By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Expectations within and of the Union City High School band program never change.
The coming year is no exception.
Veteran director Jason Deem – who began his 19th year with the Purple People and 25th overall with the start of the 2024-25 school year – confirmed his goals are high for this year’s edition of the Marching Tornadoes.
“The evolution of the marching band may have changed over the years, but the expectations of what we do and who we are at Union City will never change,” insisted Deem, whose tradition-rich program put together another stellar competition season last fall.
“We want to continue our tradition of excellence.”
Last year was another decorated season for the Purple and Gold, as UC brought home considerable hardware from several competitions. The highlight – according to Deem – was a Top 5 finish in the Division II State Championship as the smallest school represented among 22 entries.
Not only did the Marching Tornadoes – the smallest school in the Division II competition with around 400 students – place fifth overall against schools with as many 1,000 students, but they also finished second in color guard and fifth in percussion.
This year’s 82-member Golden Tornado marching band recently completed its grueling annual two-week ritual of camp. Work was done both inside and outside on this year’s show, which is entitled ‘You Will Be Found’ and was written by UCHS alumnus Benjamin Easley.
Deem, assistant director Joe Davis, new color guard leader Braylee Edgar, and various outside personnel contributed to the formation of this year’s show.
The performance will include music from the television show ‘Lost,’ the movie ‘Abyss,’ and the musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’
“Camp was good and productive, and I’m excited to see how the public responds to this year’s show and how our kids respond to the public’s reaction,” Deem said.
“We’ve seen how the panel of judges have devised a scoring rubric, and we have adapted with our performances. I’m proud of the commitment of our students – we have nearly 20 percent participation from our total school enrollment — and that’s well above the national average. I think you can attribute much of that to the continuity and consistency of our program.”
Union City will again compete at multiple venues this year, in addition to hosting its annual WTSBOA Marching Invitational on Sept. 28. The band will open its season on Sept. 14 at the Christian County Tournament of Bands in Hopkinsville, Ky. (see attached schedule).
A return trip to the Division II State Championship competition at Stewart’s Creek High School in Smyrna will cap the season on Nov. 2.
Fans will get a sneak peek into a portion of the show in a couple of weeks when the band performs at Union City’s first home football game on Aug. 30.
“We’re so blessed and fortunate to have the administration that we do that supports us unconditionally,” Deem concluded. From (UC Schools Director) Mr. (Wes) Kennedy to (Assistant Schools Director) Mr. (Michael Paul) Miller to (UCHS principal) Mr. (Jacob) Cross, I’d venture to say there’s not another band we see that has the backing nor is allowed to do the things we do.”