By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle High and Hartselle Junior High School concert bands both received top ratings at district competition in Cullman on Feb. 16 and were recommended to participate in state competition on March 15.
Three retired high school band directors judged the bands on tone, intonation, technique, balance, interpretation and musical effect. The numeral 1 represents "excellent." Those bands receiving most or all one's were recommended to move on to the state level of competition.
"We chose some very challenging music and our kids performed very well," said Hartselle High School Band Director Randall Key. "They received all one's.
"Afterwards, they voted to decide what music they wanted to perform at state and they chose the same music they played at district," Key pointed out. "They're personally responsible for knowing their music and they deserve a lot of credit for sticking with it and performing so well."
Key said the support the band program is getting from the administration and Band Boosters is nothing short of superior. He also acknowledged the positive impact Jerome Ward, assistant band director, and Jeff Vaughn, Hartselle Junior High School band director, are having on the school's band program.
"Mr. Vaughn does such a good job with beginning band students. I believe the success of the band at the high school level is directly related to the success of the junior program," Key stated. "Plus, it's a real bonus to have someone with Mr. Ward's talent, personality and zeal for excellence working with the program."
"The big thing I've worked on in the two years I've been here is to build support for the band program throughout the community," Key pointed out. "Our goal is to be good ambassadors for the city of Hartselle."
"I'm proud of every band member for his or her talent and hard work," said HJHS Band Director Jeff Vaughn. "This group is playing as well as any group we've had and it's the first one to make it to state in three years.
"We received three 1's and all of the comments from the judges were very positive," he added.
The Hartselle High Band has 73 members. They are listed as follows:
Corey Blankenship, Clay Brown, Micah Bullard, Ethan Byrd, Zac Cadle, Nancy Canafax, Marissa Carden, Chase Clemons, Wes Corson, Leah Craft, Anthony Ellenberg, Amanda Elliot, John Elmore, Candace Fine, Josh Flowers, Chase Fowler, Kacie Gibson, Caitlin Greenhill, Kevin Gross, Hayden Grove, Nathan Grove, Whitney Hayes;
Josh Head, Angel Holcombe, Ashley Holmes, Jacob Holmes, Rachel Hutchens, Keith Hutchings, Austin Johnson, Drew Johnson, Joseph Johnson, Dallas Kalber, Andrew Kermish, David Kilborn, John Langley, Mary Katherine Laughmiller, Charlie Lewis, Allen Lewter, Brianna Logan, Bernie Mach, Amanda Martin, Brittany Mathias;
Chelsea McGuyre, A.J. McNutt, Blake Miller, Kathryn Mitchell, Lauren Owen, Daniel Owen, Megan Owens, Calley Pierce, Kevin Porter, Tyler Ray, Brittni Russell, Briley Sandlin, Andrew Sandor, Chrissy Shelton, David South, Teresa Staudt, Wes Taylor, Darius Telley, Doug Teuscher, Seth Turner, Anna Vaughn, Heather Wasserburger, Ryan Wallace, Kim Wasserburger, Dakota Webster, Jada Whitaker, Danielle Williams, Wes Woodruff, Ben Wooley and Jake Wooley.
The Hartselle Junior High Band has 54 members, all but one of whom are seventh and eighth graders. They are listed as follows:
Michael Aaron, Dalton Anderton, Nate Austill, Noah Blevins, Dakota Breeding, Aryn Bunch, Tyler Burcham, Jordan Burrow, Grace Cain, Savannah Chaney, Daniel Cheatham, Anna Cowley, Chanler Crowe, Sarah Downey;
Bryan Dunaway, Angelia Dunn, Andria Elliot, Brandon Gillespie, Arin Graham;
Meaghan Gray, Micah Greene, Chase Hall, James Haynes, Harley Heaps, Blake Hollaway, Trey Holmes, Kelly Jenkins, Morgan Jensen, Whitney Johnson Casey Kalber, Shelly Kemp, Trevor Knight, Hannah Lamb, Sarah Laughmiller, Matt Lawrence, Roney L. LeMaster, Haleigh Lindsey, Rachel Mach, Krista McCaig, Matt McCutcheon;
Joel McGuyre, Heather Moore, Mason Nowka, Jay Owen, Nathan Owen, Austin Prince, Brittain Prince, Chelsey Robinson, Cape Sandlin, Anna Shelton, Shane Slagle, Jakob Smith,
Hannah South, Laura Stewart, Alex Taylor, Shaylor Terry, Josh Walker, Jessie Wallace, Leslie Williams, Dylan Woodruff and Stephanie Wright.