The Fairey Band has been busy over the last few days preparing their version of brass banding's musical answer to social distancing.

Since the Coronavirus lockdown came into force, players have kept in touch and now they have come together to perform the hymn tune 'Slane', arranged by solo trombone Rebecca Lundberg.

Struck a chord

It has certainly struck a chord as it has already gained over 30,000 views on social media on the first day aided ITV choosing to feature it on the regional Granada news.

Rebecca told 4BR: "We chose the hymn tune as we felt that many of our supporters would appreciate reflective music associated with a sense of hope. So many people have been in touch to say how moving and uplifting it was listening to the band playing it.

We must thank Josh Cargill, our bass trombonist who did a fantastic job putting the whole thing together. It's been good fun to be part of it and we hope people continue to enjoy the video and listening to Fairey."

We chose the hymn tune as we felt that many of our supporters would appreciate reflective music associated with a sense of hopeRebecca Lundberg

Signing

Meanwhile, the band has announced the signing of trombone player Max Lawrence, a student at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester and a semi-finalist in the BrassPass Young Brass Awards. He joins on second trombone having spent two years at Marsden as solo trombone

Speaking about the addition to her team, Rebecca added: "Max is a wonderful young musician. We've been looking forward to him joining, but have had to wait as he didn't want to let his previous band down for the area contest, which is commendable. However, it's not too bad when your first official performance is aired on ITV!"

To watch

To watch the performance go to:
https://www.facebook.com/TheFaireyBand/videos/880510705734176/