The UM marching band, The Pride of the South, has three drum majors: Callie Entwisle, a senior exercise science/nursing major, Brandon Hughes, a second year graduate student studying criminal justice and Brandon Collins, a senior music education major.
Audiences watching the band’s performance at football games see the final product of weeks of practice and hard work. The drum majors take on extra responsibilities to help make each performance a success.
“We are the first to arrive and the last to leave,” Entwistle said. “The band hall is basically our home.”
Entwistle said the drum majors’ responsibilities depend upon whether they are rehearsing or if it’s a home or away game, among other things. Typically, they conduct the walkthrough for the Walk of Champions as well as pregame and halftime shows, assist the directors and help graduate students with various tasks like spraying sets on the field.
Randy Dale, assistant director of bands, said drum majors are an important part of any band program.
“Most people in the band have to know how to do their individual job and understand their contribution to the overall product,” Dale said. “A drum major has to understand how it all comes together and how to solve problems that relate to all aspects of the overall product.”
The majors have the unique position of being a student and leader with many responsibilities. Besides leading the band during marching performances, they also serve as a liaison between band members and band directors.
“I feel that the drum majors are essential to peace and order in the band,” Dakota Dooley, junior band member, said. “Not to mention they’ll help you if you ever need anything.”
All three of the drum majors were involved with band during middle school, continued through high school and have carried their passion into college.
“I transferred to Ole Miss in 2011 and played one year and then was drum major my senior year,” Hughes said. “After graduation I left for a year to work, then returned to graduate school where the directors gave me the opportunity to be drum major again and I gladly accepted. I have been blessed to be a part of The Pride of the South and it has been a great opportunity.”
After graduating high school, Entwisle auditioned for a position in the band. She marched with The Pride of the South and played in the wind ensemble her freshman year.
“I have been a part of these programs since then, where I have even been given the opportunity to serve as one of the drum majors for The Pride of the South my junior and senior year,” Entwisle said.
During football games, fans can see the drum majors leading the band in the stands.
“During a game, it is crucial that the band plays in support and encouragement of the football team,” Entwisle said. “We have a chart of the songs we can play that are organized in correspondence to the game.”
The chart, called the game day playbook, is organized into what the band can play for full time-outs, short time-outs, touchdowns, field goals, offense, defense and quarter breaks.
All three drum majors said their favorite football memory was the Alabama game on Oct. 17, 2014, when Ole Miss defeated Alabama 23-17 in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“College GameDay, Katy Perry picking us to win while throwing corndogs on live television, the stadium pouring onto the field and then watching pieces of our goal posts being carried away after a win that no one but ourselves thought we were capable of,” Entwisle said. “This will be a day that every Ole Miss fan will remember and being able to experience all of those moments with the band will always be my favorite Ole Miss football memory.”
Collins said the Alabama game was the highlight of his college career with The Pride of the South.
“That day was full of great moments and this year when we defeated them again in Bryant-Denny Stadium it enhanced that memory and made it so much more special,” Collins said.
The drum majors said the band members, directors and themselves share mutual respect for one another and in the end, their love for band enables them to form relationships and have opportunities that they never would have had otherwise.
“We are fortunate at Ole Miss to have great people like Brandon, Callie and Brandon as our drum majors,” Dale said. “They do more than what is asked of them, and they never complain. These are traits that make anyone valuable to a community. I am inspired by their undeniable loyalty to The Pride of the South and The University of Mississippi.”
