They are a team of focused, disciplined and determined students who know how to keep a beat. These students are known as WJ Drumline. Most students know of this group from last year’s performances, but what most people don’t know is that Drumline has existed since 2008 and start drumming at events last year with seniors Ty Glover and Phillip Resnick as co-captains pitching the idea to the SGA.
Once Glover became a captain, he recruited more dedicated members to the squad and designed a logo for Drumline. He made the club a part of every assembly, pep rally and sports game by contacting the sponsors of the assembly and fitting in a time slot for the group. Also, as a current member of the SGA, Glover has the ability to schedule Drumline events with ease.
Drumline is meant to bring high spirits to crowds and to entertain, just like the cheer team and mascots. They practice hard and practice often to give the best performances they can at the pep rallies to bring the school together through their performances.
This is senior Randale Patterson’s second year on Drumline and he really loves the experience of the club.
“Drumline is an opportunity to take part in something I enjoy and [it builds] a brotherhood,” said Patterson.
In Drumline, every member must learn his or her part to a cadence, or a piece of music.
Practices vary per week, depending on what they need to work on, but the practices are relaxed and low stress. The club is a democracy where no one member has the power to decide anything without some sort of vote or general agreement from the group. Every member has specific rhythms and parts, whether it is basses, snares, quads or symbols. Besides pep rallies, they also perform at football games and cheer and poms competition.
“The beauty of a Drumline is this: any show-off that thinks he’s the cat’s meow can play a solo by himself and people will think it’s pretty cool,” said Glover. “But the art of getting 14 drummers to play in unison together will always be a million times better than the one.”
After Glover and Resnick graduate this year, younger Drumline members plan to continue the tradition for years to come.
