About - Ether Independent Winter Guard in Houston Texas

About Ether Independent

Ether Independent was founded in 2022 to create fun, educational experiences for young adults interested in the winter guard activity. We are directed by four Oak Ridge alumni, who attended high school and competed together, hoping one day to start their own independent guard.

Ether aims to foster an all-inclusive, safe space for learning and personal growth that is accepting to all creeds, nationalities, genders, and identities, while striving to achieve excellence within the winter guard activity through exhilarating performances.

Ether is an independent winter guard based in Houston, Texas. Ether Independent is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that adheres to the guidelines set by Texas Color Guard Circuit (TCGC) and Winter Guard International (WGI).

Meet the Ether Team

Christopher Farley Burkes

Director, President

Chris’s passion for marching began in high school where he spent most of his time marching for Oak Ridge. After high school, Chris marched groups such as The Phantom Regiment, Code Black Independent Winter Guard (Houston), and Paramount Independent World (Atlanta).

Since then, Chris has served as director, tech, choreographer, designer, coach, and often times, all of the above, while working for great Scholastic Guard High School programs. Much of his time was spent in the Metro Atlanta area at schools including Mill Creek High School, Kell High School, Whitewater High School, and Harrison High School.

As a consulting designer, Chris has designed drill and written choreography for WGI regional finalists such as Chattahoochee High School and Crossroads Indoor Winter Guard (Ames, Iowa). He has worked with countless programs including local (Houston) Scholastic guards such as Klein Cain and Klein High School, and across the nation with programs like Norcross High Guard and North Gwinnett High School.

Chris has also designed for numerous nationally recognized guards such as Crossroads Indoor, Northwest Missouri State University Color Guard, and more. In addition to color guard and band design, Chris has ventured into the drum corps world, teaching at The Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps and designing for Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps.

As a freelance designer for most of his adult career, Chris started his own business officially in 2018 under the name CGD, or Color Guard Design. Chris has tremendous experience designing drill, flags, costumes, floors, writing choreography, arranging music, and conceptualizing shows and getting them onto the field or floor. He is dedicated to the programs he becomes involved with and is more than a designer, but a mentor as well and helps lead his teams to success.

He cherishes the extremely important lessons learned while being taught and inspired by some of the best choreographers, designers, and technicians in the entire world. He hopes to continue spreading that knowledge and pay it forward to a new generation of marching arts enthusiasts and future designers! Chris resides in West Columbia, TX on a farm with his husband, three dogs, and many other animals, including chickens, pigs, and rabbits, in addition to a huge garden. He spends his days nurturing life and wants to spread that message through the color guard activity.

Meagan has been involved in color guard since 2007. She first joined during her freshman year, where she attended Oak Ridge HS with the rest of the Ether Independent staff. During her senior year, Oak Ridge performed at WGI after an undefeated season and placed first in Scholastic Open Finals.

After high school, Meagan marched with the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps, helping her team achieve 9th place in Finals. Later, she earned a sabre spot while spinning for Cypress Independent Winter Guard. Meagan’s last performance was with Spirit Independent in 2016 where she was a main rifle.

Since high school, Meagan has worked with numerous guards, and in 2016, she started working her dream job as a director at Kingwood Park HS. She has been building this program from the ground up, and Kingwood Park has grown and evolved, continuously bringing home trophies each season.

She currently resides in Kingwood, TX with her boyfriend and 3 cats, spending every day thinking about color guard and what more she can do for the community. Helping to bring Ether to life, to provide more opportunities for performance, and creativity is just the beginning!

Meagan Young

Assistant Director, Secretary

Ashley Spain-Butts

Education Director, Treasurer

Ashley began her marching arts journey in the eighth grade through her high school winter guard program. She continued performing with the Oak Ridge High School color guard through her senior year, helping the team receive many awards and much recognition along the way.

After high school, Ashley continued her marching career with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps and Cypress Independent Winter Guard. In 2017, Ashley was selected for the honor of performing in the Super Bowl LI halftime show with Lady GaGa.

Since 2012, being so inspired by her previous instructors, Ashley began teaching and designing at several schools in the Dallas area. She is very excited to be a part of Ether Winter Guard and looks forward to creating and teaching exciting pageantry with her fellow directors.

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Spin Clinic

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Donate Today

Join Mailing List

Register for
April 27
Spin Clinic

Donate Today

Join Mailing List

Donate Today

Join Mailing List

Register for April 27 Spin Clinic