Band to send album for peace to world leaders

DESFORD Colliery Band will be marking its 120th anniversary by sending its album for peace to every world leader to mark Armistice Day.

The band has chosen to use the power of music to plead for peace and unity across the world to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War One.

Their album titled Where Have all the Flowers Gone, is a collection of classic peace songs which band leader Peter hopes will unite people and bring hope.

He said: “We wanted to strike a note for peace in these troubled times, so what better way to stir the souls of men and women all over the world than with our take on a set of classic peace songs?.

“On a very local level, lessons of peace can be learned from colliery bands across the UK. We celebrate the power of music and the capacity of the human spirit to inspire communities to triumph against all the odds.

“Music more than any other medium has ability to promote international peace and emotional health and we hope our album can be seen as a celebration of unity and hope.”

The album features re-imagined songs of timeless classics including Imagine by John Legend, Bob Dylan’s protest song Blowin in the Wind, REM’s soulful Everybody Hurts and Judy Garland’s Over the Rainbow, accompanied by sympathetic arrangements to familiar music from Marvin Gaye, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello and Bob Marley.

Based in Coalville, close to the historic mining communities of Desford and Ibstock, the band has 35 championship titles to their name and can trace its history back to 1898.

Many of its founding members, many of whom were miners, had to put down their instruments to fight in the first World War however once peace was restored in 1918 the band were brought back together and won a host of gold medals before its members were again needed to fight in a second global conflict.

Following that hiatus, the band has been active ever since and has gone on to win a string of awards for its recordings and even starred in the hit TV series, The Real Brassed Off.

Their global ambition remains however and the message at the heart of their album comes from the lifeblood of the community that gave rise to Desford Colliery Band.

“As the album suggests, the over-riding theme of the album is peace,” says Kenneth Talbot, third cornet. “There are no politics here - the band runs on friendship and compassion.”