Pride of the Southland Band
| The University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Marching Band | |
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| School | University of Tennessee |
| Location | Knoxville, TN |
| Conference | SEC |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Director | Donald Ryder |
| Associate director | Michael Stewart |
| Members | 300 for the 2012 season, 24 color guard members, and 10 majorettes |
| Fight song | "Down the Field" |
| Uniform | Navy blue jacket and pants with a cream stripe, black shoes with white spats, white gloves, Tennessee orange and cream overlay with a white T on the back |
| Website | www |
 Tennessee Pregame
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Rocky Top
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 UT Alma Mater
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The Pride of the Southland Band is the official name of the University of Tennessee's marching band.
The Pride of the Southland Marching Band has been performing at halftime for more than 110 years, but has existed since 1869 when it was founded as part of the Military Department, forerunner to the school's ROTC program. It is one of the oldest collegiate band programs in the country. Its instrumentation in 1883 was entirely made up of cornets. The band continued to grow to between thirteen and seventeen members, and in 1892, it was reorganized under Ernest H. Garratt. The band wore West Point-style uniforms like the rest of the cadets in the Military Department and had a more varied repertoire of instruments, including a clarinet.
At the turn of the twentieth century, William A. Knabe was appointed as band director. He was the first “full-time” band director; Garratt had also served as an organist, choirmaster, musical director, and director of the Glee Club. UT won the first (documented) game at which the band performed in 1902.
By 1917, the band had changed to World War I style uniforms and doubled in size. The band grew along with the military units on campus. By 1935, the band boasted eighty-five members, but remained all male due to the band’s continued association with the Military Department. In 1937, an all-female contingent called the "Volettes" began performing with the band. Its membership ranged from fifty to ninety.
The 1940s brought women into the band. Two of the first women to play with the band were Martha Carroll, who played the lyre, and Marjorie Abbott, a marimba player. By 1946, women outnumbered the male members of the band, due to World War II and the dearth of male students. By 1949, the band was once again all male, but retained female majorettes. Major Walter Ryba was properties master for the Army and Air Force ROTC at Knoxville and also for the Army ROTC at the UT-Martin campus.
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