me in a way that made it sound like public knowledge...I knew no difference. I was just a simple friend of Joe that was on the other end of the phone when he needed someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of. I guess some other folks had way too many ulterior motives? The reason why you were removed from Hypnotix and never got on board with Eklipse is because of this type of action that Joe and I both knew was right under the surface. Joe and his team at Hypnotix made the best decision he could at the time. Correct or not...it was his best call. Jim...instead of throwing stones...next time just start your own corps. Since you believe managment to be so "simple" why don't you step up to the plate and put your money where your mouth is. In the future if you want to address me on such matters please do so by e-mail. Anyone else that wants to know the truth behind Eklipse just ask. I'll let you see my budgets and here my side of things. It's just so easy for everyone from the outside to look and judge. It is simply the most difficult thing in the known universe to put together a drum corps and make it work. If it were easy there would be 10 or so new ones a year. Think of me and Eklipse as you want. I don't have a drumline anymore because I fell out of love with the activity. I have been doing it for over 25 years and I have won 3 world championships. and a silver at WGI...I have climbed the mountain and I am happy with that...so no more drumline. I have a world guard now and I will someday have a finalist world guard and then I will have a medalist world guard...and then I will will take on some other challenge. My life is worth more that what is takes for someone else to tell me how much it's worth. I know what I have accomplished and with what I had to do it. If you don't know the whole story...then my best advice is shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

From what I know...which is everything. The Executive Director has excepted a job in Washington for the next 6 months. Hypnotix will continue in operation with the indoor guard program with plans on coming out with an indoor line next season as well. All of the brand new equipment is still in place and the money is still there as well. I am working with their administration to help and get the recrutiing thing off the ground. Joe and all of the folks there in Evansville are great people and will do well in the acticity. He is just going slow and making sure all things are covered. Again there is a building FULL of brand new equipment and money that is available to them. While the Exec. Dir. is gone there will still be thuings happening with the indoor program. Keep an eye out. Brad

It is unrealistic to think that the rate of growth will continue in Drum Corps. The cost of instruments is growing at the same rate that it has been for the past 2 decades. The cost of food has risen at a much higher rate due to production and transportation cost of that product. The transportation industry has had (of course) a fantastic increase in cost just over the last 10 weeks, let alone a year or five years. That said drum corps fees and or financial growth, in comparrison, is upside down to say the least. To charge what is needed to give a student the quality of health and logistics needed for that student, the cost is simply prohibative. When I was going to bring Eklipse out on a full summer tour, for a small Div. III corps, would have cost each student over $1,500. That is so that student could eat right EVERY meal of EVERY day. Travel on good buses. Have strong reliable transportation for all staff and equipment. This was BEFORE the fuel increase of this hurricane season. I love drum corps as much as anyone....heck I even started my own and ran it for a summer. But I have to be realistic....this isn't about saxaphones or flutes...it's about money. The current DCI model will collapse, eventually, under it's own weight and success (the more successful a corps gets the more they need to travel, the more they need to travel the more exepnsive it becomes to stay successful and so on and so on ...). Therefore there must be a serious look at the future of the activity and understand that when gas gets over $3 and stays there and then moves higher (fuel in england is over $5 US/gallon) drum corps will come to a screeching halt. There is a future for this activity, but for it to exist the ENTIRE community has to think "outside The Zone". Just my 4.7 cents (adjusted due to inflation) Brad

