Graham Bentley’s marching music career began in Columbus, featured a setlist of Earth, Wind and Fire music, and included a marquee performance in Atlanta.
Arguably his most memorable year as a marching performer to date — experienced nine years later as a member of the Ohio State University Marching Band — followed nearly the exact same musical formula on the road to the Buckeyes’ 2025 National Championship.
“It's really strange that both of them ended up that way, but really cool too,” Bentley said.
Bentley first realized his marching dreams as an 11-year-old, performing with Columbus Saints on the 2016 DCI Tour. That summer, while touring as a SoundSport ensemble, the corps’ production was titled, “Elements of Funk,” and featured three Earth, Wind and Fire songs.
One of the most unforgettable moments of his rookie season came in late July. Bentley, a young drum corps fan, got the unique opportunity to perform on the same field as many elite DCI drum corps, appearing with Columbus Saints at the DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta.
The event, held at the Georgia Dome — which has since been demolished — featured 22 World Class corps, two Open Class corps, three All-Age Corps, and the Saints representing the SoundSport division.
“I think since my first marching experience was in drum corps, it gave me a good start for being ready for high school and college marching,” Bentley said. “Even though the styles are very different, you still learn marching basics like keeping time and being on the correct foot.”
Fast forwarding nearly a decade, Bentley now has two years of drum corps under his belt — the second also came with Columbus Saints, in 2019 — and is a sophomore studying music education at Ohio State.
A member of the esteemed “Best Damn Band in the Land,” on trumpet, Bentley has already had his fair share of high-profile performances, but the tail end of Ohio State’s 2024 season — on the wings of the football team’s late-season success — took things to a new level.
This fall and winter, Ohio State’s football program made weekly headlines in the sports universe, notching four wins in 30 days as part of the expanded College Football Playoff.
With their marching band by their side, the Buckeyes captured exciting wins in several major venues, including their home stadium in Columbus, Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, and AT&T Stadium in Dallas, en route to a college football national championship title, earned against Notre Dame in Atlanta.
“The whole marching band got a plane ride to every place that we went to,” he said. “Every place that we went to was always high-energy, and the games were so much fun. The playoff games were probably my favorite games of the whole season.”
And while it wasn’t in Atlanta, the OSU band did give Bentley another chance to perform the music of Earth, Wind and Fire in front of a major audience.
Following Ohio State’s national title victory, Bentley and his fellow band members were able to take the field in celebration; he still has a small container of golden confetti that he collected that night.
“I don't think I've ever been more high energy at one of the games in my life,” he said. “That was a really fun experience.”
Bentley is excited not only to continue his career at Ohio State, but hopefully return to the DCI Tour in the coming years.
And according to Bentley, while both forms of the marching music activity have their distinct differences, he’s eternally grateful for both.
“I enjoy them both equally,” he said. “As I reflect, it occurred to me that the common denominator of both of these great marching organizations are the friendships I have made.”