Tuscaloosa Leader

Dr. Tyler Strickland is a piano-playing, would-be percussionist from Birmingham who longed to bang drums in his school band, learned instead to play saxophone, married Auburn University’s first female drum major, directed high school bands in two states and spent the last three years as a graduate assistant with the University of Iowa bands. 

Now he’s in Livingston -- 750 miles south of Iowa City -- after being named this summer as director of bands at the University of West Alabama. His excitement couldn’t be more palpable. 

“There's a tremendous potential for growth,” he said. 

While potential may be abundant, time is not. Strickland’s first day at UWA was June 24; the fall semester began Aug. 15; the Tigers’ first home football game is Sept. 17. And besides the unavoidable hassles of relocation -- finding a place to live, especially -- Strickland has been tasked with preparing the Marching Tigers for their official 2022 debut while also learning his students’ names and what instruments they play. 

Roughly half of the band’s 56 members are first-time performers at UWA, either freshmen or transfer students. Strickland didn’t hear them play until they warmed up on an early morning at the beginning of band camp in August. All he knew came from the band’s student leaders, which was comforting but not necessarily authoritative. 

Other band directors might have blanched. 

Instead, the 36-year-old Strickland smiled. 

“It didn't matter, because I know that whatever they've got, we can work with it and make it better,” he said. “That's kind of the job. I've never been the person that thought they were supposed to be handed a turn-key band. Part of the job is being able to make people better musicians.”

Original source can be found here.