BREMEN, Ala. – The Cold Springs High School Royal Blue Band wrapped up its second and final week of band camp this week. The 28-member band was ahead of schedule, having combined its music and marching drills in the first week.
Director William Johnson said, “For a while there we just did it where the first week was music and the second week was marching, but these kids, they work so hard that we can go ahead and put the marching in with the music by the first week.”
Now, the students will have evening rehearsals each Tuesday leading up to the beginning of school.
Each day of band camp was from 1-9 p.m.
“Some band directors love to start in the mornings…” Johnson said, but he had a different approach. “We fight the kids that usually sleep all summer, and they may oversleep, but most of the time the kids are up by 10 or 11 o’clock so they got their night’s sleep in and then they come to band camp and it’s kind of their usual schedule, so you don’t have to fight trying to call them and find out why they’re not at band camp.”
With the threat of heat exhaustion in the afternoons, Johnson is careful to make sure the students stay hydrated and cool. “We try not to overexert, try to make sure we have plenty of liquids and take many, many breaks.”
Johnson said the heat didn’t affect the students’ enthusiasm.
“From rookies all the way to seniors they’re just doing a phenomenal job learning their music, memorizing their music, learning the drill sets, it’s just been great. The leadership team has done a wonderful job. The rookies have had great attitudes and they’re very teachable, so that makes a world of difference,” he said.
This year’s tentative halftime show title is “Country Songs Down South.” The band will play country hits from the South including “9 to 5,” “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “Cotton Eye Joe” and “Country Roads.”
The show theme is chosen in collaboration between the director and students. The upper-class students submit ideas for themes and vote.
“I want the seniors really to have a show that they would like to play before they leave. So, the seniors have a huge sway in the vote,” said Johnson.
He said he relies on his section leaders to help lead their sections and gives them several opportunities to lead on their own, helping them grow in confidence in themselves.
“I delegate a lot of the power to my section leaders because I want them to be student leaders. They’ve got to learn the situations and scenarios and how to react,” said Johnson. “I give them opportunities to work with their sections, and they learn great life-building skills: how to deal with conflict and how to deal with adversity and all these different things like that. That’s gonna mold them into the leaders of tomorrow.”
Johnson assigns section leaders based on skill rather than seniority within the band.
“Sometimes age can make them not work like they should. Some people think they’re entitled to it. I’m not of that thinking,” he said. “To me, if they’re willing to better themselves, better their section and continue to work at it, I will take that into consideration. I’ve had young leaders in the past.”
The Cold Springs Royal Blue Band has nine rookies this year. Johnson said he hopes to increase that number every year and help the band program reach its full potential. Working in collaboration with the middle and elementary schools, he hopes to get even more kids interested in music and joining the band program.
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