Community bands can draw their roots back to the early 19th century England where, according to a series of essays written for the Library of Congress by Jon Newsome, factory employers would encourage workers to take up music.

". . . Probably with the thought that they would then be less likely to become involved in potentially disruptive activities," writes Newsome.

As a result, bands in England became competitive and were cheered on by the business owners who'd encouraged them in the first place.

In the United States, community bands both professional and amateur began to populate the landscape. The vision of gazebos as bandstands comes to mind, as men in military-like uniforms complete with epaulettes performed the popular music of the day.

Newsome writes that the early 1850s in the U.S. "saw the brief flowering of a brilliant style of brass band music that constitutes an important but insufficiently explored part of our musical past."

Much of the brass band's appeal would eventually be folded into the military culture as the Civil War overwhelmed the public consciousness. These bands would become a mainstay in the military, producing a number of memorable organizations, but most importantly became the precursor to marching bands and community bands of contemporary music.

In New Orleans, the community brass band has formed its own legacy beginning in the late 19th century. The music the New Orleans bands created is a fusion between European-styled military band music and African folk music.

Early brass bands include the Eureka Brass Band, the Onward Brass Band, the Excelsior Brass Band, the Tuxedo Brass Band, the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, the Camelia Brass Band, and the Olympia Brass Band.

Many of these bands are famous for playing music at the New Orleans jazz-style funerals.

There is also a community band tradition in Hawaii. Founded in 1836 by King Kamehameha III, the Royal Hawaiian Band is the second oldest and only full-time municipal band in the United States. According to the band's Web site, it is employed by the city and county of Honolulu and consists of 40 full-time musicians.

According to the community music Web site www.boerger.org, there are 891 community band organizations in the U.S. with Web site links. That means that currently there are nearly 1,000 bands on the Internet and no telling how many more across the U.S., like the College of the Albemarle community band, that do not have a Web site.