About Gerard Howard

Gerard Howard has spent nearly two decades documenting the world of black college bands.  Having started The Internet’s First Site for Black College Bands (blackcollegebands.com) in 1998, Howard spends weekends every fall traveling from city to city showcasing the legacy of HBCU Bands.  “Before I begin covering bands, most media outlets on the field were only covering sports, my focus was strictly the bands” said Howard,  “As a kid I used to watch HBCU Football BET every Saturday Night just to see the bands.  Where BET ended is where I began.  Growing up in New Orleans, besides for Southern and Grambling we didn’t know what other bands sounded like, we would only hear rumors of them.  My job was to show others what they looked like and sounded like”.

Since that time Howard has photographed Hundreds of Games and has expanded to documenting via film.  He’s also interviewed legendary band greats such as William P. Foster of Florida A&M University, Isaac Greggs of Southern University as well as Jackson State University’s Lewis Liddell.

Self trained, Howard is known for an “In the trenches style of photography”.  A gritty approach that shows the intensity and aggression of sport that he calls The Marchingsport.  With a new found interest in art, Howard’s subjects expanded to fine art photography, having participated in solo and group shows in Jackson and New Orleans.    

He has also had work featured in Vibe magazine and also frequently used as a reference by national publications when they cover bands. Most recently his work was featured as part of a HBCU exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History.  His videos of bands are often picked up and shared by celebrities via social media and major online publications.  

Howard’s current sites include bandhead.org a social networking site for bands and HBCUBANDS.COM which features his current video work of HBCU Bands.

A member of The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc, Howard currently lives in Jackson, MS where he works as a Webmaster.  He can also be heard on air Mon-Fri on WJSU as an on air Jazz Host at the station.  His show Jazz Reflections was also recently put into syndication on SiriusXM (Channel 142).  He also performs as a musician as a part of The Southern Komfort Brass Band.    

Websites:

Bandhead.org | Hbcubands.com

Twitter
@hbcubands