The next 21 days will prove to be quite a journey for the Fountain City Brass Band as they travel through five countries to perform at five concerts, three clinics, take part in three contests and record a CD.

Title Defence

Fountain City's fun begins tomorrow as they try to stave off competition from Central Florida and the likes at the U.S. Open Brass Band Championships. There will be the most competitive field ever at the U.S. Open and Fountain City would love to head to the UK as double hatrick champions (both North American and U.S. Open).

To the UK

Next weekend Fountain City find themselves performing at the Sage in Gateshead for a Saturday evening Gala Concert with Black Dyke and Cory Bands. They've been asked to perform a unique program for that evening and are happy to oblige.

On Sunday week, FCBB will become only the second American band to compete at Brass in Concert, with yet another program. Central Florida had a fantastic 4th place results, but that was without the likes of Dyke and Cory at the Contest. Artistic Director, Lee Harrelson stated a quite realistic goal of a top five finish for the band.

More Travels

The band then has a busy week of travel. Their busman's holiday will take them to Wales and Ireland for some concerts and clinics. Additionally, they will be working on a recording entitled "Over the Rainbow."

SCots finale

Their tour wraps up with a trip to Scotland to compete at the Scottish Open. They will be Performing a concert at Perth Hall on the Friday evening before the contest with yet another program, before competing again, this time in a testpiece contest. If they have any gas left in the tank, Fountain City will be shooting for a top three finish.

25 pieces

All-in-all the band has had to prepare 25 works for the three contests, recordings and concerts. Lee Harrelson has praised the commitment of the band in their preparation and is thrilled with how well they have been coming together both musically and socially.

It will be interesting to see how they get on with three contests in three weeks, especially given the fact that most American bands take three years to experience three contests.