L.D Bell changes over the years…

[mcchicken]

As many people know L.D bell was widely recognized as one of the best bands in the United States. But in a little over a decade the band has gone from winning state and grand nationals to not even qualifying for state. How could a band with such an amazing track record fall so far so fast?

[cp823]

Simple answer is they had a director change, after the 2012 marching season I think.

[macwinlin]

Director changes, designer changes. Jeremy Earnhart and Wes Cartwright were with them during their peak years. (Not discounting Grzybowski’s earlier tenure that led up to them becoming a machine)

The Texas landscape has become much more competitive as well.

Here is a super cool video timeline with staff change information.
www.dfife.com/

[ilikeguard]

I don’t think they’re done, personally. Director changes are very tough on a group, as is losing a show designer that has won several championships. I think it’s a similar case to the falls of most programs - they remain good, but everyone around them gets better. That being said, they’ve held on much better than many bands that have fallen off.

I saw the show live twice yesterday, and I’ll be seeing it again in San Antonio. I think it’s a step in the right direction. They aren’t the band that dominated almost two decades ago, but they haven’t lost hold as much as some others either. The Vento style worked incredibly well for them yesterday. It isn’t the Bell of the past, but they’re still quite lovely.

[supersound]

I don’t think this is the band this question needs to be asked for. I don’t think they “fell down so fast” in fact they never really fell all that much.

Did they miss state? Sure. Honestly missing state is not the travesty everyone makes it out to be, it’s tough. We’ve seen state finalist level bands not make it out of region on penalties.

It’s worth mentioning one year they missed state they also made San Antonio finals, in a decently competitive year at that. They’re not all they used to be, but they’ve been hanging on as a bubble band.

I won’t name any bands but I think there are bands with significantly more dramatic downward trajectories than L.D. Bell.

[boahistorybuff]

Well having been around awhile, I have seen many great bands come and go. LD Bell may not be at the level they were at in the 2000s, but they are still a very good band. There are many bands out there that would love to place as high as Bell did at St. Louis.

There are so many moving components that have to come together to make a high school marching band competitive at the highest levels of BOA. You need a good director(s), instructional staff, designers, a well funded and supported band program at all levels in the school districts, parents that are able to supplement costs, community support with fundraising activities, etc. Changes in any of these areas can upset that balance and affect the level of competitiveness of the marching band. I know a lot of times people blame a director change, which while that can be the cause, it is usually more complicated than that.

Some of the biggest impacts to programs that I have seen have been funding cuts. My high school band program almost got wiped out due severe funding cuts. Back in the 1980s, Rocky Mount NC received corporate sponsorships which allowed them to hire top level staff, helping that band win three Grand National titles. When those sponsorships ended and the community fell on hard economic times, the band suddenly stopped being a BOA competitor. Over the years, there have also been many top level marching bands who have sustained cuts to their feeder programs, particularly elementary music education. That causes students entering the high school marching band who have less musical experience. I suspect that has been the case with many of the area K-8 Catholic schools that feed into Marian Catholic in recent years.

Several decades ago, many marching bands had one director that was really instrumental in creating a top quality marching band show. I think that shows are so much more complex these days that there are few do it all yourself band directors left. They really need a team of designers and instructors. Some examples of some great bands whose time at the top was cut short because they lost a very hands on director include Chesterton IN, Danville KY, Herscher IL, and to some degree Lassiter GA.

Then of course there are some school districts that place additional course requirements on students which then makes it difficult for them to participate in marching band, Kennesaw Mountain is a recent example.

One interesting thing about Texas is that there has been so much growth in recent decades that directors and instructional staff seem shuffle around a little bit from one band program to the next. This seems to be causing a lot of Texas bands to go through periods of ups and downs. Ronald Reagan seems to be a good example of this.

Now all that said, there are some band programs that have built such a strong foundation in funding levels and music education at all levels of their school district that they seem to be insulating themselves more from subtle changes that can impact the program. I think Carmel is a good example of this. Even if they have some staff changes here and there down the road, I think they are in a position to remain one of BOA's best programs for many years to come.

