For the last 25 years, Andrew Mroch has helped conduct the melodies and harmonies of the Trigg County High School marching band — one that, last year, embraced the fruits of labor and placed third in the state.
Earlier this week and in a visit with the Cadiz Rotary Club, he strolled down memory lane, shared intimate details about the program’s history, and noted where things might head for the future.
But above all, he spilled a few details about this year’s marching program, which focuses on a fitting summer theme of rainfall.
It was suggested by some Rotarians that Prince’s “Purple Rain,” Milli Vanilli’s “Blame It On The Rain” and Tina Turner’s “I Can’t Stand The Rain” somehow make the show. Mroch, however, confirmed that another 1980’s hit — “Here Comes The Rain Again” by Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics — was recently acquired by his department at a cost north of $650, and will likely play a part.
Though it fluctuates some, Mroch said the TCHS band usually operates with 45-to-55 kids, and including the middle school boasts more than 150-to-175 students annually, and that’s roughly 7% of the district.
Seeking learning and connection, Mroch said numbers actually increased after COVID-19 — with his students often behaving better than most do in 2023.
In fact, Mroch said it was the kids of Cadiz that kept him here — when he was exploring the possibility of another job in the early 2000’s.
A phone conversation with a former Trigg County student teacher, now a prominent band director for an Indiana school, brought revelation.
As an assistant band director under legendary Alan Baker, Mroch said one of the first students whose hands he put an instrument in: former Rotary president and frequent auction chair Alana Baker-Dunn.
It’s been several thousand since, and each year really culminates in a Rotary-funded trip to a major Drum Corps International competition. He said he remembers a visit he made to one as a 15-year-old in 1986, where it changed his vision for a career path.
And now Wildcats frequently experience it.
Mroch said if there’s any one year he had to relive in the last 25 years, it would be the 2022-23 campaign. He said everything fell “into place,” and that it had nothing to do with competition.
As for his relationship with Baker? That’s a story he could tell for hours.
Often, he said the high school competes in five local contests, regionals and state — which this year are both held in Bowling Green. Fall Break, he noted, might prevent one competition opportunity, but Murray State’s “Festival of Champions” is a family favorite and a “must-attend.”
All of it comes through the Kentucky Music Educators Association, a place, he said, that understands and embraces the community support Trigg County’s band has received not just recently — but since the 1950’s.
Mroch is one of three long-time directors to serve the district since then, and Wildcats making “All-State” is a revered annual tradition. Not just the exception.
He said last year’s and this year’s group have been a blessing.
Last year, the Trigg County Board of Education approved the purchase of 15 lightly-used instruments — eight clarinets and seven flutes — and Mroch noted that money should “never be an issue” for any family or student wanting to be a part of the ensemble.
Furthermore, he said the band budget is starting to “help more kids” as it expands. A unique deal with Music Central of Hopkinsville allows for the affordable purchase of quality used instruments, as a new flute, for example, costs between $700 to $900.
The biggest issue now, he said, is the “quick fix” — as more and more parents opt to buy “cheap Amazon instruments” that don’t have a good lifespan.
Another support element will soon be made available to the band: the co-curricular facility.
Nearing its opening near Five Points and Lafayette Street, Mroch said he’s been told that his program with have access to the large building — especially for practices during inclement weather.
The counterbalance is conditioning. Much like football, marching band has to be able to withstand heat, and he added it’s something they’ll monitor as the season rolls along.
Concert band, he said, is the “least visible” but “most successful.” Quaintly termed “sit-down band,” he said its rigor helps build up next year’s program, because it allows the brass to practice at a high level.
A goal he still has is to get 25% of the student population involved with band in some way, much like it is in Union City, Tennessee.
The first performance of the TCHS marching band is slated for the opening of Wildcats football season at Perdue Field.
