Sound of the South Marching Band

The "Sound of the South"

School	Troy University
Location	Troy, Alabama, USA
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Founded	1939
Director	Dr. Mark J. Walker
Assistant Director	Dr. T. Adam Blackstock
Members	350
Uniform	Cardinal coats, black gloves, silver Trojan helmets, silver sash on the front draped from the right to left shoulder and then over and down the left shoulder, white pants, and white shoes.

The Sound of the South is the official marching band of Troy University. The marching band was established in 1939 and has been referred to by its current name since 1965. The band was named by John M. Long soon after he was hired as band director. The band, now boasting over 300 members on a regular basis, has enjoyed major success in performing at hundreds of marching band competitions, dozens of different college and professional football venues, and follows the football team to almost every away game. The band's "trademark" piece that is played before every performance of the band is called "The Fanfare" and was written by John M. Long in 1965.

Early history

The Troy University Band has been a part of the university since 1939 when Lawrence Peterson was appointed the first director in the newly formed band at what was then Troy State Teacher's College. A year later the marching band made its first public appearance during the 1940 Homecoming festivities. Peterson held his position for seven years and in 1947 Gilbert Stephenson accepted the position as the school's second director. The following year brought many changes for the band including the first show with marching uniforms, the first guest appearance (by Dr. Paul Yoder), and the first spring band festival in 1948. In 1953 the band hired its third director, John P. Graham. Two years following, in 1955, James Patrenos was appointed as fourth director of the then Troy State College band. In 1960 Richard Melvin was selected to replace Patrenos and became the band's fifth director. Dr.Carl Vollrath held the position of Interim Director from 1964-1965.

The band as it is known today ("Sound of the South") was founded in 1965 by John M. Long. In addition to building what has become a nationally recognized band program, he has also served in his tenure as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dean of the School of Fine Arts and special assistant to Chancellor Dr. Ralph Adams. He was one of the first bandmasters in the Southern United States to be elected as president of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. In 1996, he was elected to the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors. It was during the thirty-two year tenure of Johnny Long, as he was commonly referred to, that the band program at Troy University established a prominent national reputation through its many featured appearances at music conventions, concert tours and recordings with the symphony band, as well as several nationally televised appearances with the "Sound of the South" Marching Band.

Recent history

Troy University's Sound of the South performing their halftime show at the 2006 New Orleans Bowl.

The "Sound of the South" plays halftime shows at all Troy home football games and many of the away games; Some recent trips have been to the University of Nebraska, University of Miami, University of Arkansas, Mississippi State University, University of Florida, and the University of Georgia. The "Sound" has been featured at numerous bowl games, including the Peach Bowl, the Senior Bowl, the Blue-Gray Football Classic, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, and has also been featured in halftime performances for the Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Over the past few years, the band has performed for over 500,000 fans.

Directors of the Sound of the South

John M. Long (1965–1996)
Ralph Ford (interim) (1996–1997)
Robert W. Smith (1997–2001)
Ralph Ford (2001–2010)
Mark J. Walker (2010 - present)

Recordings

The band has recorded for the Warner Bros. Records Marching Band Promotional Compact Disc since 1998, which is distributed to over 38,000 bands. This is thanks in part to former director of bands Ralph Ford who has composed and arranged over 130 pieces of music for symphonic band, concert band, jazz band, and marching band .

External links

Troy Trojans football

Venues	Veterans Memorial Stadium (1950–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Jacksonville State: Battle for the Ol' School Bell Middle Tennessee: Battle for the Palladium South Alabama

Culture & lore	Trojan "Trojans One & All" Sound of the South Marching Band

People	Head coaches NFL draftees

Seasons	1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

National championship seasons in bold

Marching bands of the Sun Belt Conference

Marching Mountaineers (Appalachian State) Sound of the Natural State (Arkansas State) Southern Pride Marching Band (Georgia Southern) Pride of Acadiana (Louisiana–Lafayette) Sound of Today (Louisiana–Monroe) South Alabama Jaguar Marching Band (South Alabama) Sound of the South (Troy)

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