Staff

Dalton Hawkins

Ensemble Director

Dalton is currently the Band Director at Liberty Creek Middle School in Gallatin, TN. Along with his responsibilities at Liberty Creek, he is also the Assistant Director/Percussion Coordinator and Arranger for the Liberty Creek High Band.  He has been the Ensemble Director of Creekside Independent since 2019. 

Dalton received a Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Music Education from Tennessee Tech University. He received his teaching certification from Welch College. Dalton also received a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Tennessee Tech University. 

Dalton began his marching career with the White House High School Band of Pride where he performed in the front ensemble, as well as on bass drum and snare drum. He also marched in Station Camp Indoor Percussion in 2011 on snare drum. Dalton continued his marching career with the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagle Marching Band where he marched snare drum from 2011-2015. Dalton also marched one season with Chattanooga Independent in 2014 on bass drum. 

He currently resides in White House, TN with his wife Meredith, his son Deacon, and their two cats, Felix and Tucker.

David Watkins

Visual Caption/Ensemble Caption

David Watkins is on staff with the Liberty Creek High School Marching band, and Creekside Independant in Nashville, TN. 

David completed his Master of Music in Performance from Miami University (OH), where he was the Graduate Assistant in Percussion and Athletic Bands under Dr. Bill Albin and Dr. Stephen Lytle. At Miami, he served as the drumline instructor and composer/arranger, as well as co-director of the Miami Pep Band. His master’s thesis is entitled The Snare Drum: An Analysis of Performance Applications and A Comparison of Teaching Approaches. He also holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Eastern Kentucky University, where he studied intensely under Dr. Jason Koontz. During his time at EKU, he was trained in classical music, and specialized in African, Indian, Brazilian, and Caribbean Music. He also served as the drumline section leader, instructor and composer/arranger. 

David has performed with many professional and collegiate ensembles, including competing in the 2016 Panorama competition in Trinidad with the Silverstars Steel Orchestra. At EKU and Miami, he participated in percussion ensembles, steel bands, wind bands, orchestras, and marching bands. In 2008, he marched snare drum for Tates Creek Indoor Ensemble in WGI finals. He has also had multiple performances with Global Rhythms and the PANorama Caribbean Music Festival in Virginia Beach, VA, and has collaborated with artists such as Andy Narell, Ellie Mannette, Liam Teague, Jeff Queen, Srinivas Krishnan, Dave Longfellow, Tom Miller, and Ray Holman. He is the former Director of Percussion Studies at John Overton High School, and the former Percussion Caption Head for the Vanderbilt University Spirit of Gold Marching Band.

He and his wife Katie have two children, Ezra and Ellie. He is also a real estate consultant outside of teaching, specializing in helping people build wealth through buying/selling/investing in real estate. He proudly endorses Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.


Chris Earl

Battery Caption/Snare Tech

Chris Earl spent 4 years as a Music Education student at Middle Tennessee State University. During his time there he studied percussion under Lalo Davila, Julie Davila, Brian Mueller, and Russell Wharton. 

He was the Head Percussion Instructor/Arranger at Gallatin High School from 2018-2021. He has also been on staff with Station Camp Indoor since the 2019 season. He is now the battery caption head for Creekside Independent and currently holds the title of percussion caption head at Station Camp High School for the fall marching band program. As of this past year, Chris is now the Band Director at Shafer Middle School in Gallatin, TN. 

Chris’ marching experience began as a member of the quad line for 2 years at McGavock High School before switching to snare for his final 2 seasons. Following high school he was a member of the snareline at Music City Drum Corp in ‘18 and ‘19, MTSU’s “Band of Blue” snareline in ‘18 and ‘19, as well as Audio Theater in ‘19 and ‘20. 

Sean Stepnowski

Tenor Tech


Sean is a percussion educator and performer originally from Atlanta, GA and is currently working on his degree in Audio Production at Middle Tennessee State University. 


After falling in love with the marching arts, Sean went on to pursue his career at acclaimed organizations such as Equinox Percussion, Colts Drum & Bugle Corps, as well as Music City Mystique. Sean has served as section leader at Music City Mystique, as well as been the Battery Caption Head with various high school programs and given private lessons to students in the Atlanta area. He has also worked with the Colts Drum & Bugle Corps as their Quad Technician this past summer. 


His passion and excitement for drumming is a key factor for his infectious energy and personality that he brings to the table. Sean looks forward to starting off his first season at Creekside with a BANG!



Parker Fleming

Tenor Consultant

Parker Fleming is an Arts Major at MTSU. He marched and played the quad drums from 2016 to 2021. 

He first marched with Mt. Juliet High School and later marched with WGI open class groups such as Chattanooga Independent (2019) and Triple Crown Indoor (2021) (which sadly no longer exist). He also marched with Heatwave Drum and Bugle Corps in 2019 and briefly with the Cadets in 2021. 

He is very grateful to get to continue to educate quad players with Creekside Independent. 

Trevor Tumbaridis

Bass Drum Tech


Trevor Tumbaridis is a dedicated educator and bass drummer. 


