Director of the Community Winds shares his stories

Read about local resident Jim Swearingen and his career accomplishments, his involvement with the community band and his love for Grove City.

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Have you ever received an unexpected phone call or note that positively changed your life? Longtime Grove City resident and local music man Jim Swearingen has received a handful of thrilling calls – which range from a school in Norway asking him to help its student band, to gaining approval to play a passionate set at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset, Pennsylvania. One call in particular, though, stands out for Swearingen.

In 2002, Swearingen was asked to help revitalize the community band in Grove City as the lead director.

“I agreed I would direct, but I was only going to give them five years,” Swearingen says with a grin.

The five years came and went, and Swearingen realized he loved leading the Grove City Community Winds (GCCW), so he’s still conducting the band after 17 years. And he’s keeping busy, continuing to write music, travel the world and uphold his longtime staff arranger position for The Ohio State University Marching Band – this year, he arranged the half-time show for the Michigan game.

Before focusing purely on writing music and conducting, Swearingen was a music teacher, professor and a university department chair. His passion for music extends across many years, but like any passion, inspiration came first.

A History Lesson

Since childhood, Swearingen has loved learning and playing music on multiple instruments. What really inspired him to pursue music in college, and eventually in his professional career, was his middle school band teacher, Mr. Davis.

“When you went to his class, kids were literally running to get to the class. They knew they would be greeted with a smile; he was a funny guy and he demanded excellence,” Swearingen says. “He just made us so happy. … And I thought ‘Well, I want to be happy in life, I want to be a band director. I want to try to spread the joy of music and inspire kids in a way where they’d want to be in my class.’”

So, Swearingen did just that. He attended Bowling Green State University for music education and later earned his masters from OSU. Throughout his studies, Swearingen learned to write music, gained a basic knowledge of how to play most instruments and met new role models, some of which inspired him to encourage his future students to take courses with stern professors. 

“I would say to my students, ‘Don’t avoid the tough people and the demanding people, because what you don’t know about those people is the reason they’re so great is they demanded more of themselves – far more of themselves – than they’ll ever demand of you, even though you think they’re being tough,’” Swearingen says.

For 18 years Swearingen taught an array of middle and high school students – fourteen of those years were spent at Grove City High School as the band director.

“When you’re a band director, when you’re a classroom teacher, you try to instill the attitude that in the beginning, we’re a group of individuals, but if we truly want to have success in music we have to become an individual group,” Swearingen says. “Greatness is defined by the group.”

He then moved onto the college level and quickly gained the title of department chair of music education at Capital University, where he stayed for more than 25 years. But with this position, Swearingen did not have a band to consistently direct and he missed the thrill.

“I was getting called to go out and conduct bands all the time, but they were my band for a weekend,” he says. “Then the relationships would move on. So now, it’s nice to have consistent relationships with people from the (GCCW).” 

The Community Band

The phone call about directing the GCCW came at the perfect time since Swearingen was itching to have his own band. Apart from his experienced conducting, Swearingen says the hardworking band members are what make the GCCW sound amazing.

“It’s all because of the sacrifice of the members of the band who don’t get paid for what they’re doing, but they’re doing this for a love of music and a love of the community,” he says.

The group consists of about 60 members and plays a variety of genres. A genre that holds a special place in Swearingen’s heart is patriotic, as his father was a World War II veteran. So, the group has traveled and played at multiple locations to honor the United States.

In 2002, the GCCW was the first ensemble to ever play at the Flight 93 National Memorial where they performed Swearingen’s well-known original song “Flight of Valor.” The group also performed at the National World War II Memorial for WWII veterans.

“You become proud of your ensemble when you witness their unselfishness; like when you go shake the vets’ hands and you look behind you and your ensemble is doing the same thing because they feel it’s important, too,” Swearingen says. 

And with years of playing together, Swearingen says the band is truly a community. 

“We’re more than just musicians, we’re friends,” Swearingen says. “And yes, we have a common goal of representing Grove City at a high standard and we want (Grove City) to remember us for our ability to play music at a high level, but we also want to remember that we’re all friends. And making music is like making friends.”

Calling Grove City Home

Since the early 1970s, Swearingen has called Grove City home. He raised his family here and even taught his two sons as the local high school band director. Post-retirement isn’t slowing him down though, and he is now more involved in the community than ever before.

“It’s just a great community,” Swearingen says. “Grove City is a very caring community and it’s been fun watching it grow over the years. … It’s home.”

Lydia Freudenberg is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.