The Bands of America 2022 season kicked off its October slate in style, with three events across the country.

Here are the key notes from an October 1 trio of BOA contests: 

KATY, TX | Cedar Ridge squeaks out a W

A razor-thin finish featured a trio of high scores from three headline Texas bands at Saturday’s West Houston Regional Championship. Cedar Ridge (1st, 86.100, Class AAAA Champion), Claudia Taylor Johnson (2nd, 85.800), and Ronald Reagan (3rd, 85.550) all broke 85 points at the top of a star-studded Texas lineup, separated by just a combined 0.55 points.

The order of Saturday’s top three scorers was noticeably rearranged from their final meeting of the 2021 BOA season, which saw Claudia Taylor Johnson earn 3rd to Ronald Reagan’s 5th and Cedar Ridge’s 6th at last year’s San Antonio Super Regional. 

Claudia Taylor Johnson also jumped ahead of Ronald Reagan from Prelims to Finals. In terms of caption awards, Cedar Ridge won Music and General Effect outright, while tying Claudia Taylor Johnson for top Visual marks. 

Rounding out the top six, three other bands broke 80 points — Cy Fair (4th, 83.550), Pearland (5th, 82.000), and Stephen F. Austin (6th, 81.200, Class AAA Champion). A pair of non-finalists, Liberal Arts and Sciences (AA) and Franklin (A) also won class titles. 

FLAGSTAFF, AZ | Clovis goes 2-for-2

For the second time in three weekends, New Mexicos’ Clovis High School was named overall champion of a BOA regional event, taking home first place and a Class AAA title with a score of 82.000 at the BOA Arizona Regional Championship at Northern Arizona University. Clovis also swept all overall caption awards. 

Fellow out-of-state and Class AAA band Fossil Ridge (CO) took second-place marks with a score of 80.350. Mountain Ridge, the day’s Class AAAA winner, rounded out the overall top three, nearly cracking 80 points at 79.050. 

A solid margin existed between Mountain Ridge and fourth-place Loveland (CO), which earned a score of 77.200 and also won Class AA. Loveland fended off Arizona’s Desert Vista (5th, 76.800) by less than half a point thanks to a strong advantage in Visual Performance.

The race to earn a spot in Finals was one of the closest of the day; Del Valle High School — which ended up 12th in Finals competition with a score of 67.350 — outscored 13th place Arbor View by just three tenths in Prelims. 

Pinecrest Academy of Nevada Cadence, which finished 9th overall, won top Class A honors. 

LOUISVILLE, KY | Indiana bands top the charts

In the first appearance of one of BOA 2021’s Grand National silver medalist — and its 2016, 2017, and 2018 champion — Carmel High School (IN) got off to a strong start with a first-place finish and eye-catching score of 85.150. Carmel also swept caption awards and won a Class AAAA title.

The only other band to break 80 points at Saturday’s Louisville Regional Championship, also from the Hoosier State, Brownsburg earned a tally of 81.350 in second place. Centerville came just short of the 80-point threshold, earning third place overall with a score of 79.800.

While the event’s overall top four — including Lakota West (4th, 76.950) all fell into the Class AAAA tier, Saturday’s Class AAA champion Walled Lake (MI) rounded out the event’s overall top five with a score of 76.150.

A pair of Kentucky Bands — North Hardin (AA) and Bourbon County (A) — won Class titles. Bourbon County earned third in its class at 2021’s Grand Nationals; both bands finished among their respective class’ top three in 2019, with Bourbon County winning Class A that season. 

Both Class champion Kentucky bands were also finalists in Louisville, with Bourbon County (75.650) taking sixth and North Hardin (72.050) taking 10th.