The Madison Scouts are excited to welcome back James Sparling to the design team in the role of battery arranger. James most recently worked with the Madison Scouts during the 2024 season as an ensemble coordinator. In addition to the Scouts, he is currently on the design and educational team for Cap City Percussion, as well as the Director of Percussion at Rouse High School and Wiley Middle School in Leander, TX.

“We are pleased to welcome back James to the design team,” said Mark Waymire, Scouts program coordinator. “His varied and extensive experience in the activity, as well as his past design and education interactions with most everyone on the team helps this be a great fit for our organization.”

James received his degree in Music Education with a minor in Architecture at Miami University, where he was heavily involved in the world music ensemble, Global Rhythms, as Percussion Coordinator and Arranger.  This ensemble led him to perform across the globe and work with Grammy winners Glen Velez and Jamal Mohammed, Ghatam Khartick's heARTbeat, Musafir, Jeff Queen, Michael Burritt, Anthony Cirone, Indian film composer A.R. Rahman, Nelly Furtado, and Lenny Kravitz. He was also a featured clinician at the 2012 North Alabama Day of Percussion, the 2016 Illinois PAS Day of Percussion, and the 2019 North Carolina Percussion Symposium.

James has served in various design and educational capacities for numerous DCI and WGI groups for over 20 years.  These include Carolina Crown, The Cadets, Glassmen, The Madison Scouts, Phantom Regiment, Alchemy Independent, Eastside Fury, Infinity Percussion, Madison Independent, Redline Percussion and Rhythm X. He returns to the Scouts last serving as the Caption Head/Assistant Arranger (2012-14) and Percussion Director and Arranger (2015-18).

James currently resides in Leander, TX with his wife, Katelyn, and their wonderful boxer, Harper.