Alan Mauldin
MOULTRIE — For two Colquitt County teen-agers preparing for an 8,500-mile odyssey, the lazy days of summer will be few and far between.
Rachel Foster and Teal Ewer began preparing in December for the two-month tour that will take them along much of the East Coast and as far north as Minnesota. That was when the first auditions were held for the Teal Sound Drum & Bugle Corps, which is in its 11th season.
For Ewer, 18, who recently graduated from Colquitt County High School, it will be his second year playing trumpet in the series of events that culminates with a finals competition Aug. 8 in Indianapolis.
Foster, 17, will be in the color guard of the 135-member corps.
Both began playing in the band while in middle school and were in the 50th Regiment Marching Band as well as the jazz and symphonic bands. Foster is in the marching band’s color guard and plays saxophone in jazz and symphonic bands.
“Since I’ve been on the guard in high school, I’ve developed a strong passion and wanted to push myself more so I auditioned for Teal Sound,” she said.
Foster and Ewer will go to Thomasville on Saturday for 10 days of training before departing on the tour. During that time a friends and family show will be held June 20.
Ewer, who will attend Valdosta State University in the fall as a jazz performance major on trumpet, said the tour is a great opportunity.
“I think it’s a very unique experience,” he said. “You’ll make friends you’ll have forever. That’s why I joined Teal Sound, because I wanted to have a serious, professional experience.
“It’s great, not just for your resume. There are skills you learn there that you can’t learn anyplace else.”
The shows on the tour are well-attended, Ewer said.
“There’s a lot of people who come to our shows, especially up North, Ewer said. “Drum corps was really big in the ’70s, I think, so a lot of kids come with their parents.”
The summer tour starts with a performance in Erie, Pa., and includes stops in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, Valdosta, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Along the way they also will play a number of parades and festivals, particularly July 4.
The corps travels on three chartered buses, accompanied by two semi trucks that carry equipment and food.
Living conditions will be spartan, with much of the sleeping done on the bus.
“We travel at night,” Ewer said. “You’ll go to sleep in Indiana and wake up in Rhode Island. There’s a lot of bus time.”
The cost for participants is $2,800 this year, which he said is less than the amount spent on fuel. Donations to the tax-exempt organization, which is based in Jacksonville, help make up the difference.
Participants also have to pay for food, which is prepared by volunteers who travel with them and will prepare more than 20,000 meals.
“I just want to get better at what I do, no matter that I have to be hot and sweaty and sleep on a gym floor,” Foster said. “It’s not like luxury hotels or anything.”
Teal Sound members come from all over the country and beyond, Ewer said, including last year from Hollywood, Calif., and Japan. In addition, corps on the tour include several from Europe, Japan and Canada.
One member this year has been flying to Florida from Indiana for auditions and monthly training, Foster said.
While most of the shows are held at night, marching in full uniform in August can still be uncomfortable, Ewer said.
“It’s still hot, especially in places like Alabama,” he said. “The finals are in Indianapolis. The cool thing is they have that new dome. They might have the dome closed with the AC, which would be cool.”
Judging in the competitive events is based on musical performance and marching, and “how well you coordinate your drums, brass and dance line together,” Ewer said. Many of the judges are band directors who have had band corps experience.
Teal Sound will have a different musical mix this year, “more like hip-hop, pop culture music, which is a totally different direction than most bands go,” Ewer said.
Foster, who will graduate high school next year, plans to pursue a medical rather than a musical career. She said she has not decided whether to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing or shoot for physician’s assistant.
“I like band and I like being in guard,” she said. “I knew growing up I wanted to do something to help people. I took anatomy this year and it really sparked my interest. Next year I’m doing an internship at the hospital.
“But I might play my sax in college.”
Comparing the drum and bugle corps with the high school band, Ewer said the marching is different and the music is challenging.
“It’s a big challenge, but it’s worth it,” he said. “You have to be really dedicated.”
For additional information, visit tealsound.org.
