Less ambitious road trips have included a performance several years ago at the restored bandshell in Stillwater, where the lights and wood lining of the shell produced sights and sounds that recalled times when nearly every small community had regular summertime band concerts. Auditions are required. Turnover varies, too. Some years, the band will lose only a player or two. And we meet almost weekly, for events and practices, so it's a demanding schedule.
People drop out to have children.
It's always good to see them return. Especially if they bring an instrument that's in demand. In recent years, the hardest positions to fill have been drums and tubas. The oldest band member is 76, the youngest 21. Until the 1950s, even into the '60s, bands traditionally were all male, but the State Band now is about evenly male and female.