Trevor’s journey began at Station Camp Independent where he was an inaugural member and bass drum section leader. He then took his passion to Music City Mystique, where he was bass 5 in 2021 and later Bass 2 and section leader for the 2023 season. 


Trevor has also marched at Music City Drum and Bugle Corps in 2021 as Bass 2, and at Boston Crusaders in 2022 as Bass 1. After aging out, Trevor joined the educational staff at Spirit of Atlanta Drum Corps for the 2023 season. 


Outside of playing and teaching drums, Trevor is also a manager at Five Guys.



Zach Hoiberg

Bass Drum Consultant

Zach Hoiberg is local Nashville resident, and has been involved in percussion in some capacity for 10+ years in Middle Tennessee. He is currently the bass drum consultant here at Creekside Independent, and has been involved within the organization since 2019. Zach has also taught at numerous local programs including Station Camp HS, McGavock High School, Centennial High School, and Cumberland United.

Zach graduated from Harpeth High School in 2012, and studied Audio Production at Middle Tennessee State University from 2012 – 2014, before committing full-time to a percussion industry career at Innovative Percussion followed by Meinl Cymbals.  During that time, Zach was also a member of Chattanooga Independent in 2014, 2015, and 2016 as a member of the bassline, and aged out as section leader in 2016.

Zach currently resides in Brentwood, TN.  


Cris Romero

Cymbal Tech

Cris Hibbs has experience teaching cymbals for Audio Theater and Creekside Independent. He taught for McGavock High School in the winter of 2020. 

Cris began marching with the Mt. Juliet High School Band of Gold in 2014 and the MJHS Winter Drumline from 2015-2018. He went on to march a summer with Spirit of Atlanta in 2018 and Audio Theater the winter of 2020. 

Cris currently lives in Murfreesboro, TN where he works as a barista at Starbucks. 

Ashton Namynanik

Front Ensemble Caption


Ashton is currently the front ensemble tech for the Station Camp Thundering Herd. He has been with the organization since 2017 where he has also served as the battery tech. Ashton has also been the percussion instructor for the Austin Peay State University Governor's Own Marching Band since 2020. He began arranging for the percussion section in 2021. 


Ashton received his Master of Music in Percussion Performance from Belmont University in 2019. He also holds a Bachelor's in Music Education from Tennessee Tech University. 


Ashton began his marching career at White House High School where he was in the front ensemble as well as played tenors. He also marched with Station Camp Indoor Percussion in 2011 on tenors. Ashton continued his marching career at Tennessee Tech with the Golden Eagle Marching Band from 2012-2016. There he would be the tenor captain and the drumline co-captain.


Chandler Franco

Front Ensemble Tech


Chandler Franco is a professional vibraphonist that composes and teaches. 


He studied at Tennessee Tech University achieving a bachelors in music performance. While studying at TTU he started private lessons with Jerry Tachoir in the field of jazz vibraphone. 


Chandler has marched with Music City Drum and Bugle Corps as well as Equinox Percussion. 


Currently Chandler plays in a band called Vibe Check, gives clinics about vibraphone fundamentals and jazz vibraphone fundamentals, and is currently composing music. 


Chandler Franco is someone who endorses Innovative Percussion. 

Dudley Merriam

Front Ensemble Tech/Electronics Manager


Dudley will be joining the CSI Front Ensemble staff for his first year. 

He graduated with a degree in Music Engineering at the University of Miami in 2023. Currently living in Nashville, TN, he works as an Freelance Audio Engineer and Technician for 242 Concepts. He is also a front ensemble tech at Atlanta Quest. 

He was a performing member in the Front Ensembles of Atlanta Quest and most recently the Bluecoats, where he was a winner of the Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award.

Keiron Miles

Social Media Manager/Visual Technician 

Keiron is a visual and woodwind specialist in Nashville, TN. He has worked with bands in Tennessee, Georgia, and Nevada. Since 2013, he has been on staff at Station Camp High School leading the visual program and helping teach the hornline. 

Keiron is a certified technician of the Dynamic Marching Technique developed by Jeff Young (Visual caption head of Carmel HS) and Todd Ryan (Visual Caption Head of The Blue Devils). Keiron is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Marching Roundtable Judges Academy where he was mentored under longtime pageantry judge Dr. Joe Allison and has also completed DCI’s World of Judging Symposium. 

Off the field, Keiron serves as a tour director for Music Travel Consultants. He has escorted some of the country’s finest programs to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, BOA Grand Nationals, The Midwest clinic, and Carnegie Hall! 

After marching finals in his first Bands of America Championship with the Sprayberry High School band in the ninth grade, Keiron discovered his new lifelong passion for the marching arts. He went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Valdosta State University (GA). As an undergrad, he performed in the marching band, sat principal in the wind symphony, and sang with the Valdosta Symphony Chorus. In his junior year, he won the prestigious Valdosta Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition performing Poem for Flute by Charles Griffes! 

Outside of music education, Keiron is a full-time student pastor in Nashville and holds two masters degrees from Dallas Baptist University.