PINE BLUFF, Ark. — The University of Arkansas Razorbacks and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions will meet at War Memorial Stadium to open the 2024 season in what fans hope to be an exciting game.
However, the football players aren’t the only ones getting geared up to hit the field as both teams' marching bands prepare for their halftime performance.
The Razorback Marching Band and UAPB's M4 band practiced into the late hours of Wednesday ahead of the big matchup.
"It's like a night at the Apollo every time we come out and we perform," said Director of Bands at UAPB John R. Graham Jr. “You're going to know we're in the stadium, that you came and were entertained because we're known as the marching musical machine, we go for high energy.”
The Golden Lions' prized jewel, their M4 marching band, is bringing the playing to the stands.
Graham has directed their beat for three decades, and his explanation of their tune is that it’s all in the name.
The marching band goes by M4, which stands for Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South, a nickname created by Graham.
For Graham, the band mixes together the generalities of a marching band, but with a lot more soul.
“We still have that style, but we put soul to that style, We put the R&B and hip hop into that style,” he described. “We move it, we groove it, and we style it. We can play a ballad with the best of them, or get in your face and play some funk, we even get out of our element. “
Their sound doesn’t just happen though, the nearly 300-person squad practices consistently.
“We get on the field at about 5:30 p.m. and we finish at 8:30 p.m. each night, that's just a standard because you have to put your time in if you're going to get it done,” Graham explained.
Some may think their practices are to prepare them for halftime, but Graham said the performance truly starts before kickoff.
“Our show does not start at halftime, it starts when we get off the bus,” Graham Jr. said.
From the moment they step off the bus to the first sound of the whistle, and the drums and other instruments, the crowd is getting a taste of a more than 100-year legacy.
“Every time we march by a local apartment complex, a kid will run up and say, ‘I want to be in that band.’” Graham said. “I have some of those kids' children in this band right now, so that's the legacy right there, it's ongoing.”
It's a legacy that he takes in himself during every performance and he knows M4 is an experience that each fan, no matter the team they cheer on, will enjoy witnessing.
“I become a fan, and I get to sit there and enjoy the work that they've done,” Graham said. “If you don't come, you're going to be sad, because every game, it's fun, and you just can't get a better job than this.”