Organization looking to drum up participation

Sep. 13—Music can be a very powerful medium and a local organization has been using it to help young people move forward in life to the beat of their own drum.

Raynard Jones, 61, has been putting together marching bands for youth in the community since 2014. His organization, The Sounds of Success, has been very successful, providing a musical outlet for youth in the city and county, but COVID-19 halted his progress.

"Before Covid we had a 23 piece drumline and 15 piece horn section and color guard," he said. "Now we are trying to rebuild; Covid really hurt us so we are going to recruit more youth.

The Sounds of Success is a free community music education program for youth ages seven to 21 and Jones, who plays trumpet and saxophone, wants to bring his program back to the leve it was before. He currently has a drumline made up of about 12 people and is looking to recruit more drummers..

He always had a love for marching bands especially when he was a member at Lee Senior High School now called Lee County High School. He said the band director at that time, Earl Murphy, had a profound impact on him.

"I think music saved me from the streets," he said. "He (Murphy) was a great band director and he spent so much time with us. I wanted to do the same thing with kids that he did with us."

The drumline meets regularly at First Calvary Baptist Church, 240 Fields Dr., to practice. Some of the things members of the drumline learn are how to read music, drum cadences, stick tricks, eventually leading to participating in drumline competitions. He said The Sound of Success is designed to embrace, encourage and empower young people.

Mike Wilkins, Lee County High School's current band director, said Jones' students who became a part of his marching band have transitioned well.

"When they come they are prepared," he said. "He has a very good group."

Wilkins said they've donated drum equipment to Jones' program over the years. Jones said they've also received musical instruments from Duke University and North Carolina State University.

Dashona Taylor, 17, has been a part of The Sounds of Success for about five years and enjoys being involved..

"My grandma got me involved in it and I ended up loving it and it stuck with me," she said. "I play the quints (five small drums connected together) and bass drum. I played the horn and was a member of the color guard."

She said even when the band wasn't practicing and performing during the pandemic she knew she would go back once things got back to normal.

"A lot of people were worried," she said. "Me and my friends always knew we were going to keep going to practice."

Taylor said the reason being is that it provided a positive outlet for herself and fellow members.

"I was able to put energy and time into something," she said. "I'm 17 and I don't have much going on and I love to express myself and music is one of those ways to express myself."

"I see this (music) is going to be a part of my future," she said. "I can read and write (music). We (students) do like the discipline drills."

Jones said he runs the program primarily on support from the public, local businesses and volunteers.

"Right now we have drums," he said. "We're doing the drums and drumline and a few months from now we are going to build in the horns."

He said that doing what he does is not easy, but he's seen the benefits, which keep him going.

"The kids, they become so creative," he said. "They develop teamwork and discipline and I've seen it create self-confidence within themselves. It's more than just the music."

To become a part of The Sounds of Success or for more information visit www.thesoundsofsuccess.weebly.com website or call 984-270-0490.