Band to compete at Wylie festival

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Ragin’ Red Band will compete Saturday, Oct. 7 at the Big Country Marching Festival at Wylie High School in Abilene.

The Albany band will take the field at 11:30 a.m., according to director  William Vaughan. The public is invited to attend.

The band will be performing its contest show “Our World,” with music arranged by Luke McMillan and marching drill by Rodney Gurley of Lubbock.

“We put all the elements of the show together over the last couple of weeks,” Vaughan said. “It is coming together well, and the kids are doing great. This is crunch time for them to rise to the level of intensity we need.”

The director said he is pleased with how quickly the band learned the second half of the show.

“Now we just need to get everyone to buy into the same performance level as we get ready for contest,” he said.

The band will march at the UIL Marching Contest on Monday, Oct. 16 at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.  The time Albany will march has not been announced yet.

The band earned a Division I rating at both the Wylie festival and the UIL marching contest last year. Then the group followed up in the spring with Division I ratings in both concert and sight reading contests to win a second consecutive Sweepstakes Award.

The band has the opportunity to advance to the area marching contest in Lubbock on Oct. 21, and hopefully qualify to move on to the state marching contest.

Bands from all classications including 1A through 6A now have the opportunity to compete each year at the state UIL Marching Contest. Previously, before the pandemic, bands alternated by classification.

Vaughan and his wife, Danna, who serves as an assistant director, are in their fourth year of guiding the band.

Plans are being made for the spring band trip to Branson, Missouri.