The Eighth Regiment Band

The Eighth Regiment Band of the Georgia Volunteer Infantry formed in 1986 in Rome, Ga., when the conductor of Rome Symphony Orchestra asked brass percussion players to stay after a practice and work on Civil War era music.
John Carruth, who was conducting the orchestra at that time, said they gathered up the necessary instruments for playing music from the Civil War era, including grabbing an E-flat tuba that was being used as a planter, and were able to play the music. Eight Regiment now uses all original
 instruments.
The 14-member band performs music from both sides of the conflict in replica blue and gray uniforms, with appropriate dialogue and action. They create a program intended to be "a museum of 19th-century American emotions," Carruth
said.
"We dress, feel and act so that you'll think you're in a time capsule. So you can feel what the men and women of the Civil War period felt," said Carruth, a Civil War re-enactor who travels with an artillery unit.
The band has appeared at five Great American Brass Band Festivals, concerts with the Atlanta, Chattanooga, Rome Symphony Orchestra, the "Good Morning America Show," "Performance Today" on National Public Radio, the permanent
multi-media show at Chickamauga National Park, and the Southeastern United States Clinic. They are scheduled to perform next year at the memorial
interment of the Confederate submarine Hunley. 
The band also appeared in three made-for-television movies, and performed on
several college campuses and at numerous battle re-enactments.
Civil War bands started when each regiment of the armies tried to create its own musical organization. Most of America's town bands and other professional groups were mustered into service as were many groups of lesser ability. The soldiers loved to dance and sing, and they played or more often listened to the fiddle, flute and banjo, but the brass band was the "now" music of their century.
Carruth pointed out that 8th Regiment band members are not paid.
"We honestly believe that whatever success is gained is due to that fact.
Our men are here because we love to keep this great American band music alive. Many of the players have been there for 16 years, and if you've been there that long, there's got to be something to it."
Carruth said that the annual stop in Danville is always an anticipated stop on the band's agenda.
"(The festival) has become one of the highlights of our musical careers. We love everything about Danville and Boyle County."