Flags, flutes, flugelhorn: The sights and sounds of Aggie Marching Band

The beating of drums, flags waving in the air and over a hundred students marching on the field, filling Maverik Stadium with the sounds of the Aggie Marching Band.

The marching band is an essential aspect of any college football game. Not only do they lead the stadium in Utah State University’s fight song and the infamous ‘Scotsman,’ but they entertain throughout the game even under challenging circumstances.

Made up of three main sections, the winds, drumline and colorguard work together to put on a show for Cache Valley each home football game.

Lane Weaver is the director of athletic bands and professional practice assistant professor and works as the only full-time employee with the band.

The USU Color Guard are proud to wave that USU flag. Photo// Zachary Guercio

“We’re a little bit unique here at USU in that I’m the only full-time staff that we have with typically 180 students. Because I’m the only full-time staff, the students become our assistant coaches. That’s one of the great things actually, I think about how our program is put together is that the student buy in is to such a level that they really have ownership over a lot of what we do. I can’t do it without great student leadership,” Weaver said.

Weaver was a student at USU and originally, a pre-med major. Once he got involved in the marching band, he decided to major in music and music education.

After obtaining a master’s degree at Notre Dame University, Weaver taught for five years and then received a doctorate from Fort Hays State University. In each of his academic endeavors, he has remained involved in music and the university marching band.

“It’s just been kind of a part of what I do,” Weaver said. “2016 was when the position opened up [at USU] and  I had a chance to basically come home. My wife and I are both Aggies and our families are close by here in Idaho. After living away for about 18 years, it was nice to come home and be part of Utah State.”

Students interested in being in the marching band can audition or join the group depending on the position. Once the list of students is decided, the band only has one week before school starts to prepare for an intense fall schedule.

Caleb Vineyard is a tuba section leader in his second- year with the band. He said there is always room for improvement, but he’s happy with how far they’ve come.

“There is a lot of work that goes into it. We start the week before the semester begins and it’s just a week long. It’s 11-hour days where we get to know each other really well,” Vineyard said.

Originally from Texas, Vineyard said it was required to play an instrument in school and he decided to pick the biggest instrument offered. What he thought would be a casual part of school turned into much more. He has now played for 11 years and decided to take a performance major because he has enjoyed it so much.

“If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t be doing this. This is honestly just the best experience I’ve had in college,” Vineyard said.

As section leader, Vineyard is responsible for leading the team throughout the year as well as making sure they are ready for weekly performances.

“A lot of my responsibilities happen at the beginning of the season where I have to teach all the freshmen who are coming in how to march and make sure they’re getting good sounds with other instruments,” Vineyard said. “We have rehearsals on Tuesdays and Thursdays of non-game weeks, and then also on Fridays on game weeks.

With only three to four and a half hours of practice each week, the USU marching band is one of the schools with the least amount of rehearsal time.

“It’s a lot of discipline and focus because, in terms of rehearsal time, we have the least of any other band in the country. We have almost no time,” trombone player Gabriel Amante said. “We almost learn a new drill or new song each rehearsal because we’re putting a new show together for every football game. It’s super fast-paced, but it’s just extremely rewarding at the end.”

The reward often comes while standing under the lights, listening to tens of thousands of fans cheering the band on.

“It’s honestly a surreal experience because you don’t realize until later in the game. They actually show the number of attendees and you realize, wait, I just performed in front of that many people. It’s insane that we performed something in such a short amount of time as well,” Amante said. “In my high school, the marching band was there just for halftime but here it’s like not only are we respected but we are like the life of it during halftime and pregame, which is just an amazing feeling.”

Ellyse Snow is one of two color guard captains. She is in her third- year with the band and expressed the stress that comes with it which many people might not see.

“It’s been great, it’s stressful for sure. As the captains, we’re also the choreographers for all of our shows,” Snow said. “The fight song, Scotsman, all you see there is stuff that we’ve choreographed.”

Getting a routine performance ready requires collaboration plus trial and error from both captains.

“We kind of split up the work like, ‘You do this song. I’ll do this song,’ because we switch songs every halftime show. A lot of it has to be just like trial and error like which move fits in these counts,” Snow said. “It needs to be doable for the color guard to learn and sometimes under a week.”

The extra responsibility wasn’t a part of Snow’s original plan. She started as a flute player in her high school marching band at the age of 14. In her senior year, she tried out winter color guard for three months before coming to USU.

“I was originally going to go join the piccolo section but then Dr. Weaver emailed me and was like, ‘Hey, our color guard numbers are low. Could you join?’ And I just worked my way up and now I’m in charge,” Snow said.

Despite the stress of being a leader, Snow believes it’s all worth it to see a performance come to life.

“A lot of it is just the community. I love my girls. It can be tough being a peer leader sometimes but I do really love leading these girls and seeing them work really hard and seeing them improve over time. It’s something that can’t be beat,” Snow said.

Student leadership is an integral part of the band, not just with section leaders but as directors as well. Hillary Callister is one of three drum majors. Originally a clarinet player, she now helps direct the entire band on the field.

“Every show we rotate who’s in the center ladder, and then the other two of us are just on the side. There isn’t like a head drum major, we all just kind of share in the responsibility,” Callister said.

It’s a responsibility Callister takes seriously, even when she feels the urge to dance to the music, she maintains focus in order to direct each section. The advanced responsibility requires an extra audition for those wanting to try out.

“I believe in putting a little pressure on our students and our students because the world says you’re going to have accountability and you’re going to have pressure in your life and why this is a great place and a really a pretty safe place for them to kind of go through that proving ground,” Weaver said.

Maddie Widman is a first-year student who plays trombone. With a quick start of just one week in the summer, she is getting used to the environment and flow of the band.

“I’ve been playing the trombone since sixth grade. I’ve always just loved music, and I love being involved as much as I can. Marching band was a great way to be involved with the school and keep doing music,” Widman said.

Joining a new team, especially in an entirely new environment, can be difficult. Widman commended the community the band creates for being welcoming and encouraging.

“It’s been amazing. Everybody here is really welcoming. Everybody’s always working, trying to work their hardest and their best to make sure that everything sounds good and looks good,” Widan said. “It is a lot more work than you think, but we’re all here for fun. We all have a common bond of music.”

As Weaver pointed out, most members are involved in many other bands as well. From concert bands to the symphony orchestra and small ensembles, band members dedicate a lot of time to the football field and the recital halls. The short practice time for the marching band is intentional and comes from an effort to not have one band dominate over the others. They continuously work to improve each USU band.

He commended the hard work of each member of the band. He said it requires a lot, even if it looks easy, for routines to turn out as good as they do.

“I love seeing these students rise to the occasion and when they fall and skin their knees, and we all do, we fix some things and get back up and kind of go through the growth process,” Weaver said. There’s some bumps and bruises that happen along the way but they’re really critical.”

Weaver’s satisfaction comes from seeing students succeed after overcoming the challenges.

“For me personally, the joy and the satisfaction that the students receive when they’ve achieved and the whole stadium is united over something that they’re a part of, that they’re kind of leaving their mark, for me, the most satisfaction comes from seeing the students reaction and seeing that their hard work is paying off,” Weaver said.

Above all, the Aggie Marching Band is dedicated to creating memories for USU fans.

“It’s all about connecting those who are performing or entertaining with the audience and Utah State is a great place where that happens,” Weaver said. “We’ve got a great atmosphere and for us to be kind of the spirit of the university, that is really rewarding.”