Austin Prime's Blog

Alright Richmond… this is my last year to travel with the Titan Marching Band.

My freshman year we traveled to Florida and we marched at Disney World and at Universal Studios. This was the first time I traveled with a big group and it was probably one of the best times of my life. I haven’t forgotten a second of it.

My sophomore year we took a cruise to the Bahamas. The Bahamas was by far the most amazing trip I’ve ever been on. The food, the dancing, the karaoke, and being with friends who love to make awesome music. Can’t get much better than that.

Unfortunatly, we were unable to travel my junior year due to low interest in the trip and funding problems.

This year the Titan Marching Band from Cosby High School is set to go to the Bahamas again and perform with over 80 members of the marching band on the Carnival Sensation cruise.

To help pay for this trip we are doing a raffle ticket fundraiser. I’m working hard to sell these raffle tickets to friends and family and I’m trying to get the word out to my social media friends as well.

These raffle tickets go towards 5 gift baskets that are being drawn for at the band’s Holiday concert. (Being present at the concert is not required to win, but you should go anyway!) The baskets all have different themes. There is a sports basket, a music basket, a chocolate  basket, a salon basket, and the big one… the vacation basket! Each gift basket is worth at least $150, and I’m pretty sure they’re worth a lot more than that.

So far the baskets have all kinds of good stuff in them. The sports basket has Richmond Flying Squirrels family four pack of tickets, gift cards, Richmond Kickers tickets, two tickets to Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina basketball game, and more. The music basket has tickets to see the Wizard of Oz at the Landmark Theater in March, gift cards, guitar lessons, voice lessons, and more. The chocolate basket is full of all kinds of chocolate and gift cards. The salon basket has massages, lotions, incense, a one night at Ridgeview Bed & Breakfast in Madison, and more. The vacation basket has a two night stay in Williamsburg, an oil change, and other traveling goodies. The bags are still growing, this is just to give an idea of what’s in them.

1 ticket is only $5. 3 tickets are $10 and 7 tickets are $20. Unfortunatly I can only sell tickets to my friends in the Richmond area because shipping would be difficult and most of the items in the baskets are for the Chesterfield/Richmond area. If you would like to make a donation to my trip though, you can still do that!

If you would like to buy a raffle ticket, please send me an email here and I will get back to you very quickly. Again, please note that I can only sell tickets to people in the Richmond, Virginia area.

Don’t want to be a part of the raffle but still want to contribute? Anyone can make a donation with the ChipIn widget at the bottom of this page.

If you’re a Richmond, Virginia company and you’re interested in contributing to the baskets that’s awesome and you can contact me here.

About a year ago I got to meet my long time internet friends @magicmattyo (from Massachusetts) and @laura_ashley (from California.) It was so much fun!

This year @magicmattyo is coming back! In fact he’s coming in 2 weeks! When he’s here we plan to broadcast on Justin.tv and make a vlog every day like last year. (Last year’s vlogs are below.)

Matt and I are so excited for the trip! It’s going to be so much fun.

Say ‘nighty night’ Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with Austin Prime on HitzRadio.com! I’ve started a new segment called “Nighty Nights” where my listeners call in and say goodnight to a special someone, their other half, to a friend, or just everyone listening! It started off great and I want to continue the segment! Start calling me every Mon, Tues, and Wed around 11:30 pm eastern to get your calls! This is a great opportunity to be on the radio with Austin Prime.

Yours truly will be starting Monday night at 7:00 pm Eastern on HitzRadio.com!

Be ready for instant requests, the Top 7 @ 7, celeb gossip, question of the night, your calls, and of course… the BEST HIT music COMMERCIAL FREE! It all kicks off Monday! You wont want to miss this! Tell a friend, or two!

Today Cosby High School was vandalized with sexually explicit images. Most high schools have a ‘senior prank’ but these seniors took it a little far. In fact they took it so far that this isn’t even considered a prank. This is being treated as a criminal act.

