Spirit of the Raiders

Based in a small town in Southeast Texas, Spirit of the Raiders is not afraid to compete against the big dogs. Formally known as The Rising Glory Drum Corps, this current Division 1 group is led by the highly appraised Director, J-Mike.

## **History**

Founded as The Rising Glory Drum Corps, this group was a first for SETX as there were no Corps in the area, which is the same to this day. This means that a lot of the members and staff of Spirit actually come from all over SETX, though the majority are from Lumberton. The Corps was founded in Season 69, but did not compete competitively, though they did have a show that they performed in exhibition a few times. Season 70 was the Corp's first competitive season, as they finished with a score of 55.885, which was good enough for 20th in Division 3. Unfortunately, Season 71 saw a decline in score and placement as the group placed 23rd in Division 3 with a score of 53.59. After S71, the group went inactive, from S72 to S78. Possibly the reason they went inactive was because of the score/placement of S71, but also the director was going through a lot of issues with his personal life; however, during that inactive period, the Corps underwent a lot of major changes that would forever impact everyone who would be a part of the Corps.

On June 24th, 2019, which was the first competitive day of Season 79, the world saw a different Corps out of Lumberton. The group came in with full force, placing in the top 5 at every event except for 3 that season. They ended FMA S79 Championships as a first time Division 3 Finalist, receiving 5th place (65.59). Season 80 would be even better as they continued to improve musically and visually. That would help them as they placed 3rd in Division 3 (66.515). With the group doing so well the previous two seasons, they managed to move up to Division 2 for Season 81, where they placed 10th in Finals. For the next 4 seasons, the Corps competed in Division 2, placing from 6th to 10th in the Championship Finals. Sadly, for the next 6 seasons, the Corps either failed to make Division 2 Semifinals or Finals or went inactive altogether. Spirit underwent another inactive period from Season 96 to 99. During this time, the group kept rehearsing with the intent to make a comeback for the historic 100th Season of FMA. Spirit was placed in Division 1 for the first time ever for that season, and unfortunately it was not the best time for that to happen, as they would place 21st in the Championship preliminary round. After the tragic 100th season, the Corps dropped back to Division 2 where they would consistently place in Finals placing between 3rd to 7th during Seasons 101 to 105. Season 106 was when the world would see Spirit as a World Class Drum Corps, as they were moved back into Division 1, however this time they were prepared to face some of the toughest competition in all of FMA. They proved that FMA Division 1 Finals was No Walk Too Far. They finished in 9th place with a score of 86.09 which became the highest score for the Corps so far. The group was fortunate enough to work with a drill designer for Season 107, who made very good Drum Corps shows, and was so willingly wanting to assist the staff of Spirit and the group. That season was a memorable one for sure, with a show entitled "V". It was a process that paid off at the end, as the show was visually and musically very demanding, which most Corps probably couldn't achieve the success that Spirit did. While they did finish 1 spot lower than S106, they raised their high score to an 86.49. The Visual judges loved the visual aspect of the show so much that the Corps was awarded 4th place overall in that sub-caption, which is the highest single placement the Corps has ever achieved before. Spirit could not have been able to achieve such success without Josh Chastain (AlphFour) and his Music Arranger buddy, Femi D. Daniel and all the other staff at Virtual DBC. With the amount of success and difficulty that "V" brought to the Corps, it was decided that Spirit was going to go even further with the difficultness in show music/design. With a show called 'A Band Director's Perspective", Spirit entered S108 with fire in their eyes. Often more times than not, they were playing in what was considered one of the hardest shows to be produced and marched on a FMA field for that season. To go along with that, Spirit was playing one of the best ballads in FMA, Concierto De Aranjuez. While musically the group saw major success, visually was where the group was lacking. The show was too difficult for the visual side of things. With that, Spirit landed in the dreaded 13th spot, with a score of 83.800, a little over 3 points under the 12th place Corps. However, they received so much praise for their efforts and still grew as one of the premier Drum Corps in FMA. It was decided that Spirit would go inactive for Season 109, to give the members some rest after taking on 2 very difficult shows back-to-back. Also, this would give the staff time to fundraise for influence and to work on the next chapter for Spirit. Now, that brings us to present day FMA. Spirit is back on the competitive side and is working alongside Josh and Femi with a show entitled "A Lumberjack's Tale" which will bring some excitedness to the table for all the fans and spectators to enjoy and love.