Last year, Austin High was given a surprise when the folk rock band Mumford & Sons came for a visit. Filming their 'Railroad Revival Tour' documentary with fellow artists Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford & Sons needed a few extra band members for their movie. The marching band was given the opportunity to play along with the band both in a video for the documentary and as a surprise finale for their concert that same night.

A year later, on March 16, Mumford & Sons returned for a performance at the 2012 South by Southwest Festival, accompanied by their old band mates from our school.

"Getting to play with them was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Austin High sophomore, Abby Jones said. "So getting to do it for a second time was completely surreal." The concert doubled as a premiere for the Railroad Revival Tour documentary, which was shown for the first time to an audience and to the marching band. "A lot of us had parts in the video, so it was really cool," Jones said. "It's crazy that it's already been a year since we filmed the documentary with them."

Backstage at the concert, Mumford & Sons hung out with the marching band like they were all old friends. "One of the band members and I just talked about our guitars for a while and it was awesome," Austin High sophomore, Evan Karley said. "It was fun to get to hang out with them all again."

Like last year, Mumford & Sons closed the show with the marching band as backup, ending with an excited roar from the audience. "I hope this becomes a tradition so that we can play with them every year," Jones said. "It's definitely a highlight of the year."