Colony High band director, marching band recognized during homecoming festivities

Colony High School band director Dr. Jamin Burton and his nationally acclaimed marching band, Thee Northern Sound, were ready for a busy week at CHS.

There were all of the homecoming activities throughout the week plus the Colony Marching Band Invitational on Saturday. But Burton was not prepared for the honor he received on Friday night.

It has been two decades since Burton created the marching band program at the school, and Colony High staff and alumni held a special recognition of Burton during halftime of the varsity football game. Burton was presented a plaque by Colony administration commemorating 20 years of Thee Northern Sound, and dozens of former band members joined the 2024 edition of the band and the CHS cheer squad for a rendition of “Feel it Still,” a song by Portugal. The Man, the Grammy-winning band with Mat-Su roots.

“Overwhelming,” Burton said of the emotion that night following the marching band invitational on Saturday. “Last night was a complete surprise to me. I was just speechless. They had people fly in from all over the country for that. And those who couldn’t make it, I’ve been getting messages nonstop all night, all morning, and all day today on Facebook and texts. It’s really gratifying to see the culture you build is making a difference. It’s hard to put into words.”

Burton said he never could have imagined what his students in the band would have been able to accomplish and experience during the past 20 years.

“In one word, no,” he said.

Burton and his students have traveled to perform at the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day and National Independence Day parades, President Barack Obama’s inauguration and the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France.

“I knew when I moved up here I wanted to do a marching band,” Burton, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, said. “I think that marching band is important for the community. I think it’s important for students, and it’s important for musicians. There’s benefits that I could talk about for an hour. I wanted to bring that here.”

Burton said he was a member of his high school marching band in Utah.

“I started marching when I was a freshman and I fell in love with it,” Burton said. “Our high school marching band wasn’t a competition circuit marching band. We didn’t do a lot of trips. But it was a tight-knit community and I learned a lot of culture and philosophy from my band director, who I give a lot of credit to for what I’ve been able to do.”

Twenty years ago, Burton said there were about 21 members in the marching band. Its peak was 106, pre-covid. There are 53 members this year.

“Our quality of what we were able to do didn’t suffer,” Burton said.

On Saturday, Colony hosted the Wasilla High marching band during the annual invitational event. Each band played its own set, and joined forces on War’s “Lowrider” as the finale.

Thee Northern Sound is also preparing for its next big endeavor. The band is traveling to Dublin, Ireland, in March of 2025 to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

“I never imagined I’d be taking groups to France and Ireland,” Burton said. “All of the extra stuff we’ve been able to do, all of the trips and the opportunities above and beyond having a marching band have been unexpected and very welcome. They’ve made a huge difference to the community and the school, and difference to the lives of the students who have been in it.”

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.