Joe Taylor - Joe Taylor is currently in his 19th year as the Director of Performing Arts and Bands at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, Massachusetts. At Bishop Feehan, he conducts the marching, concert bands, percussion ensemble and two jazz ensembles. The Bishop Feehan Shamrock Marching Band consistently earns Gold Medal ratings in New England competition and has won numerous championships. He is an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, (BA Music Education), where his trumpet teachers included Jeff Stout, Wes Hensel, Lou Mucci and Ray Kotwicka. He is a former member of the St. Francis Xavier Sancians of Weymouth, MA. and the Rockland (MA) Defenders and served as the brass caption head for the Boston Crusaders (87-88) and more recently the Spartans in 2008.

Joe has written over 300 music arrangements and compositions for marching and concert bands, jazz ensemble, orchestra, chorus and drum and bugle corps which have been used by community ensembles and high schools from Maine to Florida. As a composer, he has written music that has been used for band, jazz ensemble, percussion, television commercial, and video and other music media. As a trumpeter, Mr. Taylor has been the lead trumpet for the Russ Weisman Big Band, the Ed Mello Swing Band, the Rhode Island Showcase Orchestra and the Roy Scott Big Band.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the Music Educator's National Conference, the National Catholic Band Association and the National Band Association. He resides in Mansfield, Massachusetts with his wife Helen and his two sons, Christopher and Matthew.

Ron Fussell
Horn Line Instructor

Ron Fussell - Ron marched with the Nashua Spartans from 1987 to 1993. In 1994 Ron was a member of the Star of Indiana/Brass Theater performance group. Ron has an extensive teaching background from teaching groups like the Spartans and East Coast Jazz, to Merrimack Middle School and still is the Brass Coordinator for Reading, MA Memorial School. Ron also is an adjudicator for YEA/USSB. Ron has a BS in Music Ed. from Plymouth State University, an MS in conducting from Southern Oregon University, and an M. Ed from Rivier College. Ron is currently the Vice-Principal at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, NH. Ron is a native of Nashua, NH and currently lives in Manchester with his wife and two children.

David A. Lafond
Program Coordinator
Brass Caption Head

David A. Lafond - David is primarily responsible for pulling all components of our show program together and making sure the corps is ready to perform it in the spring. David works with all the captions and the corps director to make sure the program is going to be exciting and entertaining and a challenging and educational experience for the performing members. David is also responsible for the brass component of the corps, which means; arranging the music, putting the educational program together for the horn line and making sure they are ready to go when they hit the street and/or the field.

Drum & Bugle Corps is a very unique experience. There are several reasons why someone should join the corps, and any one alone is good enough.

• It's an excellent activity if you enjoy music and being outside and getting a little exercise in (you know we march in parades right?).
• If you're looking for a great atmosphere to get back into music or start an instrument, this is a good place to try that.
• We offer an opportunity for younger members who don't have the time or resources to compete in Jr. corps (i.e. Spartans). Since we don't require the time or financial commitment that competitive corps sometimes require, someone can get the drum corps 'experience' without making a huge commitment. We have had some younger members make the transition to competitive drum corps with much success.

"I see the corps continuing to improve, pretty much by using the same formula that's given it success the last several years. This has been done by attempting to achieve some things that are a little bit challenging for the members and then helping to educate the members on how to get there along with some good efforts by the members. As long as we remain entertaining and continue to challenge our members we hopefully can add to our ranks which will hopefully open up more opportunities to us in the future. We're hoping to continue to add to our instructional staff as well."

"I hope that Manchester gets recognition on the drum & bugle corps landscape. We have a good program here with some great people in a wonderful activity. I hope we continue to see success and growth in the corps and we see a strong Muchachos as a result. I hope that fans will be excited to hear that the Muchachos will be performing and that the corps gets recognized as an entertaining and fun corps to watch."

Dave has the following performing experience: Granite State Garrison Drum & Bugle Corps; Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps; Keene State College; Berklee College of Music; 27th Lancers Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps; Bedford, NH Big Band; Bridgemen Drum & Bugle Corps; Muchachos Drum & Bugle Corps; and Amoskeag Sound Mini-Corps.

His teaching experience includes: Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps; 27th Lancers Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps; Muchachos Drum & Bugle Corps: and the Amoskeag Sound Mini-Corps.