LSU band to be inducted into Hall of Fame

I'm not a huge fan of LSU ,but hey its a Baton Rouge band so i'm still happy for them.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Louisiana State University Tiger Band is set to be inducted this weekend into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame — the only college marching band to receive such an honor.The band, known as the "Golden Band from Tigerland," had a fight song written by Louisiana Gov. Huey Long and had internationally known jazz orchestra leader Castro Carazo as its band director in the 1930s."This band's history in Louisiana is deep," said Mike Shepherd, executive director of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame organization. "Huey Long saw that band as a form of entertainment, a way to bring joy and good during a tough time like the Depression."Castro and Long collaborated on a number of compositions famous at LSU, including "Touchdown for LSU," ''Darling of LSU" and "LSU Cadets March."Castro and Long will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during a ceremony at LSU on Friday. The Tiger band will be inducted during halftime of Saturday's football game between LSU and Vanderbilt, Shepherd said."I can't think of a better way to induct that band than during a halftime show," he said.The halftime show will include the Tiger band performing Al Johnson's "Carnival Time," Robert Parker's "Barefootin'" and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff." A video screen will show pictures of Johnson, Parker and Knight — all past inductees of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame — and images from the Tiger band's history.Though Louisiana has many great college band programs — including those at Southern University and Grambling State University — Shepherd said no other band program has the kind of history as that of the Tiger band at LSU.Shepherd said few other college bands have been as integral to the identity and lore of their school, culture and athletic program as the Tiger band. And, he said, few others have produced as many professional musicians and music educators, among them Academy Award-winning composer Bill Conti and Emmy Award-winning TV and movie composer Julie Giroux.Shepherd said the Tiger band will be the 45th inductee into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. The band will join the likes of Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gov. Jimmie Davis.The Hall of Fame has seen a rise in inductions in recent years — an attempt to make up for lost time, says Shepherd."We are so behind," he said. "We were so underfunded for so long. The opportunities for these inductions are finally happening, and we are grabbing them when we can."The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame was founded in 1980 but went without any inductions from 1986-2005 due largely to lack of funding and resources, Shepherd said.http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/58089597.html

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  • that might be the begining of a new trend
  • cool and well deserved but i dont think Shepherd truely understands what underfunded is compared to other bands
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