Swan song Swan song Swan song

The purple sport coat. The white gloves. The beaming smile. The waving arms. We loved seeing them on autumn Saturdays over the past 30 years as Brad McDavid went into action leading the Husky Marching Band in one of the most picturesque stadiums on the planet. And now, after playing three of our favorite songs—“Bow Down to Washington,” “Tequila” and “Louie, Louie”—a jillion times, McDavid, the longest-serving band director in school history, is calling it a career.

Here are a few items of note about McDavid, considered by some band members as the best teacher they have ever had:

• 20: Number of bowl games the Husky Marching Band has performed in
• 240: Number of members in the Husky Marching Band each year
• 7,000: Number of students he has worked with over his career

“I have loved coming up with halftime shows that hopefully over the course of a season tickled the musical funny bone of everybody in the stadium,” the tuba-playing Ohio native said in a recent interview on KING-5 TV.

And now, for McDavid’s outro.