The new Nashville Drum Corps is getting off the ground!

[kansasDC]

I agree with MetalTones2012 that restricting a new corps' membership to just HS seniors and above is a mistake. My son has marched 4 years of DCI already, three in World Class, and he is only a HS junior this year! There are always some talented kids that can march in just about any corps at a young age. Michael Terry marched at the age of 14 in a World Class Champion corps, and I personally know of several others that have won rings and/or made WC finals as young as 13.

They may want to reconsider the blanket "HS senior or older" statement or they may be cutting out a lot of very talented potential members.

[UWGKKpsi]

Careful on the name there.... "Music City" is awfully close to "Music City Legend"

[JeffP]

Good luck Music City. It's only appropriate that the music city should have a drum corps. They have a nice stadium too!

Hmmm, I know of a corps named "Music City Legend" from Nashville, TN. Sounds like they have a corps and a good one at that though it's DCA, not DCI and I'm sure that doesn't count.

[CloudHype]

Looking at the names that are with the corps, you have many directors for some of the larger or more sucessful programs in the Nashville Metro area. The whole thing about high school seniors and up is their idea. Many, many band directors do not wish for their members to be gone for the summer (I disagree), and knowing the reputation of a few of these programs and directors, I feel certain that I'm correct with that thought.

Think of it guys, you form a corps and area directors say not my kids. Well tell them you only want your seniors and I bet you'll get a lot more support.

[Piper]

I agree with MetalTones2012 that restricting a new corps' membership to just HS seniors and above is a mistake. My son has marched 4 years of DCI already, three in World Class, and he is only a HS junior this year! There are always some talented kids that can march in just about any corps at a young age. Michael Terry marched at the age of 14 in a World Class Champion corps, and I personally know of several others that have won rings and/or made WC finals as young as 13.

They may want to reconsider the blanket "HS senior or older" statement or they may be cutting out a lot of very talented potential members.

I'll agree with that. I don't see the point in a start-up corps applying for Open Class to set the minimum age limit too high. Younger kids eventually turn into older kids. Granted that 14 or 15 year olds aren't going to go out there and mow the field with the Phantom Regiment, but they can gain experience and provide a solid foundation to build on.

[OdeToArsenal47]

Well, the entire purpose of not letting HS kids into the corps is because it would really interfere with HS Marching Band. I know that that would be the case for my HS band, because we start camps at the end of July. If you marched DCI, you probably woudldn't get back until after band camp, which ends the day before world championship finals. You would also miss a day or 2 of school, too.

Hell, you'll even miss a couple of days if you march DCA.

[kansasDC]

Well, the entire purpose of not letting HS kids into the corps is because it would really interfere with HS Marching Band. I know that that would be the case for my HS band, because we start camps at the end of July. If you marched DCI, you probably woudldn't get back until after band camp, which ends the day before world championship finals. You would also miss a day or 2 of school, too.

Hell, you'll even miss a couple of days if you march DCA.

My point was that that is not the case with all potential members. My son has not missed a single day of camp, tour, etc. in three years of World Class corps, and he has also not had a single problem with band activities. He has only missed the first two days of band camp the past two years and he "caught up" in about an hour. To just blanket state that all members must be HS seniors or older is not a great recruiting move for a brand-new Open Class corps IMHO.

[CasualFan]

Unfortunately, schools in Tennessee start much earlier than other places. Metropolitan Nashville schools first day in 2008 was Aug 11. While that was after finals, it would mean that any HS marching band students involved in DCI would have completely missed band camp.

One of the largest high schools in Tennessee (Dobyns-Bennett) first day of class this year was Aug. 4. Any student that wanted to march DCI in 2008 would have missed the three weeks of band camp and the first week of school.

[Piper]

Academic seasons are one of those things that DCI simply has no control over. In some countries all of the kids start and finish school at the same time, but in the U.S. it can vary from state to state, county to county and in some cases even town to town, be it HS or college. I know that a lot of kids over the years have made arrangements to take their final exams early so they could bolt to spring training, but some school systems don't permit it. Worst case scenario is when a kid is forced to choose between a school band commitment and a Drum Corps one. In that case they usually choose the latter. If you give a kid a choice between a mini van and a Corvette which one do you think they're going to select? School bands have lost a number of kids that way, because if they don't plan on becoming a music major or they're not one already, they don't care.

[EMStar85]

Think of it guys, you form a corps and area directors say not my kids. Well tell them you only want your seniors and I bet you'll get a lot more support.

Hmmm...that's exactly what Jim Mason ended up doing. Worked for Star! Note that I'm NOT saying we didn't have younger-than-seniors marching, just that Jim promised not to accept them if their director had objections.