My final point is more on a personal level. 10 years before I was in Flushing, they were among the best band in the country. Although the financial problems that almost wiped out our program had eased by the time I entered the marching band, we all tried so hard to bring ourselves back to the success of that earlier era, even though we still really did not have as much resources as the band had had the prior decade. I always used to hate when people would say to us, what happened to you guys. I saw you in 1980 (or whatever year) and you were so good. Keep in mind they would say this to us when we were still making regional finals and even slid into GN Finals my senior year. So I kind feel for a lot of the band members who are in these bands that were once at the top of the BOA world. They are still in a good band but seem to be expected to live up to the level of the program from years past.

[marchingmaniac]

It should be said that LD Bell is in probably the hardest area (B) in Texas to qualify for state, so though it's surprising that a band with their pedigree has missed out on state so much in recent years, it's not a huge deal. That said, I think the marching band atmosphere just became exponentially tougher during the 2010s, especially in Texas. LD Bell still remained competitive during this time, just not the dominant force that they or Marcus were in the late 2000s. They also got a new director in 2021 after Van Mathews left so they're going through director changes too.

[peshbandkid]

Is it true that they are not the same band from 2000-2013? Sure, but they are still easily a top band in the Dallas Area. It's worth noting that the Carrollton, Frisco, Keller, and McKinney areas have grown a lot since the dominance of Bell, thus increasing the competition level. There are some other nameless bands that were (in terms of marching band) household names that have flat-out disappeared from relevancy. There are countless band programs that would love to be in L.D. Bell's situation as of late

[macwinlin]

Absolutely agree with all the comments above. It’s fantastic to see LD Bell doing great things after so many years and so many changes. Few programs have had as rich a history, and they clearly aren’t done!

[ashul]

Oct 16, 2022 20:01:30 GMT -6 boahistorybuff said:

Well having been around awhile, I have seen many great bands come and go. LD Bell may not be at the level they were at in the 2000s, but they are still a very good band. There are many bands out there that would love to place as high as Bell did at St. Louis.

There are so many moving components that have to come together to make a high school marching band competitive at the highest levels of BOA. You need a good director(s), instructional staff, designers, a well funded and supported band program at all levels in the school districts, parents that are able to supplement costs, community support with fundraising activities, etc. Changes in any of these areas can upset that balance and affect the level of competitiveness of the marching band. I know a lot of times people blame a director change, which while that can be the cause, it is usually more complicated than that.

Some of the biggest impacts to programs that I have seen have been funding cuts. My high school band program almost got wiped out due severe funding cuts. Back in the 1980s, Rocky Mount NC received corporate sponsorships which allowed them to hire top level staff, helping that band win three Grand National titles. When those sponsorships ended and the community fell on hard economic times, the band suddenly stopped being a BOA competitor. Over the years, there have also been many top level marching bands who have sustained cuts to their feeder programs, particularly elementary music education. That causes students entering the high school marching band who have less musical experience. I suspect that has been the case with many of the area K-8 Catholic schools that feed into Marian Catholic in recent years.

Several decades ago, many marching bands had one director that was really instrumental in creating a top quality marching band show. I think that shows are so much more complex these days that there are few do it all yourself band directors left. They really need a team of designers and instructors. Some examples of some great bands whose time at the top was cut short because they lost a very hands on director include Chesterton IN, Danville KY, Herscher IL, and to some degree Lassiter GA.

Then of course there are some school districts that place additional course requirements on students which then makes it difficult for them to participate in marching band, Kennesaw Mountain is a recent example.

One interesting thing about Texas is that there has been so much growth in recent decades that directors and instructional staff seem shuffle around a little bit from one band program to the next. This seems to be causing a lot of Texas bands to go through periods of ups and downs. Ronald Reagan seems to be a good example of this.

Now all that said, there are some band programs that have built such a strong foundation in funding levels and music education at all levels of their school district that they seem to be insulating themselves more from subtle changes that can impact the program. I think Carmel is a good example of this. Even if they have some staff changes here and there down the road, I think they are in a position to remain one of BOA's best programs for many years to come.

My final point is more on a personal level. 10 years before I was in Flushing, they were among the best band in the country. Although the financial problems that almost wiped out our program had eased by the time I entered the marching band, we all tried so hard to bring ourselves back to the success of that earlier era, even though we still really did not have as much resources as the band had had the prior decade. I always used to hate when people would say to us, what happened to you guys. I saw you in 1980 (or whatever year) and you were so good. Keep in mind they would say this to us when we were still making regional finals and even slid into GN Finals my senior year. So I kind feel for a lot of the band members who are in these bands that were once at the top of the BOA world. They are still in a good band but seem to be expected to live up to the level of the program from years past.

