It’s crunch time for high school band members in the Valley

The sun beats down on the back of your neck as you stand for hours, following the same instructions over and over again.

You’re sweating beneath a wool uniform and the 25-pound bass drum draped over your shoulders is starting to dig into your skin. To top that off, you have to keep the beat.

August is crunch time for marching bands, culminating with a week of band nights throughout the region and then the first football games.

Practices begin in June or July and run most days through August at two to six hours a pop. Students must perfect music memorization and coordinate it with the field routines. Many bands head to band camp, a week-long excursion at a college campus or other location where practice sessions run all day on and off the field.

It’s a big time commitment and a few students admit occasional envy of the free time enjoyed by their non-band friends. But mostly, band is in their blood.

“I love music,” said Janell Heggins, a senior at Liberty High School where she logs long hours as the band’s drum major. “Music is basically my life. I like all kinds of music and band exposes you to all kinds of music. It gives you a way to express yourself.”

Same thing for Kaitlin Billock, a junior mellophone player at Poland Seminary High School:

“I positively love music,” she said. “You meet new people before the school year starts and it’s really about bonding for me.”

The marching bands at Liberty, Boardman and Poland high schools, all show-style bands, perform a mix of rousing rock songs, pop favorites and high-energy show tunes.

Swinging horns and pumping arms punctuate the funky music.

Austintown Fitch High School’s marching band is more formal: Taut formations and precise turns accompany the crisp military marches.

It’s a long-standing Austintown tradition.

“We are a military band and we’re going to stay a military band,” said Wes O’Connor, band director.

Read the complete story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com