With the Honda Battle of the Bands less than five months away, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University's marching band is fine-tuning its instruments, practicing its drum major acrobatics and choreographing the dance team’s routines, all to compete for one of the top spots at the 2009 Invitational Showcase. This month, the Honda Battle of the Bands kicks off its seventh year with the 30-city Celebration Tour and the opportunity to help 10 universities go down in marching band history.

North Carolina A&T State University began its music program in 1909, with Charles E. Steward, who served as the college's first director of music. He would later write the music for the university's alma mater. Under W. E. Lew, the department's next director, the music program grew to include a band program by 1918. By the 1930's, band was offered as an extracurricular activity and N.C. A&T was the only black college in North Carolina with a band. Even with its humble beginnings, the Marching Machine, now with over 200 members, continues to be a big draw to fans as they perform in competitions around the country. The band gained its name, Blue & Gold Marching Machine under the direction of Jimmy Williams and Dr. Johnny B. Hodge, Jr. Hodge served in this capacity for over four decades until retirement. The band’s current director, Dr. Kenneth Ruff took the reigns in 2003 and fused tradition of the Aggie legacy of excellence.

"We are excited about the possibility of participating in the 2009 Honda Battle of the Bands. The students in the "Marching Machine" work hard to develop very exciting halftime performances which consist of very diverse and unique concepts. Participating in this event will allow us to showcase the skills and talents of our band students and broaden the general publics knowledge of what a great program we have at A&T," said Ruff.

The Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) Celebration Tour and Invitational Showcase is an annual, national program which showcases the pageantry and showmanship of the dynamic marching bands at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Celebration Tour is the first of three components of the program and officially kicks-off the polling process that will decide the 10 bands that will perform at the Invitational Showcase in January 2009. This year, A&T is one of 44 schools slated to participate.

Each school participating in the Celebration Tour will receive a $1,000 grant (A&T received its $1,000 in September) for its music program. Schools that advance to the Invitational Showcase will receive an additional $20,000 grant to go toward its respective band scholarship funds. Throughout the seven year history of the Honda Battle of the Bands, Honda has awarded over $900,000 in grants to participating HBCUs.

The 44 universities that start the tour will be pared down to 10 based upon the results of the opinion poll found on the Honda Battle of the Bands official website, www.hondabattleofthebands.com, setting the field of 10 marching bands that will perform at the Georgia Dome in January’s Invitational Showcase.

“It is indeed an honor for all of us at American Honda to be able to support today’s students at historically black colleges through the Honda Battle of the Bands program,” said Marc Burt, senior manager, Office of Inclusion and Diversity for American Honda. “The Celebration Tour is the inaugural component of the program, and is a great way to encourage students, alumni and fans to get involved with the selection process.”

American Honda remains committed to providing the best, fairest platform to showcase HBCU marching band programs. The opinion poll will remain open from Monday, August, 25 to midnight Friday, October 31, 2008. The 10 selected marching bands that will participate in the 2009 Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase will be announced on Monday, November 14th. As always, band directors and college presidents are not permitted to select their own schools.

The Honda Battle of the Bands, also known as “Super Bowl for Black College Bands,” is the largest and best-known event of its kind. For more information on the Honda Battle of the Bands, a list of the 44 participating HBCUs or to enter your nominee for the Invitational Showcase, visit www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com.