For 117 years, the British Bandsman magazine has been a part of the brass band community in Great Britain. The Salvation Army has announced, in a press release from the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Territory, that they have purchased the venerable publication. The magazine will be owned by the Army's publishing arm, Salvationist Publishing and Supplies Ltd. (SP&S).
Brass bands have been a strong element of the Salvation Army's internal culture for 125 years, beginning with a streetcorner quartet in 1878 and now including thousands of musicians worldwide. For many years, the Army took a cautious and insular approach when dealing with the "outside" banding scene, not allowing Army musicians to use music published by non-Army sources and not selling Army-published music to other groups. In recent years, this has rapidly changed, and the Army is now a central player in the brass band community. The purchase of the British Bandsman magazine furthers the effort to further the process of integrating Salvation Army music into the mainstream of the brass band world.
This article was posted in News and tagged British Bandsman, SP&S, Trevor Caffull on 10 July 2004 .
I would like to know where the magazine's archives are,and wether they are accessible to the general public.