Gerald Edward Waguespack (The Band)

[BrockMeaux]

No Boom, he was never the director at STM. He taught at Vinton, Rayne, and Acadiana before retiring and coming on at UL in 2007.

[BabbForHeisman]

So one says he was at stm and another says no....was wag ever at stm to crank up their band....reason why I ask is that I wrote their fight song and it was never played until He started the band there ...anyway I'll never forget the first time hearing s band.play it.

Isn't the STM fight song just like the Tulane fight song? Or did I mis-hear that last year?

[barisaxman]

So i again ask my history question again so I can see if this is the same guy---Did he go to STM to start their band???

Boomer, you're thinking of Billy Raxsdale. He taught at a university after leaving Acadiana. STM DID have a band, but only a "legitimate" band for ONE year before Billy arrived their. Billy brought it to the level that would "compete" with the pubilic high schools here.

[barisaxman]

The network of band instructors is a very tight knit group. All are driven by the love of music and sharing that passion. If we all were passionate as Wag and many other band directors in the area about out lives, the world would be a better place. So whether at Rayne, AHS, STM or UL, Wag did his best.

WELL said!!

[barisaxman]

That's him. I still see your dad around occasionally.

don63, I've known your Dad for years, (Lafayette Music, Skyliners, LCB) CLASS ACT!! Next time you see him, tell him Jay sends his BEST!!

[don63]

Thanks! I'll tell him you said that.

[Just1More]

Boomer, you're thinking of Billy Raxsdale. He taught at a university after leaving Acadiana. STM DID have a band, but only a "legitimate" band for ONE year before Billy arrived their. Billy brought it to the level that would "compete" with the pubilic high schools here.

Ragsdale was the Acadiana band director right before Clarence Hebert. Clarence is who brought in Wag to write drill and then recommended him to replace him. Ragsdale left Acadiana High to become the band director at the University of Florida. That experiment didn't go real well. You can run high school kids (in the old days) like a military. College kids reject bossy band directors. The really good college bands are getting really good musicians. When you aren't a good college band yet, you had better cater to great horn and drummers (and there are prescriptions to do that) and not get the least bit irritated that they dominate everyone and everything about the band. If you want to suck as a college band, you hug on all of the conforming little musician whimps... even though they can't bring it.

[ZoomZoom]

Ragsdale was the Acadiana band director right before Clarence Hebert. Clarence is who brought in Wag to write drill and then recommended him to replace him. Ragsdale left Acadiana High to become the band director at the University of Florida. That experiment didn't go real well. You can run high school kids (in the old days) like a military. College kids reject bossy band directors. The really good college bands are getting really good musicians. When you aren't a good college band yet, you had better cater to great horn and drummers (and there are prescriptions to do that) and not get the least bit irritated that they dominate everyone and everything about the band. If you want to suck as a college band, you hug on all of the conforming little musician whimps... even though they can't bring it.

You can still run a h/s band like the military providing you do it in a very positive manner. Look no further than Lafayette High, they can bring it with the best as far a military h/s bands. That's one of the great things about h/s band in the area...pretty much all of the band directors in the area network, attend showcase at UL, do winter camp at UL. A very nurturing group.

[Just1More]

You can still run a h/s band like the military providing you do it in a very positive manner. Look no further than Lafayette High, they can bring it with the best as far a military h/s bands. That's one of the great things about h/s band in the area...pretty much all of the band directors in the area network, attend showcase at UL, do winter camp at UL. A very nurturing group.

I only mentioned the old days because those were my band days. I'm sure you are right. The biggest difference in most Lafayette area high school bands is the quality and quantity of good feeder schools. I'm sure that is true in most places. Someone has to keep the junior high kids willing to keep it going. When I was at Acadiana, we dominated the state because we were getting the best feeder schools from Lafayette. Rezoning and the natural growth in other areas of Lafayette contributed to the shift in who was dominant next. It's funny to hear some of my old Acadiana friends tell me that now that their kids are at Lafayette High, that band is so much better. I know that they are. But it has to do with good parenting and where those parents live. Even when I was in high school, the HS band directors socialized together. Even though some privately disliked each other, they did work together to strengthen Lafayette high school bands.