Goin' Band from Raiderland

The Goin' Band from Raiderland is the 450-member-plus marching band of Texas Tech University.

History

The "Goin' Band" is as old as Texas Tech itself, having performed at the opening football game in October of 1925, fielding twenty-one (some sources give twenty-five) members dressed in matador-style uniforms.

In 1926, Harry Lemaire was appointed director of the marching band (prior to this, direction of the band had been handled by the chairman of the Music Department). Lemaire's credentials were quite impressive; he had been bandmaster under Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War and was a friend and colleague of John Philip Sousa. Under Lemaire, the Goin' Band became the first college marching band to travel to an away football game as well as the first college marching band to have its halftime performance broadcast over radio.

Interestingly, it was American humorist Will Rogers who made the aforementioned firsts possible. Rogers aided in financing the band's trip to Fort Worth, Texas to perform at the game against Texas Christian University and also helped purchase new uniforms. Rogers explained that he wanted the fans in Fort Worth to see and hear "a real marching band."

In 1934, D.O. "Prof" Wiley became director and expanded the band from sixty members to more than two hundred over the next few years. Texas Tech's chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi – the first in Texas – was established during his tenure, and the band's policy of allowing women to participate equally (unusual for the time) led to the founding of the now-nationwide Tau Beta Sigma sorority.

Dean Killion came to the Goin' Band in 1959. As his predecessor had done, Killion generated another expansion, this time doubling the ranks to over four hundred members. The rapid growth of the Goin' Band during the Sixties caused the band to be nicknamed "Killion's Millions." It was the band's numerous travel appearances at prominent bowl games during this decade that it acquired the name by which it is known today, "The Goin' Band from Raiderland."

Killion implemented a number of changes to the band's structure which have now become standard to many marching bands. To ensure that an individual listener would hear a quality performance no matter where they sat in the stadium, Killion arranged shows so that equal instrumentation was always on both sides of the 50-yard line, and that the band played more or less equally to both halves of the stadium. The Goin' Band was the first marching band to utilize this "stereophonic" concept in drill design. Killion also created the "run-on," the distinctive high-knee synchronized running step that the band uses to enter the field in as short a time as possible.

In 1981 Keith Bearden became the first Texas Tech alumnus to become director of the Goin' Band. He continued the style and traditions of previous directors as well as leading the band to new levels of performance. Bearden also opened new venues for the Goin' Band, such as when the band traveled to Ireland to take part in Saint Patrick's Day parades in both Dublin and Limerick.

The Goin' Band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy in 1998.

The Goin' Band Today

Christopher Anderson, Associate Professor of Bands at Texas Tech University, is the current director of the Goin' Band, he succeeded director Keith Bearden in 2003 upon the latter's retirement.

In keeping with the campus' Spanish architecture, the uniforms of the Goin' Band are styled after the trajes of matadors, complete with cape, clasps and chain, and a flat-brimmed "gaucho" hat. When a more traditional look is desired (such as when performing the annual Patriotic Show), a shako hat with plume replaces the flat-brim hat.

The Goin' Band's repertoire of performance music varies widely, ranging from traditional marches to jazz pieces to the works of Elton John and Carlos Santana.

The Goin' Band is unusual amongst college marching bands as it makes use of both traditional-style marching (formations moving goal-line to goal-line such as the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band) and corps-style (formations while playing to the sidelines) in its performances. The majority of college bands tend to favor one style over the other. The Goin' Band also incorporates some of the tactics of scramble bands on occasion.

Also unlike at many other schools, the Goin' Band is open to all Texas Tech students, regardless of major or course of study. In fact, a significant portion of the band's membership is not connected to the Department of Music in any way. For this reason, the Goin' Band implements a fast but efficient method of learning new performances that often does not require practices outside of normal class time ("Marching Band" is an actual course at Texas Tech). This allows a wide variety of students to participate without putting extra strain on their other obligations. Four, and sometimes five different shows are performed by the Goin' Band over the course of a season. It is not unusual for the band to learn a new show in five days, have it ready for performance on Saturday, then start again with a new drill the following Monday.

Trivia

Despite claims by the University of Texas' Longhorn Band to the contrary, the Goin' Band was the first of the two bands to play Roland Seitz' "March: Grandioso." The march is unofficially claimed by both bands as a signature piece.

Directors

• 1925–1926: W. Waghorn (actually the Chairman of the Department of Music, the position of "director" did not yet exist)
• 1926–1934: Harry Lemaire
• 1934–1959: D.O. "Prof" Wiley
• 1959–1981: Dean Killion
• 1981–2003: Keith Bearden
• 2003-present: Christopher M. Anderson

External links

www.goinband.org, official website