Sgt. 1st Class Christal Rheams (left) sings ‘‘Forever Young,” written by Master Sgt. Lou Durham, at aconcert Tuesday evening. The concert featured original music by Durham and Staff Sgt. Dan Roberts. Behind the vocalist is bassist Staff Sgt. Regan Brough.
When most people hear ‘‘The U.S. Army Band,” the last things that come to mind are rock’n’roll, rhythm and blues or ‘‘eurofunk.” But composer Master Sgt. Lou Durham showed a more mainstream side of ‘‘Pershing’s Own” performers, playing a concert featuring his own compositions at Brucker Hall.
Tuesday night’s concert featured a selection of Durham’s music influenced by pop, rock, R&B and country music, arranged by Staff Sgt. Dan Roberts. One of the pieces, an instrumental called ‘‘What Your Army Can Do For You,” was written by Roberts.
‘‘That would make a good commercial,” said Sgt. Maj. Ada Saunders, the Master of Ceremonies, after the song was performed.
Durham, who has been composing since he was in college, tries to write in a variety of genres. Most of his music deals with patriotic themes. Patriotic titles from the concert included ‘‘Be Strong for America,” ‘‘A Hero’s Always There,” ‘‘Like a Beacon in the Night” and ‘‘The Homeland.”
‘‘I mostly do patriotic music, I’ve given the Army permission to use it,” Durham said. ‘‘But anyone who writes music has a big book of stuff they’ve written over the years.”
The performing band was made up of 11 instrumentalists and five vocalists (including Durham himself). The songs featuring guest vocalists were written specifically for each singer.
Although this was the debut performance for almost all of the pieces performed, they aren’t all ‘‘new.” Durham said a few of the songs have aged a few years and gone through countless revisions.
‘‘Sometimes you look back and find an old song that’s not your best work,” he said. ‘‘But you can take that song and look through it, a lot of times you can polish it up and make it better.”
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