Performance reflects country's colors

Kelly Smeltzer was inspired by the colors of America, just not the ones that might immediately jump to mind.
The red, white and blue commonly associated with patriotism make appearances during the beginning and end of the Jay County Marching Patriots’ show. But it is instead the colors of the American landscape highlighted in “America, The Beautiful” — the amber waves of grain, purple mountains and simmering blues of the seas — that are the focus.
“It just had so much potential, I think, from a music standpoint, and also from a visual standpoint,” said JCHS band director Kelly Smeltzer. “And it was coordinated so well musically and visually … And we felt that the audience could really understand and connect with this show. I think that’s been why it’s been such a popular show this summer …”
Jay County’s musical selections are all based on “America, The Beautiful,” and specifically the sections coinciding with the lyrics Katharine Lee Bates wrote about the country’s colors following a hike to the top of Pike’s Peak in Colorado.
The Marching Patriots’ drill is set to match the music and inspire visuals from the words of the poem.
At the end of the opening, the band members are meant to resemble grain swaying in a summer breeze. And in the middle, they form mountain peaks that move across the field. They later morph into waves as the brass section takes the lead role musically.
The color guard uses three different flags — the first shades of amber, the second purple, the third a shiny blue — to match the song’s lyrics.
And JCHS has incorporated other visuals as well in the form of four murals painted by Matthew Schug, whose son Payden is a member of the percussion section. The first shows a field of grain, and the second majestic purple mountains. The final two murals are of the oceans and flank the first two.
“We’ve tried to set that up like you would see it across America,” said Smeltzer. “You see the West Coast, and then you see the mountains, and then you see the Midwest and then you see the East Coast. And then at the end you see all four of them flip around to present the American flag.”