The US Army band is popularly known as the Perishing’s Own. It was founded in 1922 and until 2002 was the only band (Washington based) that was known to have participated in multiple foreign combat operations. Right now there are 8 official bands that perform,
- The Army Brass Quintet
- The Army Strings
- The US Army Herald Trumpets
- The Army Band Downrange
- The Army Chorus
- The United States Army Ceremonial Band
- The United States Army Concert Band and
- The Army Blues
On 25th Jan, 1922; the band was founded by the Staff Chief of the Army and John J. Pershing (Army General) to match the European military bands. In the initial years the US Army Band participated in Mutual Broadcasting network, CBS, RCA etc. It gave a tremendous professional performance at Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. In a span of 3 years (1928-1931) the band had successfully done 4 national tours.
US Army Band 1943
During World War 2, the band performed overseas in Europe and North Africa in 1943. In the Rhineland Campaign the band was recognized with campaign streamer. During this time, many well-known personalities used to play on behalf of the band.
For instance: Charles Osgood (announcer); George Shirley; Lloyd Lindroth (harpist); Steve Lawrence, Robert Dini and Eddie Fisher (recording artists; Percy Grainger and Paul Hindemith (composers); Jerome Hines etc. In 1963, during the state funeral of John F Kennedy, the US Army Band had taken part. During the mid-1970s the Army Brass, the Army Chorale (currently known as Downrange), the Army Brass Quintet and the Army Blues were established. When some significant events happened, the band wore Coat of Arms and uniforms. Some of these events were – the Alaska visit of President Richard Nixon with Emperor Hirohito; the Lake Placid Winter Olympics of 1980, World’s Fair that took place in Knoxville (Tennessee) in 1982; Olympic Games (1984 in LA).
The Perishing’s Own
The Perishing’s Own has performed in many of the famous concert halls like Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl (LA), Hatch Shell (Boston) etc. The Band also participated and recorded in Gardens Of Stone, a film by Francis Ford Coppola. When Col. L Bryan Shelburne was the leader, the bank performed at various events in between 1990 – 2000. Some of the significant ones are: – Economic Summit, Houston, 1990 – Reba McEntire’s Christmas Special, Nashville – Desert Storm Victory Parade, New York – International Goodwill concert with the Navy band of the Soviet Union, Stockholm.
Carnegie Hall
In 1997, Nov, the Band completed 75 years and performed a fabulous concert at Carnegie Hall, New York. Many popular guest artists were a part of this concert like Charles Osgood, John Cheek and Roberta Peters from Metropolitan Opera, Walter Cronkite etc. In 2002, Dec, under the leadership of Col. Gary F Lamb; Downrange was dubbed to support Operation Enduring Freedom. After 1945 once again the band had performed at multiple foreign operations. These foreign operations were once again accompanied by many guest artists and well known personalities. In June 2005, Colonel Lamb retired and Colonel Thomas Rotondi Jr took charge. The US Army band has its headquarter at Fort Myer, Arlington (Virginia). Every year in March they host the Eastern Tromborne Workshop and the US Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference in January. Most members of the band wear custom made army rings in gold or silver.
