Al Greener was taken aback when Rick Pitino sent word from the bench for the University of Louisville Pep Band to stop the music during an NCAA basketball game.
“It was in 2009 at a regional game in Dayton,” Greener recalls. “The band was right next to Louisville bench and we were going full blast. UofL was behind Sienna by four points with seven minutes to go. Suddenly Fred Hina (the trainer) came running up and asked us to quit playing. We were so loud the coaches and players couldn’t hear each other speak during a timeout.”
Louisville won the game but that’s one of the few complaints Greener has received since being named Director of the UofL Pep Band in 2006. Since then, the atmosphere at UofL games has been tranformed, the band playing at more than 150 athletic gigs annually.
“It’s a great job, doing what you love, cheering on your favorite team,” he said. “During the academic year, we meet ourselves coming and going. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Greener is a native of Elgin, Iowa, His dad was a marching band director and his mom the postmaster. A graduate of the University of Iowa, he came to Louisville in 1987 as a graduate assistant to DaveWoodley, then director of the UofL marching band.
A few years later he would compose the words to “All Hail, U of L,” a new fight song that quickly became a favorite. “Several schools have two or three fight songs, and Bill Olson was thinking about hiring a big name composer,” he recalled. “I asked him to give me a shot at it. Howard Schnellenberger liked it and it gained immediate acceptance.”
A lifelong Chicago Cubs baseball fan, Greener also plays the organ at UofL baseball games. “My grandfather and I used to sit on the porch and listen to Cubs’ games every day on WGN in Chicago,” he said. “He remembered the days of Babe Ruth and when the Cubs competed in the World Series on a regular basis. I wasn’t very good in sports but playing music was a way to get involved.”
Greener is a staunch Cardinals’ fan now, of course, with a cheering interest in every game involving UofL men’s and women’s sports. “We have about 100 people altogether in the band, with a mix of alumni and students,” he said. “This always includes people from all disciplines, including Speed School. They’re paid for doing what they love doing, playing music and pulling for the Cards.”
He notes that the Pep Band has a good relationship with the UofL Marching Band and Dr. Amy Acklin, who became the director last year. “She even asked if I wanted to work with them on the fight song,” he said.
“Tom Jurich and Julie Hermann really have made great strides in moving the athletic department forward, and we’re going to accomplish some great things,” he concluded. “I’m proud to be a part of what’s happening here.”