Series: Town Bands
Serenades
Town bands often performed brief, informal concerts in the middle of the street with all of the band members facing each other in a circular formation. This was referred to as a serenade. Bands would sometimes perform several of these serenades in a given afternoon or evening. These concerts would be performed in front of businesses that supported the band or in front of homes of persons celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. Regarding the latter, the band members were often invited to join the party where they were paid with food and drink.
Finally, music was seen as an important complement to many other kinds of events. Consequently, the town band played a supporting role by providing music at events for which the band was not the main attraction. These might include commencement exercises, temperance meetings, baseball games, carnivals, fairs, circuses, and traveling medicine shows.