This is a Drum Corps story that could have been scripted by a Hollywood screenwriter: A kid growing up in a rural town discovers the appeal of the drum and it becomes his natural medium of expression. He focuses on this so intensely that he develops into a prodigy who excels as a performer and eventually rises to the level of a National Champion, multiple times. He devotes all his energies so that others may also have that chance. Then he drives a truck.
Larry Visconti was a demon as a drummer, a fighter pilot of flams. Beginning in 1958 with the Farmingdale Falcons, snare sticks were his weapons of choice. Long Island was a frontier of drum corps, with dozens of groups emanating from churches, schools, VFW and American Legion posts, Fire Departments, and fraternal organizations like the Elks. For young Larry, this was heaven.
The Farmingdale corps morphed through two more iterations, Crusaders and Regimentals, and he eventually found his way (in ’72) to that great orange and blue juggernaut, the Sunrisers. To drumming were added management, directing, instructing, filling horn blanks, and whatever else needed to be done. Net result: a rocky ride and 7 DCA Championship titles.
He’s still there, and if the truck needs driving, Larry takes the wheel. And if that’s not a Hall-of-Famer, I’ll eat my shako.
