Michael E. Biasi – Director of Bands,
Department of Fine Arts Chair
Jesse Rackley – Music Arranger
Forrest Budway – Percussion Arranger
Matt Griffin – Director of Percussion
Joshua Potter – Visual Designer
Luke Oglesby – Director of Guard Activities, Choreographer
Daniel Adams – Guard Instructor
Aliyah Echols – Guard Instructor
Rebecca Waltz – Lil’ Hawks Elementary Guard Director
Chris Jackson – Visual/Music Technician
Jesse Rackley - Director of Carolina Gold Drum Corps, the artistic director of the Triangle youth Brass Bands, and conductor ofthe Watson Brass Band. He has been our arranger for six years, and also arranges for Green Hope and Sanderson. A graduate of East Carolina University and Northern Nash High School, he an accomplished tenor trombonist, euphoniumist, and educator. He is the Principal Trombone of the Fayetteville Symphony and Tar River Philharmonic and second trombone with the Carolina Philharmonic. He performs regularly with the North Carolina Symphony and has performed with the Wilmington symphony, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Durham Symphony and Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. Jesse was the winner of the 2009 and 2007 Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference’s solo euphonium competition, runner up in the 2002 International Tuba Euphonium Conference’s Young Artist solo competition, semi-finalist in the 2002 Leonard Falcone International Tuba Euphonium Competition, and was the winner of the 2002 NC Governor’s School Concerto Competition.
Forrest Budway is originally from Raleigh, NC, and teaches history at Panther Creek High School. Forrest graduated from UNC-Wilmington in 2016 with a B.A. in History and a focus in Secondary Education.
From 2012 to 2017, Forrest was a performer in several World Class marching ensembles around the country, including The Cavaliers, the Colts, Teal Sound, Cavaliers Indoor Percussion, and Palmetto Percussion. During his extensive marching career, Forrest has had the pleasure to learn from and work with some of the best innovators and educators in the activity, including Michael McIntosh, Eric Ridenour, Nick Beaudet, AJ Cowall, Joe Hobbs, Joe Roach, Jesse Backes, Rick Rodriguez, A.J. Pace, and Kimball Seebeck.
Matt Griffin - Returning for his third season as our percussion director. A native of Rocky Mount, he is a graduate of the nationally acclaimed Northern Nash High School band program. Currently, he is a student at Wake Tech. Under his leadership, the percussion section placed earned caption championships at Fuquay-Varina and Appalachian State last year, and earned a silver medal at the Atlantic Indoor Association Championships.
Joshua Potter -
A native of Burlington, NC, Joshua K Potter is currently the Director of Bands at Providence Senior High School. Previously, Mr. Potter was the Director of Bands at Raleigh’s Wakefield High School for eleven years – beginning with its opening in 2000. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed a Masters in Wind Band Conducting at East Carolina University. Prior to his appointment at WHS, Mr. Potter served as the Director of Bands at West Rowan High School where he introduced full season competitive marching band and the band earned the first recorded superior rating at state band festival in the school's 50+ year history. In addition, Mr. Potter served as the Director of Bands at Charlotte Catholic High School for the 2011-2012 school year.
During his time at Wakefield, the band program grew from a mere 40 students to more than 200. The Wakefield Band program developed into a comprehensive music education program that featured three concert ensembles, two jazz bands, a percussion ensemble studio and a winter percussion ensemble, four winter guards, a chamber music program, and a music theory and AP Music Theory program. The bands consistently earned top marks at all marching and concert band festivals and competitions. The marching band performed regularly across NC and the eastern USA and was a Bands of America Regional Championship Finalist on multiple occasions and Class Champion of the Massillon, Ohio Regional. The Maroon Winter Guard was a four-time Winter Guard International World Championships finalist and was promoted to Open Class after its fourth place finish in 2008. The Silver Winter Guard was a WGI Regional Championship finalist and Atlantic Indoor Association Scholastic A class Gold Medalist. The Wind Ensemble and Concert Bands earned consistent superior ratings at state Music Performance Adjudication events. The Wakefield band program was featured twice at the NC Music Educator’s Conference-a concert performance in 2005 and a presentation and performance by the Chamber Winds in 2011.
At Providence, Mr. Potter has worked to continue the legacy of outstanding music education that has been a consistent part of the school’s 25 year history. As part of the 25th Anniversary Celebration, the Providence High School Wind Ensemble was a featured ensemble at the 2013 NC Music Educator’s Conference. In addition, the Pride of Providence Marching Band was a finalist at the 2013 Bands of America Winston-Salem Super Regional, the first band from Charlotte to earn this honor. The Wind Ensemble have shared concerts with the Carolinas Wind Orchestra and the UNC-Greensboro Wind Ensemble. It was also selected for a performance at the 2017 Music for All Southeastern Regional Concert Festival in Atlanta, GA.
Mr. Potter has been recognized by the NC Bandmasters as the 2007 Central District Band Director of the Year and with the 2008 Award of Excellence. He completed two different terms on the NCBA State Marching Band Committee where he served as chair for two years.
Mr. Potter is a member of the American School Band Director’s Association, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the NC South Central District Bandmasters Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (Alpha Rho chapter). He is active as an adjudicator and clinician for marching and concert bands throughout North and South Carolina. He enjoys doing drill design and consultation for marching bands also. In addition, he serves as a Winter Guard General Effect judge for the Atlantic Indoor Association and other circuits throughout the country.
Mr. Potter currently resides in Matthews, North Carolina with his wife Caren, an elementary school counselor as well as a color guard instructor and adjudicator. They welcomed their first daughter, Carrington, in September of 2014.
Luke Oglesby holds a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education and a Masters Degree in School Administration from East Carolina University. A graduate of Croatan High School, he was a member of both the band and guard programs. In 2011, the Croatan guard finished 11th overall at the Winter Guard International (WGI) World Championship Finals in the Scholastic A class.
Luke began his instructing career with Northern Nash High School. In addition to this, he has been on the instructional staffs with Broughton, West Carteret, Wakefield, and Cape Fear High Schools. In 2013, he was named director of the guard program at East Carolina University. In 2014, the Winter Guard program was established. This unit went on to earn medals at the Atlantic Indoor Association Championships, were WGI Regional Finalists, and a WGI World Championship Semi-Finalist in the Independent A class. In 2017, he was on the staff of the Drum Corps International Bronze Medalist Carolina Crown.
In addition to his new position with Holly Springs High School, he is a teacher at Riverdell Elementary (Clayton), and a member of First Flight Independent World Class Winter Guard.
