Texas Music Educators Association Presents

The city of Overton is a small community of about 2000 people located on St. Highway 135 approximately 20 miles southeast of Tyler. As many East Texas towns, Overton became prominent in the 1930’s oil boom. The school itself was established in 1932 and students continue to attend classes in the same buildings today. The school district itself is very small geographically with its boundaries extending only a couple of miles beyond the city limits.

The Mustang band was established in the early 1930’s with Charles Lee Hill becoming the first full time band director in 1937. Mr. Hill is known for his compositions as well as his directing ability. He established a rich tradition of success for the Overton band that has continued through the years with directors like Leo Stevens, Butch Almany, Val Rose, Scott Rhame, Virgil Beene, Ronnie Page, and many others.

Today, the high school has an enrollment of approximately 140 students in grades 9-12. The band is composed of members in grades 7-12. Normally, the band is equally split with half of its members being in jr. high and half in high school. The Mustang band generally totals between 80-90 students. Band is the only music program in the district with students starting in the 5th grade, continuing as intermediate students in the 6th grade, and entering high school band in the 7th grade.

The Mustang band’s history includes many successes. The band has been a consistent UIL Sweepstakes winner throughout its history. In 2001, the band attended the UIL State Marching Contest and won first place, being the first military style marching band in state history to accomplish this goal. The band was also named Class A runner-up TMEA State honor Band the same year. In 2002, the band won all three categories of the Association of Texas Small School Band’s “Outstanding Performance Series”, the first high school band in the history of ATSSB to do so. In 2003, the band was named TMEA State Honor Band for Class A, returned to the UIL State Marching Contest for a fourth place finish, and won both concert categories of the ATSSB Outstanding Performance series with a runner-up placement for its march. The Overton band leads Class A bands of the state in the number of students it has placed in the ATSSB All State band with 18.