Shaler Area High School marching band repertoire caters to variety of tastes

Shaler Area High School’s marching band caters to a variety of tastes, from traditional marching numbers to the students’ favorite rap and hip hop songs, to the classic rock their parents favor.

So, what exactly factors into deciding on a playlist? What if the kids in the band had a contemporary song that they were dying to play? Could they?

According to senior drum major Kara Yarnot, they can.

“We have a new song by (rapper) Lil Nas X called ‘Industry Baby,’” Yarnot said. “People were asking and asking so (now) we have a band version of the song.”

This year the Shaler band has also added the Kate Bush new wave classic “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God),” which enjoyed a resurgence last year when it was featured in the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” Yarnot said the cutting edge pop songs especially work when the band is in the stands during the game.

“I like playing them. I think they’re fun. The band will do fun things. Sometimes we’ll do little dances or motions or I can add things with my conducting,” she said. “So, we’re not just sitting in the stands bored and sometimes the audience will enjoy it too. I like doing it.”

Shaler’s band director George Tepshich said the students strong interest in the Fab Four led to the band doing an all Beatles show last year.

“It went over really well. The students really enjoyed the show,” Tepshich said. “It’s a big process. It’s a combination of the staff coming up with some ideas and the students coming up with some ideas. We will usually pick the students’ brains a little bit first and say ‘what kind of things are you interested in? If I can tell they’re really interested in something or certain groups then it’s also what we can find out there too because we have to purchase marching arrangements.”

This year the band is planning an all Broadway show and Tepshich said the students are excited about that as well.

“We found a bunch of arrangements and got that process started. The staff will sit down and figure out how we’ll make this all work,” he said. “And it’s not just the music, it’s the routines for our auxiliary — dance team, majorettes, color guard — and then we learn the drill on the field with the whole group and then we start putting the music to it slowly.”

It’s a tedious process requiring lots of rehearsal but Yarnot is excited about what’s in store this year and she insists she doesn’t roll her eyes when it’s time to play the oldies.

“I will admit that I like oldies music better than some newer music anyway,” she said. ‘We have ‘Hey Baby (If You’ll Be My Girl).’ That’s an older one that I’ve done since my eighth grade year that I’ve always liked.”