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This is a guest post by Courtney Brandt;  author of the books The Line, A Fine Line, and Keeping In Line

If you would have told 14-year-old Courtney Brandt how much drum line would impact and ultimately change her life, she probably would have laughed in your face. Entering high school, I was an oboist (that’s right, a woodwind player). I knew I wanted to stay with my friends who were all joining the high school marching band. One problem. My particular instrument was not of the marching variety. Now, as you probably are not aware, most oboists choose to play flute and remain safely with their woodwind kindred. Not me. I heard the drum line on our 8th grade “field trip” to the marching section of the stands one night in the fall and somehow knew I was destined for the group. I could read notes better than a lot of 8th grade drummers, and after announcing my decision to join the Line, was plonked in the Pit. That day, I began a four-year relationship with the Brookwood High School percussion section and unknowingly set in motion the foundation for a series of novels which would introduce me to a number of amazing and talented people.

But freshman Courtney had no idea what she was in store for… She had no clue the friends, crushes, heartaches, victories, losses, highs, lows, discipline and lessons that drum line was going to provide. She just liked the sound of it all – the cadences, the rudiments, the loudness of everything.

As the school year started, I realized I loved being a part of something so unique and competitive. In a high school where my graduating class numbered over six hundred students, being one of three girls in my grade on the Line, I felt like I had something a little different than everyone else. In a place where you’re constantly trying to find your identity, drum line gave me a place to start. In my first semester as a member of the drum line, there were other changes. My vocabulary saw a strong influx of new expletives. I made additional friends and saw different sides of old ones. There was a place to sit in the lunch room, inside jokes, and attractive upperclassmen to chat with. When indoor season came around, the Line went to PASIC and placed in the top five. I was proud, confident, and part of something bigger than myself.

By the end of my sophomore year, no longer content to be on the sidelines in the front line, I basically swore to myself that I was going to make the Battery or die trying. From the last home game to the day of auditions, I practiced daily. This lesson was one of the most fundamental I learned, and still use every day. At fifteen, after putting a lot of hard work into something, I met my goal – and was awarded 2nd bass. From that moment, on, as clichéd as it sounds, I really felt that if I worked hard enough at anything, I would ultimately see results. No questions. No doubt. And this lesson could apply to everything from a job interview to grad school to publishing a book. Ironically, I think it was being in the section in the first place that gave me the confidence to try for the more competitive part of that same section.

I am not without regrets. Not auditioning for or marching with DCI is the highest on my list. When I interact with readers now, it’s one of the things I am most proud to see and one of the activities I encourage the most. There are very few experiences in today’s world that involve the responsibility, dedication, passion, and discipline that marching a summer with Drum Corps International can teach. Since I can’t go on tour, I now live vicariously through my characters and send them on adventures for a summer.

After my high school career, I hung up my mallets and spent the next few years at college. Near graduation, I decided to apply for film school and called a friend (a senior from when I was a freshman on the Line) and asked him about his experience. I’ll never forget his response. He replied, “It’s funny, because you’ll understand like no one else would. It’s a lot like drum line…”

For the same masters application, I wrote of an audition…the same one I had practiced so hard for a few years previously and the one that would ultimately start my first book. After that, I continued writing. I found a community of other band geeks who supported me and I told them stories of a fictional marching community…not too unlike my experiences. Anyone who marched with me can recognize who relates to whom, but as the series continued and I got more involved with the characters, the created world took on its own identity.

Today, I am usually in disbelief of where drum line has brought me. From where I started to where I am today, and all the people it has put me in contact with, it sometimes seems impossible. And, of course, there’s always the future. I think about that 15 year old girl, drumming in the cold basement and know I can make her proud. It is one of my biggest goals to have one of my books adapted into a film. And believing what I do, I won’t be happy until I accomplish that fact.

I’m excited to see that someone decided to write a novel based on being in drum line.  My time in drumline has shaped who I have become and is one of the most memorable times in my life.  I highly recommend being in drum line to any and all young drummers out there.

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