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Jacksonville State University Marching Southerners. I have a friend who currently attends college there and marches a 20J in the band.

JSU's sound is incredible. Lots of great clips on YouTube. Their rendition of 1812 is absolutely insane.

I don't think they have anything special to carry them, either. Their website instructions that a new member needs a marching drum belt. The things that can be done by an age 18-23 yo college student.

They have some kind of marching strap for these things, I think. They may very well be custom made. After all, all of the 20Js they use are all custom restored with that added automotive silver paint job.

They play Tennessee State this weekend (Oct 5). I’ll bet seeing both those bands together is a real treat.

When I’ve seen TSU play at Tenn Tech I have always enjoyed their shows. I find TSU to be highly entertaining. I may have to go see the TSU vs TTU game in Nov.

JSU's sound is almost like a physical force hitting you, and they have the strongest bass foundation I've ever heard from a band.

SousaWarrior9 wrote:They have some kind of marching strap for these things, I think. They may very well be custom made. After all, all of the 20Js they use are all custom restored with that added automotive silver paint job.

It's just an old-time heavy duty strap - the kind you might have seen on snare drums that dangle loosely to the side. The only difference is it wraps over the left shoulder and under the right arm, with a carabiner to attach to one of the braces. In hindsight, using the brace is kind of unnerving but it made sense at the time. The straps are amazingly tough, though - mine is still in a closet and could be used if the need arose.

When I was in the band almost 20 years ago, we only had about 18-20 players and maybe 22 functional horns. The school has always been limited in numbers on the field due to trying to find bells, but over the years I think they've got about 40 functional complete horns now. I'm note sure if they've restored any more with that paint job since the first 24 horns in 2001-2003. I used one in the fall of 2002 and didn't particularly care for it compared to the unrestored horns.

If you ever get a chance to see them in person, it's quite an experience!