Marching Southerners
| Marching Southerners | |
|---|---|
 |
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| School | Jacksonville State University |
| Location | Jacksonville, Alabama |
| Conference | Ohio Valley Conference |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Director |
Director: Dr. Kenneth G. Bodiford Assistant Directors: Mr. Clint Gillespie and Mr. Jeremy Stovall |
| Members | Over 500 (2017) |
| Website | http://www.marchingsoutherners.org/ |
Director: Dr. Kenneth G. Bodiford
The Marching Southerners is the marching band of Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Composed of students from all over the country, the Southerners and Marching Ballerinas perform for thousands each season.
The first band at Jacksonville State Normal School was formed in 1923-24. At that time, students only attended the school for two years and there was no full-time director, which hindered growth of the band in the early years. In 1930, the college was renamed Jacksonville State Teachers College, reflecting an increased role in higher education for the institution. The Great Depression and World War II put development of the band on hold.
After the war, Walter A. Mason became head of the music department at the college. A veteran, he turned to fellow Army musician J. Eugene Duncan who he asked to become the band's first full-time director in 1948.
John T. Finley took over the director position in 1951 and immediately made changes to the band's musical and visual style. Finley removed the sousaphones, cornets and small-bore trombones, and replaced them with trumpets and bass trombones: instruments more usually associated with orchestras. The most radical instrumental change was the adoption of the Conn 20-J upright recording bass as the band's lead tuba, and Jacksonville State remains the only university marching band to use this heavy concert tuba on the field. Other musical changes included a departure from military-style marches in favor of slower, more dynamic, orchestral and symphonic, Broadway and Latin jazz pieces.
Visually, the band abandoned military-style block drill in favor of precision marching and wide-open company front formations: designed to achieve uniformity in step height and body carriage, whilst the company front formation helped to project the sound of the band. Finley also adopted a dance line as a visual focus instead of the majorette lines seen in more traditional marching bands, christened them the Marching Ballerinas.
Norman Padgett, a trombone player in the band, suggested the name "The Southerners" for the band, and in the fall of 1956, the Southerners and Marching Ballerinas made their debut.
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