Memphis, Tennessee is getting a new drum and bugle corps with a familiar name.
Fans may remember “MB3,” the Memphis Blues Brass Band, which was a drum and bugle corps active on the Drum Corps International Tour between 1980 and 1983.
The late Lynn and George Lindstrom started the corps. They were notable names in marching music as longtime coordinators of the Drums Along the Rockies DCI Tour event and Lynn as a founder of Winter Guard International and executive director of the organization for more than two decades.
Behind the start of the new Memphis Blues in 2023 is one of the drum majors of MB3’s inaugural season, Keith Hall.
“When I was 21, the Lindstroms started Memphis Blues and I was one of the drum majors the first year and aged out,” Hall said.
Hall went on to instruct the Sky Ryders, Cadets and Magic of Orlando. An entrepreneur, he started the Band Hall marching music uniform and accessories business in 1997 and then started the Nashville-based Music City Drum and Bugle Corps in 2009.
Hall eventually stepped away, but he couldn’t stay away from the drum corps activity for very long.
“So I decided to start another drum corps this time in Memphis, and decided to revitalize Memphis Blues,” Hall said. “I checked with the Lindstrom’s daughter to see if she had any feelings about using that name, and she thought they would be very excited that the name was coming back.”
Completing their very first rehearsal on April 30, Memphis Blues is still recruiting members with plans to appear on the 2023 DCI Tour as a SoundSport ensemble.
“We’d love to have a cast of thousands come out to audition for us,” Hall says.
He added that the group has a nominal tour and tuition fee of just $600 for the summer of 2023 and scholarships are available to those with financial need.
Look for Memphis Blues this summer at DCI Tour events in Tupelo, Mississippi on July 13 and Little Rock, Arkansas on July 15.