Rockdale High School will be the musical epicenter of the county Tuesday as it hosts all three area high school's marching bands for an exhibition open free to the public.

The fourth annual Rockdale County Public Schools Marching Band Exhibition held at Rockdale High starting at 7:30 p.m. will feature the halftime shows of Heritage, Salem and Rockdale's bands.

Each school has taken turns hosting the event, allowing the crowd of students, parents and faculty to hear each of the area bands.

"The tradition of the exhibition has been well received in our community and is an event our students and parents look forward to," Scott Smith, Heritage Band Director said.

Salem will take to the field first performing their show called The Great Detective, featuring songs from sleuth-type shows such as the theme from "Inspector Gadget" and "Dragnet.

Heritage will follow with their performance, entitled A Day in New York, where the band takes the audience on a trip to New York City to visit Times Square.

The show includes the songs "New York, New York," "On Broadway," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "Centerfield" and "New York State of Mind."

Heritage, along with Rockdale and Salem, aside from performing during halftime of football games, are also using their pieces for competitions which begin next month. Tuesday's exhibition gives the bands a chance to get one more practice in before competition season begins.

"There is a panel of judges that will give us feedback on our show," Smith said. "We will use that in our rehearsals to address problems that they see and hear."

Rockdale will be the final band on the field, performing their halftime show.

Over 400 students will participate in the event, which aside from providing another outlet for practice also brings camaraderie to the three schools.

"Many of our students have friends in the other band programs and they enjoy getting a chance to support each other," Smith said.