This is great insight. I very much appreciate your consistently thoughtful responses. Your consideration for the students out there in the trenches with loads of pressure to perform is always appreciated.

I have been cringing a bit at some less than thoughtful posts around here recently. 🫤

[marimba11]

One would have thought that Van Matthew’s would have been able to handle anything that came at bell but honestly most of their downhill slide happened under his leadership.

When Cartwright pulled out of Bell in 2012, I remember reports of them BEGGING him to stay on. They offered him more money… ect ect. He still said no.

That lasted for oh what 3 seasons?? 2012-2014. Not bells finest shows by any stretch but I personally liked them. Then he returned as program coordinator until this season.

Honestly listening to him talk and things it seems like BA is the really important player. But BA has more funding probably, and is more flexible than bell can be.

Marcus survived their director change really well… so if we’re looking to compare similar bands. I do think that community has more support in terms of money im sure than bell does.

[vidal28rdg]

I think the title and OP of this thread is a tad melodramatic. I’ll put this in simpler terms, DFW in general and Area B(L.D. Bell’s Area) is pretty cracked. Their not making state in 2021 was also by the judges’ preference tiebreaker as well, a really good group as of recent still. As for 2018, well…they weren’t close. Ok fair point haha. Either way DFW is as competitive as it’s ever been and only stands to become even more so in the coming years. More so many bands getting better than Bell falling off imo. Some posters have mentioned the explosive growth of many north DFW communities and schools that have cultivated strong bases of music education in the region that have added into making this region that much more difficult by the year.

[LeanderMomma]

Oct 18, 2022 1:21:41 GMT -6 vidal28rdg said:

I think the title and OP of this thread is a tad melodramatic. I’ll put this in simpler terms, DFW in general and Area B(L.D. Bell’s Area) is pretty cracked. Their not making state in 2021 was also by the judges’ preference tiebreaker as well, a really good group as of recent still. As for 2018, well…they weren’t close. Ok fair point haha. Either way DFW is as competitive as it’s ever been and only stands to become even more so in the coming years. More so many bands getting better than Bell falling off imo. Some posters have mentioned the explosive growth of many north DFW communities and schools that have cultivated strong bases of music education in the region that have added into making this region that much more difficult by the year.

Good point on the title. I didn’t like it either so I just changed it. 😁 LD Bell is still an amazing band!  They have an incredible history, and like any band that has been around awhile, they have had their ups and downs. I would say a huge number of bands in this country would love to have the kind of record Bell has had!

[Shroom]

Honestly I was pleasantly surprised with how good LD was at STL. All I heard online was people talking about how much they fell off but from what I saw they were pretty close to being in argument for a medal if the end of their show was as clean as the first part. I don't know enough about the program or the people associated with it but there seems to be a pretty clear line of improvement from last year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them reach a similar level to what they had in 2019 in a couple seasons.

[txbandmom]

Bell qualified for state last night! The kids are ecstatic!

[boahistorybuff]

Oct 30, 2022 13:22:01 GMT -6 txbandmom said:

Bell qualified for state last night! The kids are ecstatic!

AWESOME!

[raytay817]

One of the biggest challenges that LD Bell faces is that their first year marchers are sophomores. While a lot of schools march freshmen and some even practice 8th graders, their students cannot put foot to turf until 10th grade. It is the same at their Junior high level with beginning band starting in 7th grade, instead of sixth. Most schools in their region amd conference have a full 1-2 years more experience by the time they are seniors.

[Edubyajay]

I competed with them back in 06-09 with Lawrence Central. As we all know LC has merged with LN and created a new band and it hasn’t been the same since either. LD Bell is the band I think of when someone talks about Texas bands. It truly is amazing how things have changed since those glory days!

[thebaileynewton]

LD Bell is back!

[LeanderMomma]

Nov 5, 2023 3:28:37 GMT -6 thebaileynewton said:

LD Bell is back!

BIG TIME!!

[hostrauser]

Oct 16, 2022 15:04:17 GMT -6 ilikeguard said:

I don’t think they’re done, personally... They aren’t the band that dominated almost two decades ago, but they haven’t lost hold as much as some others either.

This aged very well.