In nearly every domed stadium in the country, it has played. During National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA) and Canadian Football League (CFL) halftimes, it has played. On hundreds of city streets during hometown parades and on football fields during half-time shows, it has played. On the international sands of Japan and Liberia, it has played. From north to south, east to west, with unlimited steps in between, it has played.
IT is the internationally-renowned Grambling State University Marching Band. And IT still holds the banner as the greatest collegiate marching band in the country.
For nearly three-fourths of a century, it has provided pre-game, halftime and post-game shows which have mesmerized and captivated audiences around the world. These stellar performances propelled them from unknown to unforgettable; from obscurity to national prominence.
It's said to be in the "foothills". That's an adequate name for this place where the landscape gives new meaning to rocking and rolling. Grambling State University, a place where music is not only enlivening, but for hundreds of young musicians, it's enabling a chance to see the world.
Here enters the world-renowned Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band; a precision drill unit that embodies the spirit of Sousa and the soul of drill sergeants. Grambling's Tiger Band has, over the years, become a major musical attraction.
It was in 1952 that then President Charles P. Adams asked new faculty member Ralph Waldo Emerson Joes (who later succeeded him as president) to start a new band at the school. Jones, who served over 50 years, wrote Sears and Roebuck and established a line of credit to buy instruments. Sears approved the request and Jones, who could play all instruments, started what was to evolve into the Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band; which has become a household name in thousands of American and foreign homes.
During the last two decades, a crew of collegians from those Grambling foothills has stepped into Africa across America and on to Japan. On two of the trips, the band performed while other college football teams (colleges other than GSU) were selected to play the game. Audiences all over the world get a whole show at halftime. The Tiger Ban has recorded albums, done commercials, been in a movie, played in every major domed stadium in the country and feasted on acclaim from appearances at Super Bowl I, IX and XX. When Coca-Cola was looking for the best band in the country to do a commercial spot, it was no surprise that Grambling's Tiger Marching Band was chosen.
Despite the winds of change, which continue to blow on the highly applauded and well-respected entourage of "jammin'" musicians, the band plays on. And on. And on.
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