Zany band of fun-loving musicians, volunteers
are ‘mad’ about marching – and Lexington

March Madness may conjure up images of college basketball for most people, at least in Kentucky. But for a group of Lexington musicians, hula-hoopers, belly dancers and otherwise crazily-dressed volunteers, March Madness is their calling card.

The March Madness Marching Band is a community band that plays parades and events in Lexington and around the state. Since its inception in 2008, this quirky group of fun-loving Lexingtonians has gained quite the following.

The band initially came together with the intention of performing just once, or so they thought.

“It was supposed to be a one-time thing going along with the launch of Local First Lexington to kind of highlight the fact that there’s a lot of diverse, interesting and unique local businesses and we also have a lot of diverse, interesting and unique artists. It seemed like a good fit together,” said Jennifer Miller, the “cruise director” of the band.

The band’s first performance was such a hit in the community, as well as within the band itself.

“Everybody enjoyed it so much, including the people who participated in the band that we decided to keep going and then it’s just grown from there,” said Lori Houlihan, founder and president of the band’s board of directors.

Houlihan came up with the idea for the band after watching a similar marching band at a music festival.

“I had seen a band called March Fourth Marching Band at a music festival. When they weren’t on stage, periodically a bunch of them would kind of just parade around the festival ground. That was kind of the inspiration,” she said. “Lexington just has a gigantic community of musicians. And, you know, we have such a high school marching band tradition, I just knew I would be able to pull together something.”

The band, which started with around eight volunteers, now has between 50 to 60 active members, whose professions run the gamut – from professional musicians to retired mechanical engineers to teachers and social workers, said Houlihan.

“I mean, it’s just all over the board,” Houlihan said of the band members’ day jobs.

Several families also participate in the marching band, including Houlihan’s husband and two sons.

The band’s long list of performances includes the Roots and Heritage Festival, the Thriller Parade, the Lexington Christmas Parade and the Forecastle Festival in Louisville, which they hope to be invited back to again this summer, Houlihan said.

The Thriller Parade in downtown Lexington is one of the band’s favorite performances, Houlihan said.

“We really, really love doing that showcase show. It’s more theatrical and we do a little bit of stage choreography. That’s a highlight for us every year,” she said.

The band has become more than just an extracurricular activity for the members, fostering relationships and support for the members’ other endeavors.

“There was a lot of cross-pollination that went on with people who got to know each other through the band, and then started supporting many other things in the community,” Miller said.

Miller shared a story of the support that band showed for a fellow bandmate when she had to have part of a lung removed last fall. Members who didn’t know her outside of the band signed up to bring food and help take care of her.

“We haven’t been around that long but everybody is inclined to feel very supportive of whatever anyone else in the band is doing in their separate lives. That is an outgrowth of the band very purposefully being there to support the community,” Miller said.

Though the band typically just performs around the state, they have been invited for the second year in a row to perform in Austin, Texas, at the Honk!TX festival with other community street bands.

The experience “was just a very heartwarming and energizing thing that made band members want to come back here and be even more involved with the community,” for the band members that attended Honk last year, said Miller.

To help pay for their trip to Texas — the bus alone costs around $9,000 — the band held a fundraiser on this past Saturday at Buster’s, with performances by Big Fresh, the Blueberries, Rakadu Gypsy Dance, the Payback, Prefab Rehab, Ed McClanahand, FUMA, Chip Chop, Gentleman Relish and, of course, the March Madness Marching Band.

Every band that performed at the fundraiser either included a member or a relative of a member of March Madness.

“It’s just kind of continuing that whole family affair kind of thing,” Houlihan said.

The band’s appearance at the Honk!TX festival is not only fun for the members, but also demonstrates the talents Lexington has to offer to people from around the country.

“March Madness was the largest band there. It was very impressive to people from these community street bands in other states that Lexington, Ky., sent more people down there than any other city did,” Miller said. “It’s always very affirming and a positive experience when people from here get to brag about what Kentucky really does have to offer and how many interesting, talented and creative people we have here.”

For more information about the band or to contribute to their Honk!TX trip, visit here or email the band at march.madness.marching.band@gmail.com.

Photos from March Madness Marching Band.