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The Fall 2022 season will see new leadership for the Razorback Marching Band and the Hogwild Band, but new roles in the band program doesn't necessarily mean new faces in the Lewis E. Epley Jr. Band Building.

Jeffrey Summers, who for the past two years has served as assistant director of the Razorback Marching Band and director of the Hogwild Band, was appointed interim associate director of bands on July 1 and took the helm of the Razorback Marching Band this year. He will continue to conduct the Wind Symphony, one of the university's year-round concert bands.

Though moving on from the Hogwild Band, Summers enjoys looking back over the past two years as both the men's and women's basketball team experienced post-season success. With travel to SEC and NCAA tournaments, he and the band's members had an opportunity to see the country from east to west coast. "Austin, Buffalo, Nashville, San Francisco and Tampa — it was a month of non-stop travel," he said. "But I had so much fun, and I felt the students did, too."

Now in a different role for 2022, Summers acknowledges that taking on the title of marching band director for a flagship university can be challenging but ultimately rewarding. He recounted his conversations with alumni band members and realized the impact that his career can have: "It's interesting to hear people talk about their time in the Razorback Band. Almost always they tell you who their band director was and that their experiences meant a lot to them. It's a testament to the long history of great directors in this program."

With Summers vacating the role of director of the Hogwild Band and moving into the director position of the marching band, the program looked to someone with teaching experience and familiarity with the U of A to step in and help with both athletic bands. Chase Jones will serve in those positions during the upcoming year. Originally from Ashdown, Jones earned his Bachelor of Music degree in 2012, serving as drum major for three years and then worked on staff as a graduate assistant while he finished a Master of Music in conducting in 2015.

Returning to his alma mater provided an exciting new step in his career. "The opportunity to come back to Arkansas was one I couldn't pass up," said Jones, who had been teaching the 225-member Sebastian River High School Band in Sebastian, Florida, before he got the call to come home. "I'm from Arkansas, so being a Hog was the only thing I knew. This is home; this is a place that means a lot to me." With the Hogwild Band now in the hands of Jones, the band has already started performing at volleyball games and I am looking forward to appearances at both men's and women's basketball games.

Jones reflected on the unique opportunities for exposure and scholarships the U of A Bands program affords. "When I was a student," he said, "I didn't realize how special and unique the support is that we receive from athletics, our alumni and scholarships. And whether it's travelling and getting to perform in awesome places like AT&T stadium, bowl games or NCAA basketball trips, there's a lot of life experiences you get with being in a program of this caliber as well. It's extremely valuable, and you get to do it with great people."

Both Jones and Summers have high expectations as the 350-member strong Razorback Marching Band continues the season this Saturday when the Hogs take on Missouri State for the third football game of the year. The band will perform a shortened version of their Elton John show with Band Day and Twirler Day participants. "This is one of the most talented bands I've worked with," Jones said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Chris Knighten, director of bands, summed up the two hires: "Dr. Summers and Mr. Jones are two outstanding educators with a proven history of excellence in teaching. That they also understand and embrace the traditions of our athletic bands is a wonderful bonus that students, alumni and fans of the program will enjoy."

The Hogs are 2-0!

The Razorback Marching Band put pregame and two halftime shows on the field with performances at the first two home football games against the University of Cincinnati and the University of South Carolina.

At the home opener against Cincinnati, Jeff Summers, Interim Director of the Razorback Marching Band, conducted the National Anthem for the first time. In another first for pregame, on-field pyrotechnics blazed into the sky as the team ran through the Big “A.”

The Best in Sight and Sound’s first show of the season was entitled “Traveling Arkansas” and included the songs “Life is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts, “Arkansas” by Chris Stapelton, and a medley of tunes made up of “The Nights” by Avicii, “Lights” by Ellie Goulding, and “Blinding Lights” by the Weekend. The crowd gave the band a cheer as a script “Arkansas” was spelled out on the field. You can watch that performance on the University of Arkansas Bands’s YouTube channel.

The halftime show for the second game against South Carolina game was titled “Girl Boss” and highlighted hit songs from some of our favorite female musicians. Selections included “Chandelier” by Sia, “good 4 you” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Toxic” by Britney Spears and “About Damn Time” by Lizzo. That performance is also available on YouTube.

Weather cooperated for the most part on both days with temperatures ranging in the low to high 80s. And unlike the start of the 2021 season, the Razorback Marching Band performed their first game in full uniform. The team had no trouble performing in their uniforms either – the Razorbacks took down the Bearcats 31 to 24 and the Gamecocks 44 to 30.

The Carolina Band had a small traveling band of about thirty students that performed in the stands, but the Bearcat Band did not come down to Fayetteville for the match.

Razorback Band Digital Archive Featured on KUAF

In August Ozarks At Large, a daily radio show aired on KUAF 91.3, the Northwest Arkansas NPR affiliate, featured the Razorback Marching Band’s return for the 2022 season. During the segment host Randy Dixon also explained the history of the Razorback Band Digital Archive, a collection of more than five hundred video recordings of performances from the 1960s to the present.

You can listen to the full segment on the Ozarks At Large website.

University of Arkansas Bands

103 Lewis E. Epley, Jr. Band Building | Fayetteville, AR 72701

(888) ARK-ALUM

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