Music City Drum and Bugle Corps is a competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Nashville, Tennessee. The corps currently competes in the World Class division of Drum Corps International (DCI).
History Music City was founded in 2009 by Keith Hall, a band director and former drum major for the then-defunct Memphis Blues Drum and Bugle Corps, who wanted bring back competitive drum corps to the Tennessee region. The corps made its official debut competing in Drum Corps International as part of the Open Class division.
After five seasons of sustained growth, the corps made World Class semifinals in 2013, earning full membership within DCI. Unfortunately, after the season concluded, Music City announced that they were in severe debt and would be unable to return for the 2014 season. However, after a fundraising campaign and help from the DCI board, the corps was able to field for the next competitive season.
In 2018, Music City was approved by the board of DCI to transition from Open Class to World Class. Following its return to competition after the COVID-19 pandemic, the corps placed 17th for three consecutive seasons before attaining its highest ranking of 16th in 2025.
Show summary (2009–2026) Source: +KeyLight blue background indicates DCI Open Class FinalistPale green background indicates DCI World Class Semifinalist
YearRepertoire Score Placement 2009 STRIKE IT UP... a celebration!Strike Up the Band (from Strike Up the Band) by George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin / Tennessee Waltz by Pee Wee King & Redd Stewart / Appalachian Morning by Paul Halley 80.400 13th PlaceOpen Class 2010 River SoundsDown in the River to Pray (Traditional) / St. Louis Blues by W. C. Handy / Can't Help Falling in Love by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore & George David Weiss / Mississippi Suite by Ferde Grofé / When the Saints Go Marching In (Traditional), adapted by Luther G. Presley / Old Man River (from Show Boat) by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II88.500 6th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist 2011 Let's DanceI Could Have Danced All Night by Frederick Loewe & Alan Jay Lerner / Bandstand Boogie by Charles Albertine / Waltz of the Flowers by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky / Rain Dance by Hunter Stricklin / Singin' in the Rain (from Singin' in the Rain) by Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed / Jai Ho (from Slumdog Millionaire) by A. R. Rahman / Tennessee Waltz by Pee Wee King & Redd Stewart / Dancing Machine by Hal Davis, Don Fletcher & Dean Parks / Shake a Tail Feather by Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice & Andre Williams84.800 8th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist62.200 32nd PlaceWorld Class 2012 Phantoms of the Grand Ole OperaThe Phantom of the Opera, All I Ask of You, The Point of No Return & Music of the Night (all from The Phantom of the Opera) by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe & Mike Batt / Ring of Fire by June Carter Cash & Merle Kilgore / Walkin' After Midnight by Alan Block & Donn Hecht / Sweet Dreams by Don Gibson / Your Cheatin' Heart by Hank Williams / Stand by Your Man by Tammy Wynette & Billy Sherrill83.850 9th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist62.850 31st PlaceWorld Class 2013 Postcards from HavanaEl Cumbanchero by Rafael Hernández Marín / Rapsodia Cubana by Ernesto Lecuona / A Mis Abuelos by Arturo Sandoval / La Suerte de Los Tontos (from Cuban Fire Suite) by Johnny Richards90.350 5th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist72.750 25th PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2014 Go West!On the Trail (from Grand Canyon Suite) by Ferde Grofé / Billy the Kid by Aaron Copland / The Red Pony by Aaron Copland / Sunset (from Grand Canyon Suite) by Ferde Grofé72.975 8th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist71.575 27th PlaceWorld Class 2015 In the StarsMars, Venus & JupiterAll from The Planets by Gustav Holst71.125 7th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist69.625 27th PlaceWorld Class 2016 CoronationCoronation Fanfare by Robert W. Smith / The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten72.150 6th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist71.725 27th PlaceWorld Class 2017TribePagan Dances by James Barnes / Goddess of Fire by Steven Reineke / Trail of Tears by Michael Daugherty76.763 4th PlaceOpen ClassFinalist74.275 24th PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2018 Hell on Wheels: The Final Journey of Casey Jones Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne / Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen / Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin / Original Music by Robert W. Smith 78.175 21st PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2019 Of Mice & MusicIntroduction, Tails on This Town & Plymouth Hoe-down by Robert W. Smith / Imagine by John Lennon 76.650 23rd PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2020 Season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 CirculosoOriginal Music by CJ Barrow, Jeremy Thompson, Matt Penland & Tyler Sammons No scored competitions 2022 Gasoline RainbowsOriginal Music by Shane Gwaltney & C. J. Barrow 81.763 17th PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2023 Violent Delights: A Rose and its ThornsPaint It Black by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards / Rite Of Spring by Igor Stravinsky / Any Other Name by Thomas Newman / Go, Lovely Rose by Eric Whitacre / Original Music by C. J. Barrow 82.875 17th PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2024 Leave It At The RiverWayfaring Stranger by Rhianon Giddens / Down by the Riverside (Traditional), adapted by Grandpa Elliott / Fire Water Paper by Elliot Goldenthal / Pyramid Song by Radiohead / Down to the River to Pray by Alison Krauss / Liquid Spirit by Gregory Porter / Original Music by C. J. Barrow 82.625 17th PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2025It Tolls for Thee Requiem (Giuseppe Verdi & Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) / Original Music by C. J. Barrow 83.838 16th PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist 2026VenomorphosisEscalate by Tsar B / Scythian Suite by Sergei Prokofiev / Emergence by Sleep Token / Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye & Kimbra / Original Music by C. J. Barrow 83.400 16th PlaceWorld ClassSemifinalist
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