Former soldier’s band turns chants into rock - Entertainment, Music - Army Times

Former soldier’s band turns chants into rock

If you’re tired of that same old C-130 rollin’ down the strip — or any of the other tired old Jody call standbys — try downloading any of the new left-right-left-inspired songs from the Ohio-based band Rally Point.

Performed by former Army Spc. Justin List, the hard rock-meets-rock steady cadence mashups are Jody calling like you’ve never heard before.

“I used to love calling cadences when I was in the Army and sometimes rewriting them a little with my own, shall we say, smart-ass lyrics,” says List, 32, who left the service in 2006 after getting laid up with a back injury during a training accident.

Back on the block, the injury didn’t steal the hi-ho from his diddly bop. It wasn’t long before List found himself singing the old stay-in-step lines as he strung together chords on his guitar.

“So many of those cadences are really songs already — they’ve got a hook, a chorus and melody,” List says. “I was playing them so much, a buddy of mine finally said, ‘You should record these.’”

After more than a year in and out of the studio, he’s dubbed Rally Point’s first CD simply “Hooah.”

Infusing everything from bass to banjo into the tracks, the album transforms 15 cadences into a CD of no-kidding rock songs.

A high school Spanish teacher by day, List is playing gigs around Cincinnati and is expanding Rally Point into a fully fledged band. A retired Marine Corps sergeant major has already signed on as drummer.

“I’d love to find someone from each of the four services,” List says. “We could call the band Joint Task Force Rally Point.”

“Hooah” can be downloaded on iTunes or ordered for $11.99 here.