By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
BOONE ó Patrick Watkins couldn’t have timed better his arrival at Appalachian State University.
Especially his membership in the school’s marching band.
Watkins, a senior at the school, has been a member of Appalachian’s marching band since his freshman year. In the years since, the Mountaineer football team has won three consecutive national championships.
Watkins and his 300 or so band comrades have been on hand to see every one of those championship games, also performing for all the playoff games leading to the grand finales.
Last year, when the Mountaineers traveled to Ann Arbor and beat Michigan in arguably the greatest upset in college football history, Watkins was there to see it.
When Appalachian opened the current football season at LSU (for Mountaineer fans, the end result was, admittedly, not as satisfying as last year’s trip to Michigan) Watkins and about 100 fellow members of the school’s pep band traveled to Baton Rouge, La., for the game.
“It has been a privilege,” Watkins, a baritone player, said of his years at Appalachian and inclusion in the band. “I’ve really gotten to travel.”
This fall, Watkins, 22, is especially enjoying his days in Appalachian’s marching band. This fall, he’s one of the band’s three drum majors, a prestigious position for which he auditioned in the spring.
“Patrick certainly has the qualities we look for in a drum major,” said Scott Tobias, Appalachian’s band director. “They’re the student leaders of the band, and Patrick has filled that niche well for us.”
Tobias said 16 band members auditioned this past spring for the role of drum major. Anyone who has been in the band at least a year can audition.
They do so by demonstrating vocal commands and participating in an interview. A portion of the band is on hand for the auditions, and those trying out take a turn at conducting the group.
The panel includes about five outside judges as well as a small number of band members who are asked for feedback. But the ultimate decision about who’ll be named a drum major is made by Tobias.
“The drum major is the public face of the band,” he said. “The drum major is the one person who everyone sees.”
Tobias said that while most college bands have a director and various assistant directors, that isn’t true at Appalachian.
“At Appalachian, I’m it,” he said.
Which, Tobias said, makes all the more important the selection of the school’s drum majors.
“We depend on our students for leadership,” he said. “We couldn’t accomplish what we did without them.”
Tobias said the stereotypical image of the drum major kicking his head back and prancing down a football field is largely true.
A drum major, Tobias said, can’t be overly shy.
“They have to be charismatic,” he said. “They have to lead and inspire the group. The more energy they convey, the more they’re going to get out of the ensemble.”
Watkins graduated from North Rowan High School in 2004. His parents are Rindy and Billy Watkins of Salisbury.
Patrick played in the marching band at North Rowan. He was also president of the school’s Cavaliers for Christ club and an Eagle Scout.
Watkins said the Appalachian band typically performs three songs at every halftime show. Each drum major gets to conduct one song, he said.
Watkins is majoring in music education. It will be December 2009 when he graduates.
Watkins said he plans to do his student teaching in Rowan or a surrounding county next fall. He plans to one day be a high school band director.
Each fall, Appalachian hosts a prestigious high school band festival. When that event was held a couple of weekends ago in Boone, Watkins was the coordinator. The festival included 17 high school bands.
During his senior year of high school, Watkins was involved in a hunting accident near High Rock Lake. In that accident, Watkins was hit by four shotgun pellets, one of which struck him in his right ó the dominant ó eye.
Doctors at John Hopkins Medical Center in Maryland ó one of the hospitals where Watkins was treated ó told him that had the pellet that struck his eye been a centimeter higher, it would have gone through his brain.
Watkins said he has recovered from injuries he sustained in the shooting, though his vision in his right eye is remains weak. He said that if technology improves, doctors may eventually be able to correct the damage to his eye.
In the meantime, Watkins said he doesn’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the accident.
“It kind of goes unnoticed most of the time,” he said. “It has been so long.”