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Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Thirteen: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss Bands of America and the shows that will be happening across the nation this year. They talked about the big shows that will have a huge deciding factor in our Grand National Champion this year. They also looked at which High School programs are going to be big hitters in certain competitions and where some programs will be performing this year in comparison to past years. They also talked briefly about Show Choir starting up for the year and what the audience should expect until the competitive season starts this next winter and spring.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Fourteen: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our 50-state circuits for the Marching Arts and when the rough date of finals is for each state. They spoke a lot about the comparison of Bands of America to these other state circuits and how judging and rules across the board differ from one another and change the ways in which programs can perform from circuit to circuit. They also discussed with their special guest Allison Combs a lot about the Music Education field as a teacher, student, alumni, parent, school faculty, etc., and how all of these communities should be working to help preserve music in our schools.

Special Guest Allison Combs: Allison is a Junior at University of Kentucky majoring in Music Education and Arts Administration. She graduated from Harrison County High School in Cynthiana, KY. She has participated in many ensembles at UK, including the Concert Band, Symphony Band, Marching Band, and Horn Choir. After graduating, she plans to earn her Masters and Doctorate degrees in Education and pursue a career in education and eventually administration. In her free time, she is a brass technician at Bourbon County High School and likes to bake cookies and listen to Taylor Swift.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Fifteen: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss the Fame Show Choir Circuit and dive into what a show choir is and how they operate in comparison to other types of performing arts ensembles. They also started diving back into Bands of America and spoke about how the season may go for certain groups as they approach competitions and how they compare to past years. They also spoke briefly about the Drum Corps Associates World Championship Finals scores from this past weekend. Congratulations to our DCA World Champions!

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Sixteen: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss more Show Choir competitions and fairs that will be coming to us in late 2022 and early 2023. They talked about the Fame Show Choir circuit and how it compares to these more state-styled competitions. They also touched on Marching Band and what we should expect in the next few weeks as they dive into Bands Of America, Marching Band State Circuits, and tons more as we go through the fall!

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Seventeen: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our first weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each Regional and discussed how they thought placements would go in comparison to the scores given. They also talked about some state circuits that happened this weekend and dove into how the judge panels scored these groups and how they may have done on a Bands of America judge panel. A weekend full of bands and many more to come!

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Episode Eighteen: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our second weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each Regional and the surprises that came with them! They also took a look at some other competition circuits going on and spoke about how they are comparing to the BOA Circuit. They also spoke about some Drum Corps news and changes going on in the activity so far this offseason.

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Episode Nineteen: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our third weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each Regional and talked about the programs that impressed them the most. They spoke about what is coming soon and about the shows they will be at throughout the season. They also looked at how the Show Choir world is doing with the fairs going on so far this year.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Twenty: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our fourth weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each Regional and talked about the judge panels and how these compare to State Circuit and Drum Corps panels. They took a look at the groups that most surprised them this past weekend and from this talked about how they think Grand Nationals is going to be for some of these top performing groups.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Twenty One: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our fifth weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each show from this weekend and talked about the bands who had their first BOA show this season. They also talked about how the first super regional went and how the future ones might go and how it may affect Grand Nationals. They dove into USBANDS and quickly went over the shows that have occurred and saw the highest scoring groups and discussed looking and comparing judge sheets to other circuits. They also looked into some Show Reveals of some of the top ensembles and spoke about how the show will fair for them.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Twenty Two: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our sixth weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each show from this weekend and talked about the bands who have been in the top of finals and how they think they may place this year. They also watched some clips of some of these top shows and compared them to past years. They briefly took a look at the USBANDS scores from this past weekend.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Twenty Three: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our seventh weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each show from this weekend and jumped into the topic of the "Finals Bubble" for Grand Nationals and who may be a contender for these spots. They also watched some of the shows they have worked with this season and discussed how these groups did in their specific circuit.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Twenty Four: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss our eighth weekend of Bands of America Regional Championships. They dove into the recaps of each show quickly then jumped into watching a few shows from this season. They then dove deeper into the topic surrounding the "finals bubble" and who we may get to see a third show from and who we may not. They also spoke briefly about how they think the top 6 bands will be placed.

Welcome to Life is Better with Music!

Episode Twenty Five: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss the past two days of BOA Grand National Championship Prelims. The shows were full of so many amazing shows put on by these hard-working performers. They both watched as many shows as possible whether it was online or in person. They then dove into lots of these shows that impressed them and that they expect to see again through the weekend. They also looked ahead to what Finals is starting to shape up to look like and who they would love to see make it and who they think is going to make it.

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Episode Twenty Six: Our hosts Gavin Ray and Mitchell Urban discuss the past weekend of Bands of America Grand National Championship Semifinals and Finals. They dove into the overall recaps of each day and compared them. They then spoke about how they thought the placement of bands would be from prelims up to finals and how they differed from where the judges placed them. Overall, an amazing season for all Marching Bands out there and congratulations on a terrific season and we are excited to see what these programs bring next year! Congratulations to Carmel High School on being our Grand National Champion!