Former Big Red Band drum major Cody McElwain is still leading a life of music and band. A 2006 graduate, McElwain currently works for the Vicksburg Warren School District as assistant band director and color guard director of Warren Central High School’s Big Blue Band and band director at Warren Central Junior High School.
McElwain served as drum major for all four of his high school years, which he credited as a valuable experience that laid a foundation and provided opportunity.
“I feel like I got the same experience of some that would be in a 6A high school or something, just because the band program (at Kosciusko) is so established,” said McElwain. “And it’s really carried over. Now, I work in a 6A high school, and even though the size of the schools are very different, the band program is very similar.”
After moving on from Kosciusko, McElwain went to Mississippi State University where he majored in Music Education with an emphasis on saxophone. He also participated in the Famous Maroon Band as a section leader, saxophone, ensemble, concert choir, and chamber singer.
“The first few weeks of (college) classes, a lot of times they are covering basic stuff,” said McElwain. “I felt very ahead of the game from my foundation from high school band.”
Once he received his bachelor’s degree, he went on to the University of Mississippi, where he obtained his master’s degree in Music. McElwain also served as a graduate assistant for The Pride of the South Marching Band and performed in the Ole Miss Wind Ensemble as the principal baritone saxophone player.
“To perform in an ensemble like that, let's say, you don't find that everywhere,” he said. “Our directors used to always tell us, ‘Enjoy your time and really take in the stuff that you're doing here because once you graduate, you're never going to experience something like this again. You can perform in a community band or something like that, but you'll never be with the quality of musicians that you're sitting with right now.’”
In 2012, McElwain accepted a job as band director of Vicksburg High School — a role recommended to him by the Ole Miss band director. At the time, the university’s band leader asked McElwain if he had a job yet, and when McElwain said he did not, the director asked him if he wanted to move to Vicksburg.
“He called up a former student and said, ‘Hey, aren’t you looking for a woodwind player? I’ve got one sitting here in my office that you’re going to hire.’ So that was pretty much it,” said McElwain. “I came to Vicksburg a couple days later and did a formal interview, but it was if I wanted the job, it was mine.”
During his time there, the school’s band consistently received superior ratings under his leadership, and he developed the Vicksburg Color Guard into an all-superior, competitive program.
He said students had a good foundation when he arrived. But they didn’t understand what it meant to compete, which he instilled in them.
“It was just somebody coming in and telling them that you have to rehearse every day with an urgency of imagining you’re going to competition tomorrow,” he said. “It may be July, and we’re not competing until the end of October, but we have to practice now in order to prepare for that.”
In 2019, McElwain transitioned to Warren Central, which he said was a seamless transition because he got to work alongside his college roommate Jace McMullin. McMullin accepted the head band director job and asked McElwain to take over his prior position as assistant band director.
“I wanted to be in a more competitive program similar to what Kosciusko does,” he said. “It was a very easy transition of being in the same school district, and I already knew a lot of the kids and a lot of their families. So it wasn't, you know, having to move into a new community and all that kind of thing.”
McElwain said leading high school bands routinely brings back memories from when he was a drum major in high school.
“Almost every Friday night or every band competition we go to, it’s fields that I performed on as a high school student,” he said. “And so, you know, I can tell my students, hey, I remember when this happened over here beside the bleachers, or whatever. So, it's a very unique experience.”
McElwain also remembers spending plenty of time in the Skipworth Center for Performing Arts for band concerts from sixth grade until his senior year. He is excited to see its restoration.
“A lot of people now, whenever buildings get to where they're no longer in tip-top shape, then they go and build something new,” said McElwain. “So, I'm excited that they are taking this building, maintaining it, and turning it into something better than it already was. That way, with the memories that I had growing up, people are still having those memories and can still create those memories there.”
