East Tennessee University’s band began in 1869 as a corps of cadets. The members primarily played cornets and were often headed by a cadet leader. By 1899, the University of Tennessee band had 16 members who practiced daily and performed in a weekly dress parade at Wait Field, UT’s first on-campus football field. In the 1930s, the 85-member band sometimes performed halftime shows at football games, and after 1940 membership increased to nearly 100. The band became known as the Pride of the Southland Band in 1949, supposedly at a suggestion from Knoxville Journal columnist Ed Harris. Band director W J Julian, hired in 1961, made the Pride of the Southland Band nationally recognized for the circle drill and the formation for the football team to run through the T. Julian also introduced the first performance of “Rocky Top” during halftime of the Tennessee vs. Alabama football game in 1972.