Find Us On...

Or stay up to date with our blog...

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the loss of one of our players, Eric Ashby, who died suddenly on 15th December.  Eric joined the band in 2004 after moving to Sidmouth with his wife Jenny to enjoy his retirement, and quickly became settled on the back row.  

Eric’s kind and gentle nature and great sense of humour meant he was a joy to have within the band. News of his death came as a huge shock to all of us, and the loss of not only a valued band member but also a good friend will be sorely felt by us all.

Our deepest condolences go to Jenny and the rest of Eric’s family.

The run up to Christmas is always busy for the band, and the 2009 festive season was no exception.  We were lucky enough to play to fantastic audiences at both the joint Christmas concert with the Exeter and Community Male Voice Choir, and at our own concert held at the Manor Pavilion.  The band spread a little festive cheer around Sidmouth by caroling it’s way through December.  With the weather seasonably chilly, the free mince pies, mulled wine, coffee, and very fiery ginger concoction courtesy of the lady in Julian Graves all went down very nicely indeed.  

In amongst the caroling and snow-waltzing, we have been very busy getting a brand new website up and running.  Have a look around, check out our online photo gallery, put the dates on our engagements page in your diary, and read about all the players.  And don’t forget to sign our new guestbook!

The band is now looking forward to all that 2010 has to offer, and hoping that it’s going to be another successful year.  We hope to see you at one of our concerts soon, but in the mean time keep up to date with all the goings on by checking this website regularly!

With the tinsel and carol books packed away for another year, the band has been busy back in the bandroom.  March might not seem that close at the moment, but for us, knowing that it’s only 7 weeks until the Areas contest is actually rather scary! With so many hours of rehearsal going into preparing for a contest, it’s always a relief when the test piece is one we can enjoy playing - and luckily Percy Fletcher’s ‘Labour and Love’ falls into that category.  

The band is looking forward to welcoming back renowned bass soloist, conductor and arranger Steve Sykes, who will be taking us for two rehearsals leading up to the contest - the 9th and 23rd of February.  The couple of rehearsals that Steve took us for prior to the 2009 Areas not only taught the band a great deal, but were also thoroughly enjoyable.  The venue is yet to be confirmed, but anyone interested in coming along to listen to these practices would be very welcome to do so.

In addition to practicing for the contest, the band has been kept entertained by taking it in turns to select a piece of music at random from the library to play. So far, it’s been fairly easy to see why some pieces have been left to gather a thick layer of dust over the years, but we’re bound to uncover some forgotten about classics at some point. In the mean time, Hilary is going to continue to do her best to convince everyone to choose a piece from the ‘Selections’ section of the library, in the hope that Calamity Jane will make that long overdue appearance...

It was back to school time for three members of the band last weekend as Fiona, Christine and Hilary headed to West Buckland School near Barnstaple to attend the South West Brass Band Association’s Mid-Winter Workshop. Having navigated their way through some tiny lanes, they arrived bright and early on Saturday morning with instrument in one hand and packed lunch in the other. Even being faced with a scarily large amount of chairs set up for trombones didn’t put them off, and they made themselves comfortable ready for the busy two days ahead.  Tutors for the weekend were Steve Sykes, Philip Harper and Brian Menear, who each took turns at both conducting the full band and tutoring each section.  It’s always good experience to be taken by different conductors – not only do you learn new things, but it also helps to keep you on your toes!

The band rehearsed nine pieces in total, including a number of pieces composed or arranged by Steve and Philip. Keep an ear out in the future for ‘In This Hour of Soften’d Splendour’, a lovely piece arranged by Steve for quartet and band accompaniment that we are now thinking of buying.  An enjoyable yet tiring two days (Hilary still hasn’t quite managed to recover!) came to an end at 5pm on Sunday, after the band had performed the pieces it had been working hard on all weekend to a small but appreciative audience.

A good weekend was definitely had by all.  You only need to look around and see 75 other players of all ages and abilities sharing the same desire to learn new music, develop new skills and have fun to be reminded what is so special about being part of the brass band world.

February may be the shortest month of the year, but the band is certainly doing its best to cram in as much practice as possible in preparation for its upcoming concert and contest.  With only 3 and a half weeks until the Areas (a quick count up in our head makes that a total of 10 practices left), rehearsal of ‘Labour and Love’ is very much in full swing, with progress being made slowly but surely.  We have already had the first of our practices with Steve Sykes, and now can’t wait for the next one on Tuesday 23rd.

The band has been juggling practising the test piece with practising for our fast approaching concert in the Manor Pavilion on Saturday 27th February.  Organised by the Lions Club of Sidmouth, this year sees the band joining forces with local singer Avril Best and pianist Andrew Sturmey.  In aid of two great charities, the ‘Swinging and Singing’ concert promises to be a very entertaining evening. Click here to see our engagements page for more details.

The band returned to the Manor Pavilion stage last night as it joined forces with local singer Avril Best and pianist Andrew Sturmey in a ‘Swinging and Singing’ charity concert organised by the Lions Club of Sidmouth. The audience enjoyed an evening of great variety, as the band, Avril and Andy each performed a selection of pieces. The band’s programme included both classical and modern numbers, and featured popular solos from Fiona Bell and Christine Sweetapple. The trombone section did their best Tom Jones impression as they performed his number one hit ‘It’s Not Unusual’, although we believe all the women in the audience did leave at the end of the evening with all items of clothing that they arrived in still intact!

The concert provided the band with the opportunity to perform the upcoming test piece ‘Labour and Love’ to an audience for the first time.  Although it generally went well, it certainly gave us lots to think about and has reminded us that there is still plenty of work to do in the 7 rehearsals left between now and the 13th March!

Having now played in his first concert with the band, we must officially welcome our newest member - Gareth Davies. Gareth walked through the bandroom door 3 weeks ago, and although a very versatile player, was promptly handed a cornet. With a shortage of players on the back row and with only weeks left until the Areas contest, he has arrived at a very good time for us. Gareth is settling in well, and we hope he enjoys his time as a member of the band.

With only 3 days left to go until the most important date in the band’s calendar, final preparations are being made ahead of the West of England Regional Championships. Bright and early on Saturday morning, the band will set off from Sidmouth to make that familiar journey down to Torquay to compete against 14 other bands in the Third Section.

The band has put in a lot of hard work over the past couple of months, but

ultimately it all comes down to a 10 minute performance on the

day and the opinions of the two adjudicators in the box.

Whilst it would be nice to get a good result, the

band’s priority is just to play as well as we can

and put in a performance to be proud of. Find

out how the band got on by checking our news

page after the contest.