The Stewarts Creek High School band performed at the Presidential Parade inside the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. on Monday to celebrate the inauguration of 47th U.S. President Donald Trump and 50th U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
While the band originally announced it was selected by the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee to perform at the 60th Presidential Inaugural Parade in December 2024, the band was notified by the Committee last week that they would not be performing in the parade as inaugural events were moved indoors.
On Monday, however, the committee invited the band to perform at the parade inside the Capital One Arena just hours before the event began.
“After learning the parade plans had been canceled, the band leadership decided to make the trip to Washington, D.C. anyway because many of their arrangements were non-refundable. Fortunately, they decided to take their instruments and uniforms with them because they planned to perform somewhere in the city even though the parade plans had changed,” Rutherford County Schools wrote in a Facebook post.
The Stewarts Creek High School band was one of two high school bands that performed at the parade. The band represented the Town of Smyrna, Rutherford County Schools, and the State of Tennessee with its appearance at the parade.
The other high school band that performed at the parade was the Middletown High School marching band and cheerleaders from Middletown, Ohio – Vice President Vance’s hometown.
The Stewarts Creek High School band raised over $120,000 for its trip to perform at the parade in D.C., including a $40,000 donation from Tractor Supply Company.
Dr. Clark Harrell, principal of Stewarts Creek High School, thanked the Tennessee congressional delegation for supporting the band to perform in D.C.
“We are immensely grateful for the Tennessee Congressional Delegation and all the support they have given us this weekend. We could not be prouder of our students and staff and are excited to see them showcased on this national stage today,” Harrell said.
Watch the Stewarts Creek High School band’s performance:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Stewart Creeks High School Band” by News Radio WGNS.