Stanford University’s marching band generated quite a load of controversy at the Rose Bowl last week when they played the FarmersOnly.com jingle, and brought a giant cow onto the field then proceeded to tip it. But the band is known for trolling its opponents and has upset scores of fans at three out of the last four Rose Bowls.
During this hour on Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with University of Iowa Hawkeye Marching Band Director Kevin Kastens about Iowa’s performance at the Rose Bowl and about marching band styles and culture across the country.
"I wasn't a surprise, we knew they were going to do this," he says.
"In the program even, our information is about composers and what we're playing, and theirs tends to be more satire and things of that nature. Within the band world, we know about Stanford. We know that's what they do. They were banned from traveling this season, but the Rose Bowl wanted both bands to be there for the Rose Bowl."
Paul Brizzi, a veteran band director and a visiting professor in music education at Drake University, and Doreen French-Zumwalt, who played in the band at Iowa State University also join the conversation to talk about marching band’s roots in Iowa culture.
Brizzi says that marching band as we know it today is very different from what marching band looked like in the 1960s. For example, there didn't used to be a color guard at Iowa high schools.
"I went and saw these people with flags at a drum and bugle corp show, so I went and bought dowel from the lumberyard and bought material. We painted the poles white and thumb tacked the flags onto the poles. That was the beginning," Brizzi explains. "I just knew that we wanted to do something more impactful and relevant."
