Band to compete in UIL marching
By Donnie A. Lucas
Albany’s Ragin’ Red Band will compete on Monday at the UIL area contest at Wylie High School in Abilene.
The band will step off at 2:15 p.m. at Wylie’s Bulldog Stadium, serving as the first band in the line-up. Albany will compete in the Class 2A competition, hoping to earn an overall rating of Division I from the judges to advance to the regional marching contest on Oct. 30 in Amarillo.
“What we have been working so hard for is now here,” director Will Vaughan said. “We will keep working hard this week to prepare.”
Band members will perform their show entitled “Arabian Nights” for the three judges, hoping to garner a Division I rating from at least two of the three in order to advance.
The band received a Division II rating last year under Vaughan’s first year of direction, earning a pair of Division I ratings in the spring at the concert and sight reading contest.
While other students were free to enjoy the school holiday on Monday, band members were rehearsing their show with a clinician, Mike Lunney, longtime director at Wylie High School prior to retiring. He now conducts clinics and judges at UIL contests.
“The band worked hard for two and a half hours Monday,” Vaughan said. “Mr. Lunney told them at the end that they had the best rehearsal of any of the bands he has been working with this year. That’s a high compliment.”
The band moved from the stadium to The Feed Store after the rehearsal for lunch and to relax and play games.
“I am feeling good right now,” the director said. “We are building consistency, and things are going well, but they are a very young group, and we have to keep the intensity up.”
Normally, bands are only eligible to advance to the state marching contest every other year, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UIL decided to allow bands from all six classifications to advance from the regional meets to state.
Albany will also have a chance to advance next year since Class 2A bands can move forward on even-numbered years.
Over the last two weeks in preparation for the contest, the band has also worked with the person who wrote the music score, as well as the director that charted the marching portion of the show.
