Atlanta's "Baddest Band in the Land" helps students build community pride through performances – CBS News

Atlanta’s “Baddest Band in the Land” helps students build community pride through performances  CBS News

They have the moves, music, and energy you'd expect from a historically Black college or university (HBCU) marching band, but these are not college students.They are members of the South Atlanta High School Marching Band, a program that proudly calls itself the "Baddest Band in the Land."Behind the high-energy performances, elaborate dance routines, and booming drumline is band director Jamont Lane, a man whose connection to the school goes back more than three decades.For Lane, leading the high school band is a dream he has had since he was teenager."Around my 10th or 11th grade year, that's when I started telling myself, 'Hmm, I really loved the band. I think I want to go and become a band director," Lane told CBS News Atlanta.

"After I started saying I wanted to become a band director, I started telling myself, 'Wouldn't it be great if I could end up back at my high school one day as the band director?'"That dream eventually became reality.Lane was part of South Atlanta High School's first graduating class in 1995, following the merger of Fulton High School and Walter F. George High School.His passion for marching bands developed during his time at George and South Atlanta and continued at Morris Brown College, where he experienced the rich traditions and showmanship associated with HBCU marching bands.When