Marching Ravens - An Institution

Every Wednesday night, the faint bleating of horns and staccato riffs from a line of snare drums can be heard throughout the corridors of Ravens headquarters. Following the noise past the locker room, through the weight room and into the fieldhouse, the din becomes a wall of sound.

Big brass tubas, clanging cymbals and waving flags all synch up in a musical ballet, as the Marching Ravens hold their weekly practice.

And while the band roster, the songs and even the team they support has changed over the years, the Marching Ravens are a tradition that began in 1947 and has held strong for 60 years.

Originally called the Baltimore Colts Marching Band, the group formed along with Charm City's first professional football team. The situation was tenuous at first.

The Colts enjoyed three years as members of the All-America Football Conference before the league joined with the NFL in 1950. One year later, the team folded, only to come back as the Baltimore Colts again in 1953.

The marching band was a crucial component in regaining the pro game in Baltimore, as it toured relentlessly, playing halftime shows across the NFL to tout its hometown as a viable expansion city, maintaining a vocal and visual presence in front of league owners and officials.

From 1953-1984, the Colts thrived by the bay, and the band along with them. But on a well-documented and discussed winter night, the city suffered heartbreak again, as the Colts were moved to Indianapolis in a hasty getaway.

John Ziemann was there firsthand to feel the sting of losing his beloved team. That year, he was named band president after 22 seasons of service, and in the custom of this resilient group, Ziemann decided that the Colts' band would continue to carry the banner of Baltimore sports.

"A lot of people joined the band to help bring a team back," said Ziemann, who heads the NFL's second-oldest band. "Also, it was fun because we started traveling around the league. We were traveling around the nation doing parades and concerts. We were the martyrs with instruments.

"The L.A. Times called us ‘Baltimore's Pro Football Musical Ambassadors,' and it stuck. We got press all over the world wherever we went."

True, the "Ambassadors" were getting exposure for their cause - playing at 30 NFL games around the nation, 23 CFL contests, the Pro Football Hall of Fame parade and game, and the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade - but it was never an easy road to travel.

It takes a special sort of dedication for a group made up of more than 300 volunteer musicians, flag line, color guard and equipment crew members, to commit to the idea of Baltimore football, when there was never a guarantee that the NFL would place another franchise in the city.

Ziemann said that the passion of the Marching Ravens never wavered.

"We're volunteers, and we're not getting paid," he explained. "But, you know what? I'd rather deal with a volunteer than a paid person in the band, because they are there because they want to be there.

"[The band members] really care about the Ravens; they really care about performing; they really care about being there and making some kind of difference."

As he can attest, the band has always welcomed volunteers from all walks of life. Ziemann even joined as a teenager, not knowing exactly what he was getting in to.

"I was always involved in music and played percussion in the school band," he said. "I loved marching and I loved the Baltimore Colts, and I used to see the band all the time. I came out in 1962, auditioned and lo and behold, I made it. I was just a kid, and I was running around all these older guys."

"We were the first youth movement in the band; at that time the band was 15 years old. You had these guys who fought in Korea and in World War II and then this skinny kid from East Baltimore."

When Art Modell brought the Ravens to the city in 1996, he was adamant that the band continue it's representation of Baltimore football. Performing first at the Baltimore Colts Marching Band until August 8, 1998 when Baltimore's Marching Ravens dressed in purple and black make their debut at the opening of the city's new stadium at Camden Yards.

Then, when Steve Bisciotti took ownership of 100 percent of the team in 2004, the group's status certainly wouldn't change.

"The football gods must have looked down on us and blessed us," Ziemann said. "First of all, giving us the Modell family, and then when the Modell's relinquished ownership, thank God they gave us Steve Bisciotti."

Ziemann laughed when he remembered the story of Bisciotti jumping out of his car and conducting the band in the bowels of M&T Bank Stadium before a game.

"He has been great. I get the biggest kick out of him. One time we were in the tunnels lined up, and he got out of his car and started conducting."

"I get the biggest kick out of Steve," Ziemann stated. "We're very, very lucky that we get his support and dedication, and we try to do our best to give back to the team by doing the best shows we can and promoting the team."

Now, it's not hard to spot the Marching Ravens on Sundays. There is Ziemann in his trademark purple blazer, in front of the band decked out in sharp purple and black uniforms, performing Script Ravens at halftime.

They have played with renowned composer Marvin Hamlish and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, at the Inauguration Parade for President George W. Bush, and at one of the many parades in Maryland and beyond.

"In the offseason we go out and do these events where 800,000 people see us," Ziemann said. "You have to give back to the team and be a part of the Ravens' marketing. We want to be here. We cannot just sit around with our arms folded."

Of course, you could always just catch the Marching Ravens on Wednesday nights in Owings Mills - just follow your ears.

Learn more about Baltimore's Marching Ravens and how you can join by visiting their website.