Experience with drum corps twice as nice for OC brothers

The Messenger 09.02.11

The Mayhall twins of Kenton can mark an item off their bucket list.
At the young age of 16, the talented duo of Trevor and Trice fulfilled a goal they set for themselves early on by marching this summer with Drum Corps International as members of the co-ed Music City drum corps, based in Nashville.
As a youth activity, the DCI world of competitive drum and bugle corps is an intense, choreographed musical experience staged on football stadium fields across the country by students achieving high levels of excellence in performance.
Music City is part of the DCI Open Class Drum and Bugle corps. Open Class corps membership is made up of a mixture of high school and some college-aged students. Most Open Class corps follow an abbreviated tour schedule compared to World Class corps. World Class corps are primarily college-age students who follow an intensive tour schedule, traveling more than 10,000 miles over the course of the summer while performing at more than 35 sanctioned events.
Trevor said it was in junior high when he first learned about DCI.
“I found a video of the 2006 Cavaliers show ‘The Machine’ and then began researching other shows from other world class drum corps. From that moment I was hooked and knew it was something I wanted to do one day,” he said.
Though normally a saxophone player in the Obion County Central High School Rebel Band, Trevor learned that Music City had opening for a euphonium player in late June when the DCI Sounds of Summer event came to Martin at Hardy Graham Stadium. He jumped at the chance to learn a big brass instrument.
Brother Trice was also offered an open spot in the percussion pit and both brothers became two of the youngest members to tour the country with the Music City corps.
The young men said the tour schedule was demanding.
“We were away from home and our family and friends for six weeks,” Trevor said. “We started out at Freedom Middle School in Franklin for the first 15 days in July at camp. Then we started touring with our first show in St. Louis, on to Oklahoma, Arkansas, two shows in Tennessee in Murfreesboro and Sevierville, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and then to Open Class finals in Michigan City, Ind., on Aug. 9.”
Trevor said a typical show day was packed with activities starting before 7 a.m. with breakfast and stretching.
“After breakfast, we would go into a visual block, then music block, then into ensemble for hours of practicing and running sets before finally cleaning up and dressing for the show,” he said.
Trice said the highlight of their summer was the final performance of the season at the World Class Quarterfinals in Indianapolis. The last run of their 2011 “Let’s Dance” show took place on Aug. 11 in front of an audience of nearly 7,000 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium with songs like “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Bandstand Boogie,” “Dancing Queen” and the home state favorite “Tennessee Waltz.”
The brothers say they would love to do DCI again but it could be a while before they can afford it.
“Membership in the Music City corps is $1,500 per person plus extra money for clothes, shoes, practice gloves and lots of sunscreen,” Trevor said. “There are some corps that are as much as $5,000 per person.”
Trevor said his drum corps experience was worth every penny, though. He said it instilled in him the importance of teamwork that he will bring back to the Rebel Band this fall.
Trevor and Trice, the sons of Vanessa Mayhall of Kenton, will be back to marching competitively with the OCCHS Band in Jackson on Sept. 24 with two contests. Liberty Tech High School will host the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association Marching Festival, where the OCCHS band will march only for a rating. Later that night, OCCHS will compete in Class 2A of the Crusader Invitational, also at Liberty. Trevor will be back on his saxophone and Trice in the percussion pit on the OCCHS sidelines.
Photos and videos of the Mayhall brothers’ summer experience can be viewed at the Music City website at www.musiccitydrumcorps.com.

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