Memphis Sound won the Drum Corps International Division III Championship in 2007 with their show "Harmonic Voices," and in doing so won the Brass, Percussion, and Visual captions. In addition, they were in the Top 3 for all Division II/III throughout the season before settling at 5th place going into finals week. Memphis Sound made Division II/III Finals every season since 2004. After the 2009 season, Memphis Sound was disbanded in an effort to serve as start up to a new corps in Grand Prairie, TX in 2010 called Forte. Forte folded in 2012.
Administration
Pat and Kimberly Bohannan - Administrative Volunteers Trey Moore - Corps director 2003 - 2006 Michael McCray - Corps director 2007 Andre Feagin - Corps director 2007
Logo
Original corps logo created with the creation of the drum corps organization. It resembled the side of a snare drum and represented an M. New logo unveiled September 26, 2006. The M and the S are intertwined to symbolize the Memphis bridge spanning the Mississippi river, which meanders below.
Corps Song
"I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" originally recorded by Elvis Presley. Arranged for the drum corps by...
2007 Championship
In 2007, Memphis Sound won their first championship with their program "Harmonic Voices." The program featured the choral music of Karl Jenkins, Eric Whitacre, and Giuseppe Verdi. The brassline had an undefeated season, while the percussion had a season-long rivalry with Revolution. Both sections won their respective performance captions at Finals. The corps was ranked in the Top 3 of both Divisions II and III throughout the season. During Finals week, the corps fell back to fifth place in Division II, but won the Division III championship with a score of 90.550. Their score peaked at the Semifinals competition with a 91.525.
Semifinals Fiasco
On the morning of the 2007 Semifinals, Memphis Sound began to prepare for the competition in the early afternoon. The corps was housed at a Good Nite Inn in Sylmar, CA. As the time to load the buses came and went, the corps realized there was going to be a problem. One bus was incapacitated, and the other was not present. The gate time for the corps was 1:20pm PST, and the bus did not arrive until 12:25pm PST. The corps split into two groups, and the bus had to make two trips. The corps made it to the stadium with enough time for the brass to have a 10-minute warm-up, the battery even less, and the pit did not even have time to set up their instruments. As the "Drum Major, Andrew Snead, is your corps ready?" announcement was made, the corps had not yet rounded the wall leading into the stadium. A fan in the stands even shouted "Does it look like they're ready?!?!" Given instructions to "get out there NOW!" the corps members ran onto the field. As the show ended, a scream from the front sideline to, "Cut the taps, and get off the field!" was heard. The corps members then proceeded to the parking garage where they were informed that a timing penalty had been avoided by mere seconds. This stressful situation resulted in a score of 91.525, and the best performance of their season.
