The Southwest Voice

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The Volunteers, an ensemble of the U.S. Army Field Band, is coming to play the Harvey Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 25, but don’t expect your typical army band. When you see them play you won’t hear brass horns, but bluesy bass lines. Orchestrated overtures will be replaced with electric guitar rifts and even traditional compositions by the likes of John Philip Sousa will just plain rock!

Formed in 1981, the Volunteers is a six-piece musical show band that seamlessly blends jazz, rock, country, pop and patriotism into a foot-stomping, hand clapping show for all ages. Home to the band is Fort Mead, Md., but come tour season the group travels across the country, usually performing over 30 shows in a stretch of 30 days.

The Southwest Voice spoke over the phone with Volunteers keyboardist Master Sergeant Kirk Kadish just as he was packing his bags to head out with the band to begin their western states tour. Sgt. Kadish entered the Army in 1990, after years of studying music and working as a freelance composer and arranger. He served as part of the Armed Forces School of Music faculty and later, in 1994, joined the Field Band. We asked Sgt. Kadish to share a bit about the Volunteers and their upcoming performance in Bakersfield, and here is what he had to say:

Q. Do U.S. Army Field Band members have to go through the same type of training as everyone else?
A. Every soldier no matter what their job — computer programmer, musician, what have you — has to meet the same requirements. We still have to pass the PT [physical training] test.

Q. What’s life like on tour?
A. This is the smallest of our components. There’s six of us, if you think about it we’re performing 100 or more days a year. We travel together, stay in the same hotels, eat together, rehearse together. And most of the guys stay in the band for a number of years, so we’re pretty much like family.

Q. Why does the Army have bands like the Volunteers?
A. It’s about instilling patriotism. We want people to continue to support the soldiers regardless of what their politics are. We want people to honor the soldiers who are giving their lives day in and day out.

Q. What can the audience expect when they go to see the Volunteers on Oct. 25?
A. They can expect an amazingly wide variety of popular music. There’ll be country, rock, jazz, swing — a little bit of everything. This is the most versatile group of musicians I have ever played with ... The final part of the show is patriotic number which includes an armed forces medley that will include theme songs from each of the services. If anyone has served we like to ask them to stand and be honored during the number. We even want family members of those who are serving or have served to stand, because they give a lot, too.

Q. If someone is not familiar with the armed forces, should they still come out and see the band?
A. That’s all the more reason to go. Even my perspective of what the Army was like was very limited before I joined ... We love to hang to hang out after the show and meet everyone, so come and learn about the broad range of jobs we do. The picture of the soldier running on the ground through Baghdad is only one type of soldier.

 

See the Volunteers!
When: Saturday, Oct. 25
Where: The Harvey Auditorium, 1316 G St.
Time: 7 p.m.
Cost: FREE!

To request your free tickets, call The Southwest Voice at 716-8640. Give us your name, address and the number of tickets you want and we’ll mail them out to you directly!