Sonic Boom of the South

Sonic Boom of the South
School	Jackson State University
Location	Jackson, Mississippi
Conference	SWAC
Founded	1940
Director	Mr. O' Neill Sanford
Assistant directors	Mr. Roderick Little, Mr. Lowell Hollinger, Mr. Chan Leggette, Ms. Courtney Lett, Mr. Ramon Jackson, and Mrs. Chloe Crowley (Prancing J-Settes director).
Members	250+
Website	Official Sonic Boom of the South website

The Sonic Boom of the South is a nationally recognized marching band from Jackson State University (JSU) in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCU marching bands in Mississippi with nearly 250 members. It is also known as "Hollywood's band of choice".

The first band at JSU was organized in 1920. The band was given the nickname “The Sonic Boom of the South” by band director Harold J. Haughton, Sr. in 1971. In 1971, the majorettes abandoned their batons and became a dance team known as the "'Prancing J-Settes"', also named by Haughton. In 1974, “Get Ready,” an old Motown favorite was selected as the band’s theme song. Also, during the mid-1970s, the precision in motion “Tiger Run-On” was perfected. Created by Haughton, the “Tiger Run-On” is a fast, eye-catching shuffle step that blends an adagio step with an up-tempo shuffle (200 steps per minute), then back to adagio—a “Sonic Boom” trademark that brings fans to their feet during halftime performances. Oct 1990, Under the direction of Dowell Taylor and staff, The Sonic Boom of the South performed in Los Angeles, California for Motown 30-What's Going on. This was the event that set the wheels in motion for the national attention of the Sonic Boom. In 2003, the marching band was in enshrined in the NCAA Hall of Champions. Also, the marching band was filmed by Electronic Art Sports (EA Sports) for inclusion in the 2005 version of the video game "EA Sports NCAA Football 2005".

The Sonic Boom is traditionally led by five drum majors collectively referred to as the "J-5".

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