Kingsport Spirit

Number one. Overall. Of all sizes.

That’s how the Dobyns-Bennett High School Marching Band finished its 2026 competitive season Saturday night in Cookeville.

With a score of 91.075, D-B won the Bands of America Middle Tennessee Regional Championship, edging Bartlett High School of suburban Memphis by just 0.075 points. Earlier that day, they had already won Class AAA.

But the scoreboard tells only part of the story.

These kids left Kingsport at 2:30 Saturday morning. They competed throughout the day, then took the field as the last band in finals at 10:15 p.m. Central Time. That’s 11:15 back home.

And afterward? They climbed aboard the buses and came home. Cookeville simply didn’t have enough hotel rooms for all the participating bands, making the overnight return more practical.

Twenty-seven hours. Round trip. On Halloween.

While other teenagers were enjoying Saturday night with friends, these students were giving everything they had for their school and hometown.

And winning.

For the third time this season.

D-B previously captured regional championships in Chattanooga on October 3 and Johnson City on October 17, sweeping the awards for music, visual performance, and general effect at both events.

Three regional competitions. Three overall championships.

To appreciate the magnitude, consider the competition.

Across those three Tennessee regionals, 71 different high schools from 14 states competed in preliminaries, accounting for 82 entries because several schools, including D-B, competed more than once. Only 32 different schools reached finals across the three events.

Cookeville alone attracted 38 competing schools from 11 states.

Tennessee led the combined field with 24 schools, followed by Georgia with 11, South Carolina with eight, and Alabama with six. Others traveled from as far away as Oklahoma and New York.

Atlanta. Charlotte. Nashville. Memphis. Huntsville. Cincinnati.

Many bands come from affluent suburban districts with considerable resources, accomplished directors, and impressive traditions of their own.

And then there’s Kingsport.

A city of roughly 57,000 people, nestled in the Appalachian foothills of Northeast Tennessee.

Not the biggest. Not the wealthiest.

But certainly capable of being the best.

D-B is a public school serving students across the socioeconomic spectrum. Some have considerable resources. Others face financial challenges that most spectators will never fully appreciate.

Yet when they put on those uniforms and step onto the field, they are one band. One team. One purpose.

Excellence doesn’t happen accidentally. It takes dedicated students, extraordinary directors and teachers, supportive families, and a community that has valued music education for generations. It requires discipline, sacrifice, high expectations, and countless hours of practice when nobody is watching.

And their season isn’t over. Just the competitions.

D-B passed on the Bands of America Grand National Championships because another extraordinary opportunity awaits: the 100th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

And here’s what makes that especially meaningful: 2026 also marks the Dobyns-Bennett band program’s 100th anniversary.

Two centennial celebrations. One remarkable hometown band. On Thanksgiving morning, D-B will make its sixth appearance in the parade, carrying a century of Kingsport musical tradition down the streets of New York City.

I often talk about loving where we live. But that’s more than admiring our mountains or celebrating our history. It’s believing in our young people, investing in their potential, and recognizing what they can accomplish when given the opportunity.

As Hamilton puts it, they’re “scrappy and hungry, and I’m not throwing away my shot.”

Folks, that’s what excellence looks like.

And it’s wearing a Dobyns-Bennett uniform.