This morning a school janitor arrived bright and early for a day at work but when he arrived he noticed the drawings he wasn’t sure what to do. This janitor is one of those that loves his job, loves the kids, and loves the place he works. He was heard telling a teacher that he wanted to do something because he did not want the students to see it.

Unfortunately due to legal reasons the school could not take down the vandalism until school was almost over.

So how does this affect a school? Well in my opinion, I think we have a great school. At first I thought it was funny. But then I thought about it. We’re here all the time. Most of us have a lot of pride in our school. It’s an awesome school excelling in academics, sports, and performing arts. So while many people find it funny, it’s not at all. We are great at many things. Many schools in the area don’t like us because of that. Now they have more to say about us other than good things. Between this and the fight last week, we’re getting a lot of negative press.

One parent noted though that many students seemed mad and that made her proud! I agree completely. Many students were ticked. More so the juniors and some of the younger more mature kids. We don’t want to be seen as the bad school when we have such a great place.

The photos below are just a tiny amount of the vandalism. The vandalism goes all the way around the entire school. There were also reports of something written on the roof of the building with red spray paint.

(click photos twice for full size)

*Photos by Austin Moore, Kirstin Parynik, and Savanah Matin

Do you think the seniors should be allowed to graduate with the rest of their class?

Alan Chez

Alan Chez from the Paul Shaffer Band on the David Letterman Show came to Richmond, Virginia and performed with the 120 member Cosby Titan Band on May 21st, 2010. It was a sold out crowd of 900 with many people outside hoping to get in. He did 3 songs, St. Louis Blues, Let The Good Times Roll, and Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Each year the award winning Titan Band puts on an amazing show on the 3rd Friday of May. If you missed it this year, you wont want to miss it next year!

Professional dvds and cds are available of the concert.

Today Al Chez was on WTVR CBS 6 News to promote the concert tonight! You don’t want to miss this! Tickets are almost sold out. Over 800 sold already.

Here’s the clip of him on the news today:

Cosby Titan Band 2009

The Cosby Titan Band is having its Fourth Annual Concert tomorrow (Friday May 21st) at the Cosby High School Auditorium in Midlothian, Virginia near Woodlake. It starts at 7:30 pm and is expected to sell out. Presales have already sold over half of the tickets (auditorium seats 900.)

This is your chance to hear one of the best trumpet players in the world right now, Alan Chez of the Letterman Show right here in Richmond, Virginia. Its also an opportunity to hear one of the best high school bands in the area. This year the Cosby Titan Band was awarded their Virginia State Honor Band which is the highest award a band can get in Virginia. This means that the band got a superior rating from the judges in marching as well as the concert contests. The show has gotten a lot of press from many newspapers and Channel 6/CBS is doing a report on it as well.

Here is the official press release from the band.  – Side note, the one and only Austin Prime is in this band. 3rd chair trumpet player.

Tickets are $5.00 all seats

This is a Hollywood-styled band concert and we are proud to feature:

Alan Chez—the trumpet player on the David Letterman Show

Mike Goldberg—Richmond’s Musical Meteorologist and Clarinet Soloist

Andy Brock, Guest Conductor

Steven Barton, Guest Conductor of a piece that he composed

Plus—many guest clarinetists

The evenings’ musical menu consists of:

The Chimes of Liberty/Goldman
Solo de Concours/Messager, featuring Mike Goldberg on Clarinet
Shenandoah/Tichelli, Andy Brock Guest Conductor
Brazil: Ceremony Song and Samba/R.W.Smith
St Louis Blues and Let The Good Times Roll—featuring Alan Chez

Intermission

For the New Day Arisen, composed and conducted by Steven Barton
Clarinet Candy/Anderson, featuring the Titan Clarinet section plus about 15 guest clarinetists
Selections from Wicked/Schwartz
Over the Rainbow/Arlen, featuring Alan Chez
Our Traditional Concert Finale: featuring the Service Songs of the US Armed Forces and the Stars and Stripes Forever

Hope to see you there!