From the author of The University of Arkansas Razorback Band: A History, 1874–2004 comes this new book about the birth, growth, and development of other successful bands at Arkansas colleges that continue to have marching and concert band programs on their campuses. T.T. Tyler Thompson takes the reader on a journey from the late nineteenth century through the early twenty-first century as bands became an integral part of the state’s budding campuses of higher education and provided a performance outlet for thousands of college students, setting the musical stage for their respective campuses’ educational experience.

T. T. Tyler Thompson, a member of the University of Arkansas Razorback Band from 1967 to 1971, graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry and German. After teaching in public schools in Pine Bluff and North Little Rock, he enrolled at the University of Houston College of Optometry where he received his bachelor of science and doctor of optometry degrees. Since 1982 Thompson has resided in Little Rock where he practices optometry and edits optometric publications.