I recently stumbled across and shared a video from when I was a drum corps rookie, attending my first Glassmen audition camp for the 1992 season. It seems doubly appropriate, then, that I now share another video of me in drum corps, this time from January of 2001 with the Empire Statesmen.
We were months from 9/11 and just a few weeks after a severely contested and controversial election. Just like the inauguration of President Joe Biden 20 years later, it was hoped that George W. Bush’s inauguration would give the country a chance to unite and move forward.
There were two drum corps in the 2001 inaugural parade. The Troopers represented Wyoming, the home state of Vice President Dick Cheney. Representing the great state of New York? The Empire Statesmen, America’s Entertainers.
For me, 2001 was my favorite of my three seasons with the Statesmen, with the inaugural parade a great kickoff. I was glad that C-SPAN’s website allows us to not only view the parade video, but it also allows me to create a clip of just the Statesmen’s performance from the parade.
Have you performed in a presidential inaugural parade? Let me know in the comments about your experience.
Enjoy!