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The Federal City Brass Band is based in Baltimore, Maryland. The band re-creates the sound and appearance of a regular United States Army regimental brass band of the 1860s. The group also performs as the 26th North Carolina Regimental Band, performing music of Moravian heritage and from the wartime repertoire of that ensemble. The band’s instruments date from the mid-19th century, as does the music. Care is taken to perform according to 19th century practice.
The band is made up of both professional and amateur musicians and includes teachers, historians, and reenactors. Band leader Jari Villanueva is the foremost authority on the bugle call Taps and is an expert in Civil War field music. Bandsman Mark Elrod is author of A Pictorial History of Civil War Era Musical Instruments and Military Bands, and band historian John Bieniarz is working on books about Union Army regimental bands. The Federal City Brass Band’s distinguished list of performance venues includes the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, Ford’s Theatre, Pamplin Historical Park, and at many music festivals, special events, and reenactments. Recordings include Pride of the Regiment, Better Than Rations or Medicine, and Hurrah for the Union! Music of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.
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