The beat goes on: High school bands come together for Jackson Marching Band Fest

As her bandmates spread out across the bleachers, straightening uniforms and futzing with chinstraps, Meadow Heights High School color guard member Emily Dalton couldn't help but laugh.

"Our feathers are so much taller than the ones they have at Oak Ridge, and it makes me so happy," she said, glancing across at the next band down the line, Oak Ridge. Each band wore white plumes, but Meadow Heights' were indeed slightly taller, and in a marching band competition like the one held at Jackson High School every year (for the past 75 years), participants took the details and their rivalries seriously.

Haven Lutes, left, high-fives Elanor Boyd, 3, daughter of the Woodland band director, during the 75th annual Jackson Marching Band Festival on Tuesday at "The Pit" in Jackson.

"We just like to beat them," Dalton said of Oak Ridge, since the two schools are relatively small.

But having a small band, she said, also lends itself to fast friendships.

"We are one of the smaller bands, and [Meadow Heights] is a very small school in general," she said. "So you end up with a closeness that other schools don't have."

Perryville band member John Rauh mimes playing a trumpet on top of his own sousaphone during some downtime at the 75th annual Jackson Marching Band Festival on Tuesday at "The Pit" in Jackson.

Larger schools, however, have their own type of camaraderie, even if it's sometimes segmented into the various components of a marching band. The pre-show shenanigans of the Perryville drumline, for example, included quirky group vocal warmups and, for some reason, member Kyla Schnurbusch doing "the worm" to inspire her bandmates.

The Jackson band is so large the freshmen have their own section apart from the marching band proper. But they, too, find themselves forming strong bonds. When freshman Kelby Brandenburgh expressed doubts about sticking with the band while enjoying sodas at the nearby American Ice Cream with friends, bandmate Aspen Walker encouraged her to stay.

"I've had lessons for two years, and I still can't do it," she said.

"Please do color guard instead," urged color guard member Avery Petzoldt.

"No, you can get better at that," Walker said.

Woodland student Dylan Baker smiles as bandmate Annie Riddle ties his hair in a small bun before the 75th annual Jackson Marching Band Festival on Tuesday at "The Pit" in Jackson. "She's putting it in a bun so that it stays out of my face," Baker said. "Plus, it's torture."

Wherever she lands with the decision, it's safe to assume she won't have much difficulty finding friends on the line. As Oak Ridge percussionist Mason Warren put it while preparing to compete, "When people play together and really start sounding good, it's pretty great," he said. "You just get a passion for it. You get to make the beat and hear it get better and better."