In this episode I chat to returning guest Gavin Holman about his research into the first recorded brass band contests and the most well documented event - Burton Constable. We talk instrumentation, perverse serpents, cutting reviews, issuing challenges and clergy adjudicators.

the Internet Bandsman's Everything Within

https://www.brassbandresults.co.uk/

In this episode I chat to Besses player and researcher Steve Hughes about the band performing to Princes and Presidents on their groundbreaking French tour of 1905.

History of Besses o' th' Barn Facebook group

Besses o' th' Barn Band

Besses o' th' Barn Youtube

Podcast music is Mephistopheles performed by the Illinois Brass Band

https://fanlist.com/brassevolution

In this episode I chat to banding icon Ray Farr about his research into the Distin Family and their extraodinary impact on the beginnings of the brass band movement. We discuss the groups origins, tenor horn vs. alto saxhorn, missing testpieces and the wonderful array of instruments being performed at the time.

https://www.rayfarr.com/

Podcast music is Mephistopheles performed by the Illinois Brass Band

https://fanlist.com/brassevolution

In this episode I chat to researcher and relative of Cora Youngblood Corson, James P Gregory Jnr about her trailblazing and complex life and his ongoing discoveries into her significance in opening doors for women brass musicians. We discuss her enterprising beginnings in Anadarko, her rise to fame, jewel encrusted Euphoniums and much more.

The Legend of Cora Youngblood Corson - Youtube Presentation

International Tuba Euphonium Association

Podcast music is Mephistopheles performed by the Illinois Brass Band

https://fanlist.com/brassevolution

In this episode I chat to David Hirst about the origins of the probably the most famous brass band in the world - Black Dyke. We discuss the early contests, instrumentation, local rivalries and some of the legends of the Queensbury band in the Victorian era.

The 'Celebrated' Black Dyke Mills book

The Heritage Centre

Roy Newsome Brass Band Archive

In this episode I chat to Band Blasts from the Past blogger and postcard collector Jeremy de Korte about his own collection, Australian banding and how these cards and their messages can help us uncover the banding past.

This episode I chat to Director of Percussion at the RNCM Simone Rebello about the history of percussion in UK brass bands. We talk about the  journey from solitary timekeeper to incredible virtuoso soloists and vast sections, performing on a wonderful variety of instruments, and the compositions that propelled percussion forward.

This episode I chat to Dr Alex Parker and Eleanor McKenzie from Brass Bands England and Heritage Quay about all things Brass Band Archive. We talk about moving 6 transit vans worth of history, problematic silverware, brass band traffic jams and the mystery of the wax cylinders.

In this episode I chat to to the incredible Dr. Joanna Ross Hersey about her research into women brass musicians in American music, routes into the profession, the changing political and social settings, all female bands and their inspiring leaders including Helen May Butler and Cora Youngblood Corson.

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