| Location | Alabama |
|---|---|
| Division | World Class |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Director | Christopher Campos & Gary Holly |
| Championship Titles | 1991 Class A 1992 Division II |
| Uniform | Last Version: Black Shako with black plume. The jacket is a base of black with a canary yellow shoulder area and a silver strip running across the chest. Gauntlets are black with yellow and silver stripes with black gloves and black pants. |
Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps was founded in Montgomery, AL in 1980 by a group of students from Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, AL who wanted to march in a local drum corps. Their names were John Johnson, Bill Stiers, David Oates, Doug Poulos, Kim Ballentine and Pearce Cowart. They became a non-profit youth organization and a chartered member of the Tucabatchee Council, Explorer Post 2009. On January 14, 1981, under the leadership of Director Michael Terry and later David Bryan, Southwind played its very first chord. The corps did not have a name at first, but it soon got its title from the Chicago-to-Miami passenger train "The South Wind" that ran on the tracks behind the corps’ practice field.
The corps went inactive for most of the 1980s, and returned in 1989 as a Division II corps under the leadership of David Bryan. Southwind went on to complete an undefeated season in 1991, earning the "DCI" Class A/Division II title with the music from the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid". Southwind followed that up with another world championship in 1992 with the music from "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves".
They then joined the Division I ranks in 1993, making and continued through 1997. After taking a year off to reorganize, They returned to the tour in 1999 under the new leadership of Director Patrick Seidling and the Madison Scouts organization basing operations out of Lexington, KY. They re-entered DCI competition with a 124-member corps that earned a 15th place finish. The following season Southwind continued its success on the performance field, finishing 13th at the 2000 DCI World Championships held near Baltimore, Md with a score of 84.95. The overall score was two tenths behind the 12th place Bluecoats, but all performance captions, brass, guard, and percussion, finished 12th or better.
The corps continued in World Class competition with full-sized memberships and were known for progressive and inventive show designs that were well-received by drum corps fans. Patrick Seidling left to become director of Phantom Regiment and Tony Rother served as corps director for the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Southwind and Madison Scouts drill designer Mike Loeffelholz became director in 2003 when Southwind parted ways with Madison Scouts under the newly formed Bluegrass Youth Performance Corporation and continued operation and DCI participation through 2007, the last active year.
In 2011, Southwind Drum & Bugle Corps came under the control of Southwind Alumni Association, Inc. 2011 and 2012 are building years for the organization as they fundraise and seek sponsorships.
Contents |
DCI Division I (World Class) Semifinalist - 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005
DCI Division I (World Class) Quarterfinalist - 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
DCI Division I Prelims - 1981, 1982
DCI Division II Champion - 1992
DCI Division II Finalist - 1992
DCI Class A Champion - 1991
DCI Class A Finalist - 1991
DCI Class A60 Finalist - 1990
DCI Class A60 Prelims - 1989
DCE Division II Champions - 1992
Montgomery's Corps Song was "Now And Forever" by Carole King, and unofficially "Ol' Man River" by Jerome Kern.
Lexington's Corps Song was "Legends of the Fall" by James Horner, with lyrics by the 2000 Southwind.
In both corps, the songs were performed by the corps instrumentally or vocally before heading to the starting gate. Finals week for Lexington, the hornline would play Legends for the Guard and Percussion sections, while Montgomery would perform "Ol' Man River" and/or the current year's ballad selection for the Age-Out members.
|
|||||