New Athletic Band ready to rock MoWest sports

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- A new sound will be heard on Missouri Western State University's campus.

The marching and pep band moved into the athletics department and will be led by first-year hire Adrian Lowry.

"The idea being that we're going to reform it, we're going to grow it, and if we get back to the point where we can have a marching band that's respectable and big enough, to make a significant impact, then we'll do it," Lowry said. "We're just not there right now, we don't have enough people to do that and to do it correctly, and that's our goal."

Already, the group has nearly doubled, with 40 members coming from all over. The band allows students, faculty, staff and even community members to join.

"I remember how big the marching band used to be, watching from the stadium club in elementary school... To see it drop to what it had was frustrating," drummer for the rock group Tucker Holden said. "So when they had this idea to bring it under athletics and to revitalize it and to build something new to start with a clean slate rather than disband it entirely, you can never be mad about a second chance at life."

Currently, Lowry said the team has around 85 performance opportunities, which include every sport at MoWest besides golf and tennis.

"Normally, marching bands in college play on the high end 15 or 20 times," Lowry said. "Basketball pep bands play a little more, but nobody plays 85, and you still have all of three sports to add."

MoWest's spring athletic schedule is not finalized yet, but Lowry said the performance total will go up to over 100 once the schedule is released. The group will also perform at campus events, community events and Downtown.

Athletic Bands is an umbrella for many smaller ensembles. The rock group has rotating players filling in each instrument needed. The unique part about the group is student athletes can join as well.

"Music after high school doesn't have to be just for music majors, and that's what we're trying to go for here," Lowry said. "Give people that opportunity to make music at a high level in front of crowds and crowds of people."

Captain of Athletic Bands and trumpet player Hanna Summers bought into Lowry's mission within minutes.

"After I had that first phone call with Adrian, I was locked in," Summers said. "He pitched it in such an excellent way and I was just really looking forward to it."

Summers felt the open arms from the athletic department, feeling the athletes have embraced this new idea, saying, "It feels like we're inside the family now."

Lowry's short-term goal is to put out a product that people can be proud of and to surprise people.

Long term, he wants to continue to build the program, gather more people, more equipment and more performance opportunities.

"We do want to bring in people from other places, but we also want to keep the ones we have here," Lowry said. "If we can provide something that nobody else provides, regionally that I know of, no one else is providing this opportunity."

To sign up, visit the Athletic Bands website and click the register tab.

"It's going to allow for something that Missouri Western's never seen before, and a lot of other colleges have never seen before," Holden said. "I wouldn't be shocked if we execute this correctly; other schools are going to start taking notice and they're going to start doing what we're doing now."