You can officially take Eklipse off of your list for maybe coming back on the field. After much looking and figuring money and logistics...the support just isn't here. I could make a go of it. It would fail long term so I am not going to put my organization through that. However as far as Hypnotix goes they are off to a good start. The money is there (initially) and they have a very soild plan in place for their future. After just ordering brand new horns and drums, with a full front ensemble....things look great indeed. I am not saying that there is a merger of Eklipse and Hypnotix (that would be greatly overexagerating things) but let me say that talks have opened to have a very close working realtionship. I have expereince and the heart and passion for this activity and I also have access to a wonderful guard designer and a pretty good colorguard. I just want Joe and the rest of the Hypnotix team to be successful. Joe was and still is to a degree a part of my administration team here at Eklipse. He spent a full year watching and learning about how to do and how not to do things. Like I tell Joe..."There is no How To guide to run one of these things, so do the best you can and you have help if you want it." I want the kids that go there to have the best experience of their lives, and if Eklipse can help in anyway with that long term goal then I would be very excited. Imperiela Guard did it back in the day ( I was in the snare line in 1983...the year of their death) and I know it can happen again. Best of luck to Hypnotix...I hope to be a part of your team. Joe and the rest of the folks there in Evansville are as good of people as you can find...i hope everyone yells loud for them this next summer! Brad Eklipse

THanks for the very kind words. THis is the scoop from the horses mouth...so to speak. Eklipse is is slowing down to make a solid effort at being a finanacially stable and healthy organization. I started a bingo hall and thought "Hey this si all I have to do...just be smart with my money and we can have a corps along with all of my winter programs." Well when I went to build the corps I kept on coming up with huge numbers for us to be healthy and give the kids their experience they would want. I was looking at having fees of over $1,500 to make things work. I just couldn't see a viable option so I called it quits in December of this past year. It is still the biggest dream of my life to someday run a corps again. We came home after our first year out with money in the bank and kids that loved what they went through...but luck did not smile on us for a second year. I have been thinking on contacting some of our surrounding corps and offering some kind of regional idea...sort of a Boston and Florida connection but a lot closer to home. If there is a good businessman out there that lives close to Kentucky and wants to help look at a plan and help Eklipse to someday be able to return to the field...please feel free to contact me. Thanks again for the kind words Brad Deason Executive Director Eklipse Youth Organization Inc. p.s. The group in Evansville is being started up by a protege of mine named Joe Kerr. The group is called Hypnotix and will begin as a colorguard unit and maybe turn into a drum corps one day....wish him luck everyone.

The Eklipse Youth Organization is selling it's truck and trailer. To see it please go to www.eklipse.org and then scroll to the link on the home page. It is a very solid piece of equipment and has served us well. To contact me directly please e-mail me at brad_dea...@charter.netspam (remove spam to use). Thanks Brad Deason Executive Director Eklipse

bump....it's still there!

If you are looking for a great truck and trailer I have the one for you. Eklipse Youth Organization is selling it's trcuk and trailer. All equipment can be seen at http://eklipse.homestead.com/Index.html then go to the trcuk for sale link and take a look. The equipment is in great condition and only needing a paint job. Eklipse is just not big enough to use all of this and after owning it for two years I'm willing to let it go at a great price. For more info. please contact me at brad_deason@charter.net anytime. Thanks Brad Deason Executive Director Eklipse Youth Organization Inc.

Still looking.....

The good ole' bumperooskie. Brad

Hello everyone. I haven't posted here in a while. I still read every day and I am looking for some help. I am trying to get horns to use this summer. I need Bb contras. I would love to have 4 of them. I will be willing to lease them or if you are very nice you'll let us use them for the first half of the summer. Eklipse will be done this summer on July 12th. I will be willing to pay for shipping or I'll drive and get them if you are anywhere close. If any of you know a college, high school, or corps that uses shoulder horns and would let us use them please let me know at brad_deason@charter.net Eklipse will be willing to refurbish them at the end of the season. Last summer Center Grove High School was nice enough to let us use them for the summer and afterwards we removed all dents (old and new) and had the entire horn gone over. This is the best place on the planet to get the word out. PLease help out a young corps get things happening!!! Thanks everyone Brad Deason Executive Director Eklipse

Hey all, I am selling all of our battery equipment from the past three season for a great price. I have 7 snares (13"), 6 quints (6, 10,12,13,14,), 5 bass drums (18,20,22,24,2 and all carriers. All of this for $4,000. You can have everything that I have wiht the battery equipment. If you need to know more please e-mail me at brad_deason@charter.net or send me your number and I'll give you a call. Brad