Charley Poole has been a fixture on the New England drum and bugle corps scene for more than 60 years since he first played snare drum with St. Paul’s Drum Corps in 1956. He moved to Prospect Drum Corps for seven years starting in 1962, then played snare drum with Boston Crusaders in 1970 and 1971.
He won individual snare drum titles at the state, regional and national levels: four Connecticut state championships; four Northeastern state championships and three national individual snare drum titles.
He has been the arranger, caption head and instructor for many of the best-known New England drum lines, including 27th Lancers of Revere, Massachusetts from 1977 to 1986; East Coast Jazz of Malden, Massachusetts; Fitchburg Kingsmen; Connecticut Yanks Ancient Fife and Drum Corps of Bristol; Fifth Maine Regiment of Portland; St. Aedan’s Emerald Cadets of New Haven and Connecticut Hurricanes.
He has served as a judge with DCI, DCA, WGI and Bands of America. He has taught, arranged and adjudicated drum corps, percussion ensemble and marching band events across the United States, Canada and Japan.
He is a member of the National Association for Music Educators, Massachusetts Music Educators Association, National Association of Rudimental Drummers and the Marching Percussion Committee of the Percussive Arts Society. He has presented clinics for the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and Ohio Music Conferences. He is a signature artist with Pro-Mark Drum Sticks, Evans Drum Heads, Zildjian Cymbals and Pearl Drums. He is a member of the Massachusetts Drum Corps Hall of Fame and the DCI Hall of Fame.
