RHS drummer realizing his dream

Russellville High School junior Alex Richey, 17, has come a long way as a musician since he first started playing the drums at age three.

Richey’s mother, Missy, said Santa brought him his first drum set when he was barely above toddler age and he used to drum on everything in sight.

All the practice and dedication has now paid off as Richey was recently named a member of the Music City Drum & Bugle Corps based in Nashville, Tenn. – a major accomplishment that only a fraction of the people who try out ever achieve.

Richey was first exposed to the drum corps culture in 2005 when he was 11 years old. Richey went to a drum corps competition in Tupelo, Miss., with RHS band director Gary McNutt, drum instructor Scott Stephenson and Devin Hatton.

“The competition was at a huge high school and there were people everywhere,” Richey said. “(RHS graduate) Will McAlister was a member of the Memphis Sound Drum Corps and I remember watching him tune up. Then I got close to one of the horn lines and all of a sudden they played and made this huge sound. My mouth just hung open and I was so impressed. They told me later I probably made their night by being so impressed.”

Richey’s next drum corps experience was in 2006 when the Russellville High School band program sponsored a drum and bugle corps competition at the RHS stadium.

“I thought the whole drum corps thing was cool, but I wasn’t completely sold out to the idea at that point,” he said. “I was 12 and I remember seeing them get on their busses to leave and thought it was silly to spend the whole summer drumming.”

When Richey moved into middle school and joined the RMS band, he knew he would be playing the drums.

“The drums were just the loudest and the coolest instrument, and I just thought that was me,” Richey said with a laugh.

Richey started playing drums on a daily basis with the RMS band and he began to pay more attention to his drums and to drum corps organizations.

“I wanted to be good at what I did, so I found drum corps videos on YouTube and watched those in preparation for being on the high school drum line in ninth grade,” he said. “That ninth grade year ended up being one of my favorite memories as far as band was concerned because I made a bunch of new friends and I just thought it was cool to finally be part of a line.”

In 2009, Richey attended a drum corps competition in Murfreesboro, Tenn., which featured famous drum corps like the Cavaliers, the Bluecoats and the Santa Clara Vanguard.

“After this show was when I really decided that being a part of a drum corps was something I wanted to do,” he said. “The desire had just been building and this was the point where I decided I wanted to make a name for myself drumming and I decided to get serious.”

Richey had role models like McAlister and Stephenson, who he described as “awesome drummers,” so from their example, he knew he had a lot of work to do before he would be ready to in drum corps.

“I know the stock answer to what I did to prepare is ‘practice,’ but there’s so much more to it than that,” Richey said. “I immersed myself in the culture, read up on different corps and their traditions and I would just sit in my bedroom playing, playing and playing.”

After all the practicing and research, Richey had to make a decision: Which drum corps would be the right fit for him? He finally settled on the Music City Drum & Bugle Corps, which is part of Drum Corps International (DCI).

“The fact that this drum corps was close to home was part of my decision,” he said, “but I also knew a few people there and had become friends with some of them, so that played a role, too.”

Richey, who has received countless support from his family, attended an audition camp at the end of November and the beginning of December with 300 other hopefuls, half of which were drummers.

“Basically, you put on drums and see how you would fit in with everyone,” Richey said. “There are individual auditions where you play exercises that were previously posted online. Then on Sunday morning of the camp, they tell you what they think of you, if they like you and if you’ll get a call back. If they think you’re really good, they offer you a contract.”

Richey ended up being one of the “really good” ones and was offered a contract with Music City after that first camp.

“I was really excited and I can’t wait to get started,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being with the friends I’ve already made, traveling a lot, playing the drums non-stop and impressing people like I was impressed back when I was 11.”

Richey will attend two separate week-long camps in June and then he will be off on tour with Music City from July through August 13.

“We’ll be sleeping on gym floors and traveling on buses from Oklahoma to West Virginia to Pennsylvania to Indiana,” Richey said. “I think the closet we’ll come to here is Murfreesboro, but I’m not sure yet.”

DCI drum corps participants “age out” before they turn 22, so Richey said he plans to make the most of his time and participate for as long as he can.

But drum corps isn’t the only outlet Richey plans to have for his drumming. Richey hopes to be part of the U.S. Army All-American Band that performs during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

Richey also plans to attend Middle Tennessee State University and hopes to be part of their marching band, which he’ll audition for his senior year of high school.

Eventually, Richey said he would like to have a career in music as possibly a music engineer, living and working in Nashville.

“If I’m going to do something, I’m going to commit to it one hundred percent. Besides, drummers get all the chicks. I’m really doing this to woo women,” he said with a smile.