Clover High School Principal Rod Ruth announced Monday evening at the CHS Percussion Ensemble’s encore community performance that Rick Langdale, Jr. has been named the school’s next Band Director.
Langdale, Jr. replaces Joe Gulledge, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Gulledge was recently inducted into the South Carolina Band Directors Hall of Fame. Currently the Director of Bands at Easley High School, Langdale has been affiliated with the Clover Band program over the past five years, serving as a consultant working with the student leadership team each summer.
Having worked with Gulledge in his first adjunct teaching position in Rock Hill, Langdale is eager to get to work in Clover, stating, “it is truly a humbling honor to be asked to lead a program with such an enormous history of excellence and community involvement.” He continued sharing his excitement about joining the Clover community saying, “to work in a community that values education, family, and the arts is the kind of place I want to raise my family.” Langdale and his family will move to the Clover community later this spring.
Langdale joins Clover from Easley High School. As the Director of Bands at Easley, he has seen much success as a perennial finalist at SC State 4A Championships. In 2018 Easley was named 4A Upper State Champions and 4A State Champions capturing the school’s first state championship and fourth upper state championship in competitive marching band. Since then, they have been in the top three in upper-state and top five at state consistently. The program has also competed nationally at the Bands of America Regional Championships in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and the Bands of America Grand National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2021.
QUOTES:
ROD RUTH, Principal Clover High School
“The band program has recently experienced success unseen in our state. For that reason, and because of the hard work put in by our students, staff, and Band Director Joe Gulledge, Clover High School emerged as the premier band vacancy in South Carolina. Through a collaborative effort between students, parents, and staff members from Clover High, the CHS Ninth Grade Campus, Clover Middle, Oakridge Middle and the District Office, our team evaluated an unbelievably strong candidate pool from across the country. Rick Langdale emerged as our choice due to a variety of reasons. Mr. Langdale is a relationship builder. He believes in student ownership through the development of leadership. He not only has a tremendous track record of success and a wide array of provided opportunities for students but realizes that the core of these elements is fostering the love of music and the pursuit of musical excellence. The expectations for our program are high, created not just by our recent success, but by the students themselves. Rick Langdale is the leader to meet these expectations and continue the tradition that is the Pride of Clover.”
RICK LANGDALE, JR.
“Mr. Gulledge has been a mentor and friend of mine since my freshmen year of college; we won’t talk about how long ago that was. He and his team has led the Clover Band to massive heights of excellence in every facet of the program. In addition to the known achievements, Clover has assembled a world class group of educators at the high school and the middle schools. I look forward to working with all the directors and staff to get moving on things as soon as they give me the keys.”
Langdale, Jr. replaces Joe Gulledge, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Gulledge was recently inducted into the South Carolina Band Directors Hall of Fame. Currently the Director of Bands at Easley High School, Langdale has been affiliated with the Clover Band program over the past five years, serving as a consultant working with the student leadership team each summer.
Having worked with Gulledge in his first adjunct teaching position in Rock Hill, Langdale is eager to get to work in Clover, stating, “it is truly a humbling honor to be asked to lead a program with such an enormous history of excellence and community involvement.” He continued sharing his excitement about joining the Clover community saying, “to work in a community that values education, family, and the arts is the kind of place I want to raise my family.” Langdale and his family will move to the Clover community later this spring.
Langdale joins Clover from Easley High School. As the Director of Bands at Easley, he has seen much success as a perennial finalist at SC State 4A Championships. In 2018 Easley was named 4A Upper State Champions and 4A State Champions capturing the school’s first state championship and fourth upper state championship in competitive marching band. Since then, they have been in the top three in upper-state and top five at state consistently. The program has also competed nationally at the Bands of America Regional Championships in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and the Bands of America Grand National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2021.
QUOTES:
ROD RUTH, Principal Clover High School
“The band program has recently experienced success unseen in our state. For that reason, and because of the hard work put in by our students, staff, and Band Director Joe Gulledge, Clover High School emerged as the premier band vacancy in South Carolina. Through a collaborative effort between students, parents, and staff members from Clover High, the CHS Ninth Grade Campus, Clover Middle, Oakridge Middle and the District Office, our team evaluated an unbelievably strong candidate pool from across the country. Rick Langdale emerged as our choice due to a variety of reasons. Mr. Langdale is a relationship builder. He believes in student ownership through the development of leadership. He not only has a tremendous track record of success and a wide array of provided opportunities for students but realizes that the core of these elements is fostering the love of music and the pursuit of musical excellence. The expectations for our program are high, created not just by our recent success, but by the students themselves. Rick Langdale is the leader to meet these expectations and continue the tradition that is the Pride of Clover.”
RICK LANGDALE, JR.
“Mr. Gulledge has been a mentor and friend of mine since my freshmen year of college; we won’t talk about how long ago that was. He and his team has led the Clover Band to massive heights of excellence in every facet of the program. In addition to the known achievements, Clover has assembled a world class group of educators at the high school and the middle schools. I look forward to working with all the directors and staff to get moving on things as soon as they give me the keys.”