New Year's Eve with ELBY Brass and Grits & Gravy

On April 15, 2009, Lake Braddock Secondary School posted an ad on Craigslist. They had several hundred of their old marching band uniforms available, completely free for the taking. With one catch.

You must take at least 50.

Lake Braddock alumnus Seth Casana, never being one to pass up a deal, responded the next day. He spent a weekend hauling 150 back to his home in Fredericksburg, hats and all. He also gladly acquired a battered but solid sousaphone from the LBSS music director, Roy Holder. Armed with these new resources, a project that had merely been an idea suddenly became reality.

Fellow Fredericksburg musicians Lars Holmstrom and Chris Park had been scheming with Casana to create the ultimate street brass band. The concept was clear: all brass and percussion, all acoustic, all mobile. This would allow them the freedom to perform anywhere, anytime, all at a moment's notice.

In the following months, local musicians flocked to the newly formed band, some old friends, some new acquaintances. All had prior performance experience and each shared in the sheer excitment of this new group. Horn players in particular are often treated as an afterthought being called upon at the last minute for high-profile gigs or recording sessions. Here was a chance for the marginalized to step up and shine in all their glory.

Ever since then, ELBY BRASS has been bringing it to the streets. The heavy horn funk might catch you in the club or in your own backyard. All the world's a stage and ELBY is front and center, just look for the purple and gold.