Of course, that's a lofty goal! I like to set the bar high for myself and my members and expect them to achieve it (that includes me!). Humans are amazing creatures and are capable of FAR more than we ever give ourselves credit for. Each one of us has greatness inside us, but the trick is being able to discipline yourself and overcome the desire to be lazy or become distracted by things that don't really matter. If you have a good work ethic, a positive attitude, and the desire and hunger to be the best at what you do...there's not a whole lot standing in your way.
That's my philosophy for the Bush Brass in 2009. I'm not here to reinvent the wheel. Joe Exley, Dennis Argul, Durand Thomas, and all the other caption heads before me...Bushwackers' brass programs have been built on solid, proven pedagogy for years. How am I going to come in here and throw out everything that Joe did the last few years (that led us to a caption championship in 2006, by the way)? I'm not. That's dumb. What my staff and I bring to the table is structure, a positive approach, tenacity, and high expectations. Build this on top of a proven technique program and a horn line that can think on the fly and deal with adversity, and I think you have a winning combination.
...but with all change, your members have to buy in. I went into the open house with the hope that vets would show up and act like vets....showing the newbies how we roll here at Bush, setting the example, etc. I hoped that they would recognize what I was there to change, and what I was going to leave alone. I hoped that they would see that the staff truly believes in this and is completely dedicated to doing whatever it takes to not only bring a world championship back to the Bushwackers, but also to provide a fun, educational, positive experience to the members...an experience that they won't forget, and the opportunity to truly belong to an elite, world-class organization on a mission.
My hopes were realized on November 30th. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and we took that step in a big way. We couldn't have everyone there that wanted to be, which was disappointing, but at least we know where they were. I had no idea what kind of numbers we were looking at...and now at least we know where our starting point is and where we need to recruit and spent our efforts bringing in members. I was very pleased with the low brass turn out. This was a problem area for the corps last year, and it seems that we have a lot of new faces and a lot of enthusiasm in those sections. The upper brass was solid, but we could use a few more horses. The talent we have is better than I was expecting...we just need a little more of it...and that's fine.
I don't get hung up on numbers. I don't change the way I approach a rehearsal because 10 people showed up instead of 50. The staff doesn't either. We're all on the same page that whoever is in front of us is going to be the best at what they do...and we're going to lead them there. Do I want 60+ brass? Um...YES. Is that going to happen in year one of this new project? I don't know. If you're reading this and not in the horn line yet, perhaps you should come out!
Right now, I'm very pleased with the numbers. I'm very happy with the talent. Most of all (seriously), I am completely overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, dedication, and drive of this horn line.
The vets have bought in. I feel that they trust me and the staff to do the right thing. We'll do our job, they'll do theirs, and we'll all be fine. Good stuff. The new folks had a great day, and many of them are sold and in for 2009. That's very exciting. You can't teach that stuff...but the attitude of the corps is one of those "make it or break it" things that you need for a successful year.
Now, we need to keep pushing. The members are fired up. The staff is fired up. The administration is working hard behind the scenes to keep all the gears moving. Everything is shaping up very nicely. I'm very happy to be back.
Our next rehearsal is going to be on January 3rd and 4th. We'll have the location announced really shortly. If you're out there in the blogosphere right now and you're feeling like you might want to pick up the old axe again and have a great summer...seriously, check us out. The show is going to be ridiculous!
Oh...the show! The show is called "Scenes from a Psychotic Circus" and will be all original music by Key Poulan. Most people know key because he writes for tons of bands and is the arranger/composer for the Santa Clara Vanguard. Key is psyched about writing this show, because it's different...strange...weird...dark...aggressive............basically everything that we love about drum corps will be in this show. It's really going to be sick.
I spent all of my time with the brass, obviously...but I want to give the other sections some love here. The drum line is going to be even better than last year. We had a large turn out, especially for the snares, and we're just raising the bar all over the place in 2009. The guard had a good turn out, and they're going after another guard championship this year for sure. It's really going to be an incredible year.
January 3rd and 4th. If you've never marched but think you might want to...if you've marched other places before and would like to get back in the game...if you marched junior corps and think senior corps is a bunch of fat old guys doing easy crap....if you would like to make a junior corps in the future but want to get experience...if you marched other senior corps and hate the Bushwackers...if you were a Bushwacker...whatever.
THIS IS THE YEAR TO BE A BUSHWACKER
Make it happen.
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