The Australian Army Band marched into Gunnedah this week.

Hosted by the Gunnedah Conservatorium, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) contingent from Newcastle was taking part in a regional tour of North West NSW.

Music Director with the Australian Army Band, Captain Nick Bowman, said it’s a busy schedule for the professional musicians.

“The Australian Defence Force, the Australian Army in particular, is actually the largest employer of full-time professional musicians in Australia. ” he said.

Each year, part time and full time soldiers making up the 11 army bands across the country, conduct performances for local communities.

“Every year we try to go somewhere in regional New South Wales, hopefully somewhere that hasn’t seen an army band for a while. And this year we decided that we’d sort of base ourselves in Tamworth and visit some of the areas around,” Capt Bowman said.

The band hosted two performances in Gunnedah on Monday – one in the garden café area in Conadilly Street, followed by a fundraising event at the town hall that evening.

Back left, Musn Naylar, Lilleyman, Cpl Laine Goeldner, Lcpl Barker, Mus Tarry. Front, Musn Freedman, Sheringham, Bainbridge and Paul Goeldner.

All proceeds from that event supported local charity Gunnedah MS which assists people in the area The band was also due to play at concerts in Tamworth, Manilla and Armidale. Some of these performances were in support of the Country Women’s Association.

Capt Bowman said the 11 army bands in locations across Australia each serve two key roles.

“We’ve got one which is supporting defence and supporting army, so ceremonial occasions or playing for troops on base, that kind of thing,” he said.

“The other half of our role is community engagement. And that’s quite an important thing for us, to go into communities and play music.

“The idea is to create a positive relationship between the community and the ADF.”

He said army bands are in a fortunate position to entertain communities without charge while also assisting local charities.

 

Musn Harvey and Looby.

 

“Because we’re a defence organisation, we’re government, we don’t charge for our services because we’re paid to do this,” Capt Bowman said.

“We’ve been very happy to have the local councils provide the venues pro bono, which means that every single donation that comes through the door for these evening performances goes straight to a charity.”

Capt Bowman said contemporary army bands are more than just marching performances.

“Unlike what people might think when they hear about an army band, like a very strict marches, today’s army bands are quite versatile,” he said.

“We’ve got something called a pep band, which is like this really cool funky band.”

He said Monday night’s performance in Gunnedah was scheduled to include a full concert and vocalist for the local audience.

Capt Bowman said the ADF provides a great avenue for musicians looking to further their careers.

“We get a lot of people that join and do maybe five years while they study on the outside,” he said. Then they’ll move into an orchestra or maybe they’ll go do some pop band stuff.

“Then there are people like me who join, realise this is a really good job, get to play music for a living, get all of the support that Defence provides, like free medical and dental and subsidised housing, all that kind of stuff.

“I get paid to play music for a living, and I’ve been here for 20 years now, and I don’t think I’m going to leave any time soon.”