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With the sound of snares and bass drums filling up Kelce Hall at Pittsburg State University,
it’s a good sign that the fall semester is just around the corner. Each year the PSU
drum line arrives a few days before the entire band to get organized and run through their
songs. For PSU percussion instructor James Clanton there’s no better time of the year
for the students or himself. James Clanton-“It’s a fun experience for the students to come
and I personally look forward to it every year. It’s fun to work with these students
and I’m really excited about this year especially.” Jason Lord has over thirteen years of percussion
experience and will be the section leader for the drum line this year and he knows showing
up early starts everyone off on the right foot. James Lord-“We have a lot more things
we need to work on because we work tempo wise with the band. So we play things like cadences
and you know, things that entertain the crowd when the brass or the woodwinds aren’t playing.”
With so much experience with percussion and actually being involved with other drum lines,
Jason brings a lot of excitement to this year’s group. Clanton-“Well he’s been in drum
cores when he was younger and now he’s on staff at a couple of drum cores. So he’s
had a lot of marching experience. He’s a really strong player and just a fun guy to
work with.” Lord-“Long as I can get behind an instrument, you know, play with other people,
friends like that and just make great music, have a great time I think I’m content with
whatever I do in life as long as this is in there somewhere.”