PARIS, Ky. — The Bourbon County High School marching band recently won the Kentucky Music Educators Association Championship. They also went on to win the Class A National title at the Bands of America National Championships in Indianapolis.
Since 2008, the band has won state nine times and the Class A National title six times.
Tim Gray is the high school’s new band director. He says the band struggled at the beginning of their season.
“It just took us a while to kind of get on the same page, but once we did, everything kind of accelerated for us,” said Gray.
The marching band practices four out of the five school days during the season.
Senior Leslie Castro has been with the band since she was in 7th grade, playing the clarinet for several of those years. Last year, she auditioned to be a drum major and has taken on that role since. While she has been part of a band that has won three state and national titles since she began, it’s the friendships she’s made that truly shaped her experience.
“It’s just been overall the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Castro. “I’ve created another type of family with this band. It’s another family that you can lean on, depend on. Practice makes me excited, I know I’m going to go and have fun.”
Gray felt the support of administration at Bourbon County Schools.
“It’s really cool this year for me being in a new school, seeing some of our admin come out for the band,” said Gray. “I thought that was something that was really nice, that you don’t see in a lot of school districts.”
With winter around the corner, Gray is getting his students ready to perform holiday music for an upcoming concert. Even though the season just ended, he is already thinking about next year’s show.