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Warrior Post
Martin High School 4501 W. Pleasant Ridge Dr. Arlington, TX 76016 Volume 32, Issue 4 April 2, 2014
What’s Inside? Stringed star
Drumline members perform their blacklight show at Mr. MHS Feb.27. Drumline performs cadences written by senior Nathan Rearick. Photos by Kaitlyn Whetstine
Rolling with the beat Drumline takes the stage to kick off showcase season
Pg. 10
She’s so fly
Pg. 10
State champ
Pg. 16
T
Bailey Lewis • Reporter
he drumline is a very selective group that only takes 13 members, containing talented individuals whose love of music brings them together to create the Warrior Drumline that is never a letdown. At any pep rally or during third quarter at a football game you can count on the drumline to be the hype of the crowd, but a lot of work goes into getting ready to perform for the crowd. “It’s hard work,” junior Joey Nelson said. “The actual performances are fun, but rehearsing is no walk in the park because we have to really pay attention to detail and push ourselves in order to be good.” The drumline not only gives the students a chance to show off their talents but gives them opportunities to bond with others who have the same interest, and learn important lessons. “It has been a really rewarding experience,” junior Bailey Graham said. “Being in drumline has taught me a lot more than just playing percussion at a high level. It
has taught me how to work hard and to accomplish goals. It’s also taught me if you do what you’re supposed to do every single day, rewards will come.” This year drumline performed a blacklight show in which the members of the drumline performed completely in the dark except for blacklights. This year, senior Nathan Rearick and Nelson completely wrote and designed blacklight for Mr. MHS and Percussion Bash. This year’s show included several new elements, which included starting the show in the crowd and having Rearick play while flipped upside down, to create more hype. “The idea of playing upside down came from a drumline show I saw in 2011,” Rearick said. “It blew my mind. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, so we figured out how to do it and it worked out.” The stunt didn’t get perfected easily. “It was by trial and error to do it,” Rearick said. “It caused some pain and was a really weird feeling but was definitely worth it.” Not only did Rearick pull off the stunt but he debuted the show at Mr. MHS Feb.
27. “It usually takes me all of winter break to arrange all of the music,” Rearick said. “I also made sure to put a breakdown in the show so we could really get the crowd going.” “Blacklight was a blast,” Nelson said. “I was in charge of all the movements, lights, and walk-in music. I tried to take it to a whole new level by starting off in the audience and stuff like that. We had a lot of fun with it.” If you missed blacklight at Mr. MHS there’s another opportunity to see it. On April 26 the drumline is hosting an event called Percussion Bash. Not only will you get to see Blacklight but there will be several other performances that are just as amazing. “The cool thing about events like percussion bash is that we get to show off ensembles that everyday students don’t normally get to see,” Graham said. “Ensembles feature marimba, vibraphone, piano, and glockenspiel, while some like ‘Breakdown’ includes a drumset and a tom tom set.”