Tag: bands of america
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Scrappy, Hungry, and #1
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…
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John Cook—A Life Lived in America’s Best Idea
Several years ago, I was watching Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan’s PBS documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, when I saw a reference to John Cook. I immediately texted my friend Lafe Cook, longtime director of the Dobyns-Bennett High School Band. “Is that your dad?” When Lafe answered yes, I was smitten, but I had…
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From Old Kingsport to Dobyns-Bennett: An Intuitive Chronology for the D-B Band Centennial
The Dobyns-Bennett High School Band centennial is best understood as the story of how Kingsport’s school identity moved from scattered rural and county schools to a modern city school system. The band was formed in 1926, the same year Kingsport’s high school moved to Wateree Street, took the name Dobyns-Bennett High School, and began a…
