The 1996 Cleburne Drumline at the DeSoto contest.

My mother has been asking for a digital copy of the fabled DeSoto tape for years, and I finally got around to ripping the old band tapes. Paul Rennick said nice things to us afterward and we destroyed everyone by a mile.

BONUS Totally vintage footage of:
me Hulking out;

Quincey's Stevie Wonder impersonation;

our set of ballad visuals that had gotten so extensive and progressively weird as to turn into an actual narrative involving dates, guns, rehab, and psychoses;

Diana's dad chilling in the background behind tenors John Ewart and Junior Morin;

a great bass line you can hear but can't see, with members DJ Fonner, Nathan Hall, Zach Taylor, and that freshman Shawn on top bass who had totally decent hands but was always lippy so one night I picked him up by his nipples;

a great performance by the front ensemble, ably led by ladies known then as Marlene Hansen and Kristin Saunders;

my fish Nicole Young and her fearless band of cymboleers, who trusted us to not wail on their hands during Bottle Dance; and

my Rock Hair.

Cleburne High School Drumline
Fiddler On The Roof
DeSoto Contest 1996

Instructor: Lee Ewell
Book: Ewell / Berthume (less info)