DAPHNE, Ala. — Bayfront Park will once again be filled with the melodious sounds of a band ensemble as the sun sets on Mobile Bay. The concert is set for 6:30 p.m. June 13.

“It kind of goes in line with what we have had in our Sunday Sunset Series of evening concerts at our Bayfront Park,” parks and recreation director David McKelroy said. “It is going to be a Monday Sunset Series.”

McKelroy said the 313th Army Reserve Band offered to give the concert.

“They actually called and were going to be in the area. They are going to be in Foley and Gulf Shores over the weekend and on Tuesday and they wanted another site. I said, ‘Yeah, we would love to have you,’” McKelroy said.

“We will have traditional music, pop, jazz, patriotic and contemporary music,” 1st Sgt. Baron Cantrell said of the 42-member band.

The 313th Army Band began in 1943 in Canastel, Algeria, where the band served nine years of active service, including service in Europe during World War II.

The band reverted to reserve status in 1953 and found its home in Hattiesburg, Miss., until it was relocated to Birmingham in 1962.

The band comprises reservists who meet in Birmingham one weekend each month and tour for two weeks each summer. The members of the band hold civilian jobs in addition to their position in the Army Reserve. The band includes 25 members who are school-band directors and many other members hold college degrees in music.

Members of the band do not have to be members of the U.S. Army before auditioning to become a part of the band.

“First thing they have to do is call me. Members are auditioned on their instrument for position in the band. Once they pass the audition, they are processed into the military and into our unit. Members have not necessarily served. When they pass their audition and their medical portion of their evaluation and sign a contract, they are automatically a member of our band and the United States Army,” Cantrell said.

The band’s tours have brought members to many different places, Cantrell said.

“We have played from the wonderful state of New Jersey, as far south as Puerto Rico and El Salvador and as far west as Mississippi and Louisiana,” Cantrell said.

This year, the band’s tour has been cut short by two days, but the band will play at multiple concerts in Baldwin County this weekend and early next week.

“We are only doing five venues this year because we are cutting our tour short by two dates. We just had our first concert last night,” Cantrell said.

Cantrell said being a member of the band is like joining a second family.

“I have been in this unit since 1988. I am a low brass player. In my civilian job, I was a band director. Prior to joining this unit, I was in the Army Corps of Engineers. It was more fitting to my talents that it would be more beneficial for me to be in a band than it would for me to being in the engineers driving a bulldozer. My favorite memory with the band is all of the wonderful individuals that have been a part of this unit that I have had the pleasure to serve with and become friends with. People typically spend about 20 years in this unit. We get to know each other really well and we become a family,” Cantrell said.

McKelroy said he is expecting a couple of hundred people to come to the concert. Seating will be limited and attendees are advised to bring their own chairs if possible.

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