Oak Grove High School senior Andrew Lott knew music was his passion the moment his mother sat him down on the piano to learn the theme from “Beverly Hills Cop.” That moment propelled him to where he is today – participating as a trumpet player in the Mississippi Lions All-State Band for the third year in a row.
“(Playing trumpet) gives you a freedom to express yourself in the way you feel musically because it is such a diverse instrument,” Lott said. “It is just really fun and really freeing. (I enjoy) the collaboration of fellow musicians coming together to make something bigger than yourself.”
From Mississippi Lions All-State Band’s inception in 1951 to today, the band has traveled around not just the U.S. but also a plethora of other countries including Japan, Mexico, Canada and China.
This year the band of 145 high school musicians from across Mississippi traveled to Italy, and Lott said he was blessed to get the opportunity. Lott was able to play in Milan, Florence, Siena, the Vatican and Rome as well as compete and win in a high-level band competition at the Parade of Nations at the Lions Club International Convention.
“It is an unbelievable honor (to be in Lions band) and experience. I am just so blessed to have even experienced it once,” Lott, who was tenth chair trumpet for Lion’s band this year.
17-year-old Lott said his experience with Mississippi Lions band is different than his time in his high school band. He said the level of play in Mississippi Lions Band brings the out the best in his fellow musicians.
“Coming from your typical high school band and going to Lions band, everybody in the entire band cares just as much about music as you do,” Lott said. “It makes everything go to levels you couldn’t even imagine.”
During the week-long camp before the competition, members wake up at 6 a.m. and work until 11 p.m. until they go to bed. This hard training pays off with the band's seventh consecutive championship win.
“(Practice) is intense, but once it all comes together, it is totally worth it. It is worth every minute,” Lott said.
Before Lott could play in Lions band, he had to try out. The process takes two days, with a litany of exercises including timing the students through their scales to cold reading provided sheet music and playing it.
It is all worth the effort, according to Lott, to be a part of the prestigious band. He said he has made friends he knows will be with him for a lifetime.
“You can bond with people so much over things you felt like you couldn’t talk to about before. You can connect so easily because you all love what you are doing so much.” Lott said. “The relationships you make with people over music and band carry out for so long. I’ve made some of my best friends from Lions Band.”
Lott’s aunt, Felicia Carpenter, said Lott moved in with her when his mother died when he was 10-years-old.
“(Lott) came to spend the summer with us, and I introduced him to the high school band director,” Carpenter said. “She (previous Oak Grove High Band Director Sharon Laird) said she would love to have him in the band, and he never left.”
Carpenter is extremely proud of her nephew for the work and passion he puts into music and band.
“We are so proud of him,” Carpenter said. “Lions Band in Mississippi is a really big deal. This is what he wants to do with his life – play and be a band director, so (lions band) has been an invaluable experience for him.”
Among Lott, were two other students from the Pine Belt – Sarah Hinchey of Sumrall played the flute, and Tucker Sellers of Forrest County Agricultural High School played the trombone.
