Rachel Robinson and Josh Mattingly, Charger Staff
Band. Where only the bravest and strongest of the high school population dare to venture! Under the leadership of David Talbert, the band performs at every football game, competes at competitions, and has concerts throughout the year.
Every year the band has a different theme. This year's theme for the halftime show is a look at vintage music, the Beatles.
When asked why the Beatles were chosen, Mr. Talbert responded, "I have considered doing a Beatles show for many years. I guess it seems like a good show for many people in the band. I also tried to pick a theme that would be interesting to study in class."
Mr. Talbert, or as many band members call him "Mr.T," has been teaching at CHS for 16 years and before that was the drum instructor for four years. He has led this year's band to several competitions, achieving outstanding ratings for both concert and marching band.
To reach this mark, the band must practice every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for home games, plus a month before school even starts.
Band Camp starts in August and continues for two weeks. Members begin at 8 o'clock and end at 12 o'clock the first week.
The second week they pull double shifts working from 8 to 6 in the evening.
In the morning, members start outside on the pavement where they review "marching fundamentals." After lunch, practice the show and then they get an "ice cream break."
Then, it's back out to the dreaded student parking lot to rehearse what they learned that day.
After the grueling band camp experience, the musicians are expected to come to practices that are held during the summer.
Over the summer, there were many new additions to the band, including the freshmen and a bass player.
The CHS marching band is honored to have bass player Wes Garner. "Having a bass player this year has helped a tremendous amount. It also matches the style of the music we are playing," said Mr. Talbert. And the freshman, well, that's another story. "The band is doing very well this year, but it continues to be very young and less experienced."
This year, the band has been to several Saturday events. The Middle Tennessee School and Orchestra Associations Marching Band Festival was their first reflection on how well things were going, and the band received the ratings of II's.
Next was the Upper Cumberland Marching Festival where the ratings were I's all around.
Last, was the Colt Classic, which was held at Glencliff High School. This was their first competition, and they did pretty well.
The band was rated with I's, along with the Color Guard, Drum Major, and Percussion. They placed third in their class and eighth in their division.
Their last performance was a halftime show which was held at Murfreesboro Oakland during the football Regional Playoffs.
The band tried to play songs to get the crowd excited by playing favorites like "Hey Baby," "Tequila," "Jaws," "Batman," and "The Imperial March" from Star Wars.
"Next year's marching band theme has not been determined yet," Tabert said. "We're looking at several at this point. I try to look for something that appeals to our students, our football audience, and our competition judges. It is hard to please all three groups," said Talbert.
As for Concert Band, it starts at the end of the football season. The next concert will be the Veteran's Day concert, in which the band will play tunes such as the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "God Bless America."
Some concerts coming up are Veteran's Day in November, holiday concerts in December, and two next semester.
Until then, Cookeville High School Band will be practicing harder than ever!
This page created by Monica Bos