Rratex

Your butt gets sore every time your see a coach bus. You never visit McDonald's when not on tour. You have to buy a second corps jacket for all of your patches. You wear flip-flops in the shower at home.

Bump!

Gulf Coast Sound Drum & Bugle Corps will have its March 2-Day drill camp on Saturday/Sunday, March 11-12, 2006 at Rittenhouse Baptist Church, 513 W. Rittenhouse Rd., Houston, Texas. Rehearsal times are 10 am-9 pm Saturday, 1pm-6pm on Sunday. We will continue to work on music for our 2006 show, "Shades of Green". The corps is still looking to fill spots in all sections, particularly soprano, baritone, guard and front ensemble, but all are welcome. Membership is open to all age groups. Prior drum corps or band experience is recommended, but not necessary. The desire to work hard to become one of the premier drum corps in the United States is a must! Directions to camp and other corps information can be found on our website: www.gulfcoastsound.org Please take this opportunity to come find out more about GCS. Plans are being finalized for the Summer '06 competition season and for our first home show, "Brass on the Bayou", the first DCA drum corps competition ever in Texas, on July 29th. Spots for the 2006 season will be closing soon, so don't be left behind in what looks to be GCS's greatest year ever!

Gulf Coast Sound, Houston's all-age drum and bugle corps, is still looking for individuals to fill out its front ensemble. The corps needs at least two more individuals for its front ensemble and "no marching is required." Our next camp is February 25 and 26 at the usual rehearsal site. For more details, go to http://www.gulfcoastsound.org.

I march with Gulf Coast Sound and since we are a young corps, we decided to get in a much practice time as possible and missed a lot of I&E. We only had one or two people competiting in I&E, so they were allowed to leave early. I would suspect that most corps are still rehearsing and many I&E competitors are from alumni corps or non-marching members.

My high school and college band days were some of the most memorable days in my life. I didn't even know drum corps existed before a fellow drumline member turned me on to it in college but I never got the opportunity to do junior corps. When my eldest daughter reached high school, her band director (a KKPsi brother) asked me to help out with the drumline. In my effort to locate someone or something to help me get back into playing shape, I found that we had a local senior drum corps. I went to a rehearsal and from that day I have been hooked. I love the comraderie, performing, and the drive it gives me to become a better drummer. Who would have thought? Here I am 23+ years after I graduated from college drumming again. Life is good...

Happy B-Day from the Great State of Texas! Looking forward to seeing you during the tour this summer.

Only about a week and a half the before All-Star Mardi Gras Parade! We are going to pass a good time! Come on and get in on the fun! This year promises to be the best since we have many New Orleans people to show us how it really done. ^OO^

Very nice logo. Look forward to seeing some of you guys at the Texas Drum Corps Preview in June.

Gulf Coast Sound inherited a set of Stringrays from a local university that we are still using (due to budgetary constraints). We no longer use the snares but we still use the tenors and basses, although the 14 inch drum on one of sets of tenors is beginning to cave in. Here's a picture of a Stringray bass (recovered in black) being used at last year's DCA Championship. GCS Bass

I get quiet and focused. Once I start the performance, the nervousness leaves and I start giving directions (e.g., stop here, slow down, straighten the line, etc).

Let the good times roll!

Check with Fork's Drum Closet. They are a reseller of used drum corps equipment.

43 when I joined Bayou City Blues, which was 21 years after I last marched in college in 1981. I am going on my third year with Gulf Coast Sound.

If you live in or near the Texas Gulf Coast region and would like to march drum corps in 2006, why not check out Gulf Coast Sound's next winter camp on December 10, 2005? Having just marched in the Washington Mutual Thanksgiving Day Parade, GCS is ready to start working toward its goal of making the 2006 DCA Class A Finals in Rochester, NY. Spots are still available in all sections. Get all the details here.

Welcome to the family! I love it when a plan comes together. Texas will have its own circuit!

This is always an "All Star Drum Corps" for the Galveston Madri Gras every year in Feburary. Gulf Coast Sound invites members and ex-members of all corps to join in on the fun. We have a mass rehearsal/party on Friday night and we march two parades on Saturday. One starts around 1pm and the night parade starts around 6 or 7 pm. People come from all over for this event. For the past two years, we have had members from this year's DCA Class A Champions Chops Inc. and the Class A runner-ups Governaires march with us. Check out the corps website for futher details about next year's event. http://www.gulfcoastsound.org. :)

Isn't Winston/Salem in the East? Just not Northeast.

It all! Can someone be there to help me off the field?

I sold the darn thing for a horse and buggy. I should arrive in Scranton in time for next year's championship. Wait a minute... What if they move it to another location?

Any reviews from people that attended the clinic?

I like the Promark DC-3S too. I just wish they had a rounded bead like the Jeff Moore's.

Why not something for us DCA people?

Rockmart was my very first drum corps performance. I didn't have the privilege of marching drum corps as a youth (or young adult for that matter) but I really enjoyed it and look forward to returning this weekend. DCA Rocks the South!

Ralph Hardimon's are my favorite. We used Promark DC 3Ss (Japanese Oak) last year. I like the weight but wish they had a round bead like the Ralph's.