Notes sail across the football field as if it was padded practice. Just as the coaching staff has changed for the varsity football team, the same occurrence has happened with the marching band. After three changes of band directors in five years, James Dykes has been selected to successfully tap into The Category 5 Marching Band’s talent.
“There is a lot of talent at this school, but it’s been untapped,” Dykes said. “I came in with a team of great staff members and offer a different experience in music. At the start of band camp we established mutual respect along with what is expected. We hit the ground running and it hasn’t stopped sense.”
The band has had no time to stop in recent weeks. They represented PHU in two local competitions within the span of three weeks and conclude with straight superiors at the Florida Bandmasters Association Music Performance Assessment shortly after. Even before the start of this demanding schedule, the band impressed him.
“We came into band camp and pushed really hard,” Dykes said. “They exceeded my expectations. I anticipated at half of our halftime show done by the end of camp. We ended up having the whole piece memorized during camp.”
Dykes has a weather track of his own. After earning a Bachelors Degree in Music Education, he played the trombone with the world renowned North Texas Wind Symphony where he recorded numerous CDs along with being a featured soloist. He even performed alongside Chicago band member Peter Cetera. After eight years of directing at Dunedin, he knows what he expects from Palm Harbor.“Creating a bigger confidence and performance opportunity for students to instrumental music at Palm Harbor is the biggest goal,” Dykes said. “It’s to be recognized not only by our district, but our state and nation. The newest change to what is going on is with the guitar classes. We are trying to make it more comprehensive performance based.”
Just as cheerleaders cheer in the sweltering summer heat and pads are locked on the practice field by the football team, music revolved around the same air. It’s a sound that brings upon a new season to each school year.