Student Spotlight: Michael Gribble

Michel Gribble is a junior at Madison High School who recently played in Macy’s Great American Band Drumline during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Michael plays the drums in Madison’s own marching band and in the regular band. MDO decided to sit down with Michael and ask him about the preparation and details of his experience at the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade.

MDO: How did you audition for your spot in the drum line?

MG: I auditioned for the Macy’s Great American Marching Band Drumline by submitting a written application and a video audition during the summer. It was not a long process, besides learning and practicing my audition requirements, which were several percussion rudiments and a solo of my choice. Although I sent my audition in during the summer, the audition process for the whole band had rolling deadlines, so people could audition from April all the way through September.

MDO: When did you start practicing for the parade?

MG: The first practice wasn’t until Sunday November 22nd, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Saturday was a travel day for band members, since there were musicians from all fifty states, so some needed to travel a lot farther than I did. On Sunday we did some touring of Manhattan before having our first rehearsal in the evening. We continued to rehearse for parts of the next few days leading up Thanksgiving, including a dress rehearsal in the streets of New York at 2:00 AM on Thanksgiving. I thought it was really cool how we put the show together in only four days.

MDO: What was the preparation like before the parade?

MG: There was a lot of preparation that went into the parade. The music was made available to us online a few weeks before the parade, and we all had to arrive with it memorized. We also put in a lot of hard work rehearsing the show during the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

MDO: Did you have a specific costume to wear during the parade?

MG: I wore the Macy’s Great American Marching Band uniform. It was red and white, with a Macy’s star on the hat.

MDO: What songs did you play during the parade?

MG: For our televised performance in front of Macy’s in Herald Square, we played a New York Medley, which featured Empire State of Mind and New York, New York. During the actual parade, we alternated between Dance With Me Tonight, performed by the whole band, and an original drum cadence, performed by the drumline.

MDO: What was the parade route?

MG: The band marched the entire parade route, from about 77th Street at Central Park West, to 34th street and Broadway, which is where the Macy’s store is located and where we did our televised performance. I was also in a smaller group of drummers who got to be a part of the opening number of the parade, where we had some choreography with the cast of On The Floor.

MDO: Were you given a drum to play when you got to the parade or did you have to use your own?

MG: The drum that I used was provided to me. Mapex Drums sent us new drums for free to use during the parade. We just had to change out the factory drum heads for the special Macy’s Parade drum heads, and then change them back after the parade and put the drums on a truck to send back to Mapex.

MDO: What was your favorite part of being in the parade?

My favorite part of the whole experience was meeting so many new people and being a part of something so big. All 250 of them were complete strangers to me when I got there, and by the time I left, I had made several pretty close friendships. All of us strangers came together for a few days to perform for over 50 million people, and I thought that was really cool.

Michael’s performance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was incredibly impressive. MDO wishes Congratulations to Michael on a great performance. Another story that proves it’s always a great day to be a dodger!