The Renegades - Excerpt

[drumlaw80]

^{THE DREAM}

^{It all started with a dream.}

^{In 1996, a rag-tag group of seven people decided to form a senior drum and bugle corps in the San Francisco Bay Area.}

^{This was either a very brave or a very stupid thing for this little group to do. First, they didn’t have any instruments or uniforms, nor did they have the money to buy them. They were also 100 people short of a drum corps and 3,000 miles from the nearest competitive circuit. Their odds of success were above zero, but somewhere in the void between astronomically small and tragically insignificant. Apparently, this didn’t bother them one bit.}

^{Needing a name for their new drum corps, the group met in somebody’s living room to narrow down the list. After much debate, the name came down to a hotly contested runoff election between Barbary Coast Corsairs and Bay Area Renegades. When the dust settled, “Renegades” won by one vote, and the guy who thought of Barbary Coast Corsairs quit and went home. The group picked green and white as their official colors, and the Bay Area Renegades were thus born. Over the weeks and months, the little group worked hard and every member bought, begged, borrowed, or stole a drum or bugle to play. Since they had no uniforms, they simply wore jeans and white pinstripe baseball jerseys with RENEGADES written in green script on the front.}

^{The Renegades drum line—which temporarily consisted of every member carrying a drum whether they knew how to play one or not—debuted in a parade in Clayton, California on July 4, 1997.}

^{In September, the Renegades appeared with horns for the first time at the Fog Fest in Pacifica. People scrambled out of the way as the Renegades marched down the street playing Magnificent Seven. The music didn’t sound good, but their enthusiasm made up for it. Amusingly enough, many Pacifica residents were convinced the Renegades were a local softball team that just happened to find musical instruments. Despite a constantly fluctuating membership and no instructional staff, the Renegades kept the dream alive as they performed in small parades and community events. When they needed someone to carry the American flag or corps banner, somebody’s wife, husband, or kid would be drafted into duty.}

^{Over the holidays, the Renegades temporarily replaced the baseball jerseys with some old beige cadet-style uniforms and Santa hats. They assembled on a front lawn in snare drummer Al Chan’s South San Francisco neighborhood, and played Jingle Bells for anyone who would listen. The performance was ragged, but the little corps played their heart out and even made a few bucks by passing the Santa hat around.}

^{Like I said, it all started with a dream.}

^{THE RENEGADES - The Story of an Evil Drum Corps, is now available on Amazon Kindle and NOOK.}

Edited October 1, 2012 by drumlaw80

[Commander71]

Ok, so I took a chance and downloaded this book because of the subject matter and the excellent price being offered. I was SOOOOO NOT disappointed!

I read most of it in one sitting. I had tears of laughter running down my face in many parts. ANYONE who has ever been in a start-up corps or ever marched senior corps anywhere can relate to this story. I found myself comparing my own drum corps friends to Renegade members and found that so many of the incidents described compared to many of the incidents we have all lived in our own corps days. My own early days in the 1970 - 73 Burlington Commanders were full of similar incidents, stories and a cast of unforgettable characters just like the early Renegades.

It is written in a breezy style just as if Rudnicki is telling you the story across a table at a shabby bar. The initial DCI meeting story is hilarious.

Aside from the humour you also get the underlying message about the sweat and incredible work ethic that drum corps instills in a member. No, some of us never really made it big...maybe a lot of us. But we all worked hard and played hard.

I really recommend that anyone involved in drum corps or band download this book and get set for a really great read.

[CHRISP]

Read it on my Kindle and loved it!!