Torskmen Band

Torskmen Band is the marching band associated with the NTFAA (North Texas Fine Arts Association), and it is located and operated in Northern Cleardon, Texas. It is known locally as a regional powerhouse, often winning league regionals and championships. The band has been known historically as the Axle Hornet Band, due its prior location. Due to declining member interest in the Axle area, the band was forced to move, along with its parent orginization, to the county of Cleardon, in north Texas.

## NTDL

JhonGray78, director of the Torskmen Band, is also the founder of the league North Texas Marching Band (NTMB), which is the local league for Cleardon County groups and other North Texas area marching bands. Other bands in the league include the Bearcat Band, the Johnsonville Marching Band, the Trojan Regiment, Jacob Johnson Memorial High School, River Walker High School, and the Rome High Marching Band.

## Rivalries

Torskmen Band is located in Cleardon County, a very popular marching arts hub. Due to the very high density of performing groups in the county, friendly rivalries have broken out between the Torskmen Band of Northern Cleardon, the Bearcat Band of East Cleardon, and the Johnsonville Marching Band of South Cleardon.

### History

The Torskmen Band is a powerhouse of a marching band, that consistently places in finals at world championships, often wins league regionals and championships, and has racked up a large selection of medals and trophies already, in its short history.

In season 108, the Torskmen Band was formed, but not as the Torskmen; and not in Northern Cleardon, either. When it was created, the group was called the "Axle Hornet Band." The band was formed as part of the NTFAA in Axle, Texas, adopting the mascot of the local high school as its namesake. The very first contest hosted by the band was named after a dear friend of the director, Pablo. Thus began the seasonal event of Pablo's Marching Band Classic. The very first edition of the Torskmen Band placed very well competitively, eventually placing 2nd at division III world championships, missing out on gold by less than a point.

The next season, bolstered by staff additions and increased rehearsal time led to the band being moved to division II. This wasn't the only change that 109 had in store. Nearing the end of the pre-season week, the minimum membership had not been filled, and sponsors were not supplying enough money to keep the band afloat. In the midst of the crisis, the city of Northern Cleardon reached out to the director and offered to let the entire organization migrate into Cleardon County, a well-known source of talented marchers, and a very developed area overall- plenty of potential sponsors. NTFAA graciously accepted, and the organization was moved into the town by the end of the week. Seeing as the band was no longer in Axle, and certainly not being fed from the Axle High School, a name change was on the horizon. NTFAA decided it would be best to make connections in the area by letting the locals help choose the name of every ensemble under its wing. Due to the large population of Scandinavian imigrants who happen to be fishermen, the name eventually settled on was the Torskmen- from an old word meaning "cod" in a foreign tongue. The name was quickly dispersed throughout the ensembles, and the change became permanent. The Axle Hornet Band would now be called the Torskmen Band! Despite the early season issues, the band managed to finish very strongly, placing 6th at world championships, and breaking the bands scoring record by a whopping 9 points!

Following the successful 109 season, the band was able to make many staff changes and upgrades, and made a strong showing in its very first competition of the season, placing 7th overall, and scoring 2 whole points higher than last seasons premier.