UW-River Falls marching band members perform during the Sept. 2 football game at David Smith Stadium at Ramer Field. UWRF restarted its marching band program this fall after it was discontinued in 1990. UWRF photo.
 

Banding together: UW-River Falls revives its marching band program

Members focus on excitement for fans, building traditions, having fun

Sept. 28, 2023 - Horns blare and drums pound amid loud, boisterous music filling David Smith Stadium at Ramer Field as several thousand fans enthusiastically dance and clap along to the sounds of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls marching band.

Thirty-three years after a UW-River Falls marching band had last performed at a university event, and just six days after beginning practice together, the 52 students comprising this year’s marching band performed together for the first time during the Falcons vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor home game Sept. 2.

The conditions weren’t perfect. Because the band was so new, it performed an abbreviated show. Instead of traditional band uniforms, band members wore T-shirts and shorts, a concession to a game-time temperature that hovered near 100 degrees. 

But band leader and music Professor Tom Barnett was pleased with his band’s performance. As the band made its way through another song and the audience cheered, he felt a moment of joyful satisfaction. 

“Wow, we’re really doing this,” Barnett thought as he smiled. “We’re having fun playing music, and people are enjoying it. We have a marching band again.” 

Marching band members enjoyed the experience too. Leading up to their first performance, some acknowledged concerns about how this new band would perform after so little time together. But once they began playing in front of fans, they said their fears melted away as the audience cheered them on. 

“We felt this big wave of energy from the fans,” said Jamison Gallmeier, a freshman baritone player from Baldwin who is double majoring in music education and psychology. “We felt really supported by them. It was a great time.”

Building a band

Building a marching band again at UW-River Falls was a long, winding process. Since the band was eliminated in 1990 as part of financial cutbacks, the idea of resurrecting it popped up periodically. But restarting it often seemed like a daunting task.  

Barnett traces his thoughts about reviving a marching band to a conversation 10 years ago, when he and a friend were discussing music programs and “then all of a sudden I was talking about why we should bring back a marching band at UW-River Falls,” Barnett recalled. “Then I thought ‘Who in the heck is going to do that?’ and I realized it would have to be me.”

Momentum for a marching band continued to increase in subsequent years as the school’s pep band was revived and became a bigger force. Students began to ask Barnett about having a marching band. 

The marching band took another step closer to reality in 2018 when Barnett spent time working with the UW-Eau Claire marching band, of which his oldest son was a member. Barnett worked with UW-Eau Claire marching band instructors, studying how they built the successful band that is among the largest college marching bands in the nation.

Barnett approached UWRF administration about reinstating a marching band and received positive feedback. He next connected with Assistant Chancellor for University Advancement Richard Foy, and the duo worked up a fundraising plan. 

UWRF alum Patricia Stone, who was a marching band member in the 1970s, and her husband David were key backers. After meeting with Barnett and hearing his plans for a marching band, they donated $100,000 to the effort, money used to buy musical instruments and create an improved storage space for them. The Stones and other donors, many of them UWRF marching band alums, subsequently contributed another $75,000. The university provided additional funding, a sign of its commitment to having a marching band once again. 

Bringing back the UWRF marching band required collaboration between multiple entities, Foy said, noting the importance of the Stones’ initial gift. 

“Combine donor generosity, the university’s commitment to the program and Director Tom Barnett’s passionate leadership, and the return of the marching band became a reality,” Foy said.

After years of wondering whether funding would be available to support a marching band, Barnett said he was overwhelmed at the show of support by the Stones, UWRF and others. 

“Seeing people come together and support this idea was so amazing,” he recalled. “That was the point when I was finally like ‘Okay, this is really going to happen.’”  

Growing together

When marching band members convened for their first practice at UWRF on Aug. 27, they didn’t know what to expect. They came from many different backgrounds and had varied marching band experience. Many of them are not majoring in music. And, as they would quickly learn, they were building a band from scratch. 

Barnett and about 10 section leaders spent the two days before band camp devising the specific terminology and protocol they would use to direct the band.

From their bandmates to the formations to the terminology they used, band practice was different in many ways from what students had known previously. Band members spent full days under a searing hot sun, trying their best to combine their disparate musical experiences into a cohesive marching unit that played and moved as one. 

“Each student came from a different school and they did things differently,” said Regan Triplett, a junior tenor saxophone player from Chisago City, Minn., double majoring in animal science-equine management and animal science-companion animal management. “Being told to change what you know can be hard to wrap your head around. Those first days were challenging for sure.” 

Gallmeier remembers band camp as “really long, hot days” during which band members worked bit by bit to come together as a unit.

“Band camp was rigorous for sure,” Gallmeier said. “But the more we spent time together, the more we came together as a band. There was a lot of bonding going on.”

Barnett sensed his band coming together as the week of band camp progressed. Long days marching were interspersed with fun events such as a group movie night and kayaking on the Kinnickinnic River to help band members connect. Those events also were meant to impart an important message: have fun.

“I want these students to work hard and take this band experience seriously,” Barnett said. “But in the end, I want them to have fun being in this band. I want them to enjoy it.”

‘A second family’

Four weeks after its first practice, band members were out on the field again. As a late afternoon became evening, band members worked on their spacing, steps and music, paying attention to details. 

Standing before his band, Barnett studied sheets of paper detailing his band’s formations and movements. Then the group walked off their steps, one by one, counting in unison. Barnett noted where a couple of students were out of formation, made adjustments, and they marched again. And again. 

“I don’t know. I still think those are too big of steps. Look where you wind up,” Barnett told one student. He paused for a moment, then said to the group “OK, let’s do it again.”

Band members listened and periodically made suggestions. Then they marked off their steps and played, the sounds of the song “Sweet Caroline” sounding across the practice field. 

Drum major Dafney Yates, a freshman from Merrill majoring in agricultural education, listened as Barnett gave instructions. As practice continued, she thought back to the struggles of band camp and how band members had bonded quickly. She reflected on how grateful she is to be able to continue her marching band career.

“Marching band has always been a second family for me, and I love being able to learn a new marching show every year,” Yates said. “I am so grateful and excited that the Marching Falcons are back this year and I got to help start a program and create traditions that will be around for years to come.”

Triplett had heard plenty about the marching band during her time at UWRF, but she didn’t believe it would be formed until after she graduated. A marching band enthusiast in high school, she figured her marching band career was over. 

Now, as she and her bandmates prepare for their Sept. 30 marching band performance at the UWRF Homecoming game, she is overjoyed to be a marching band member again. She and other band members said the band has grown closer with time. 

“I can’t tell you how good it feels to be in a marching band again,” she said during a practice break. “To be a part of this at the start is so cool. I hope we can make this marching band a tradition and that we continue to have fun with it.”