(bright music) (dramatic music) - Welcome to TV Film.

I'm Jermaine Wells.

TV Film showcases the talents of upstate New York media makers across all genres.

In this episode, we share "Town Band" from filmmaker Alice Elliott.

In this film, the Callicoon Center Band maintains against all odds an almost 100 year rural tradition.

- Every Wednesday night, for 10 weeks in the summer, there's a community band that gathers at this crossroads in the town of Callicoon Center, and the all-volunteer band assembles kind of magically, and then they play for an hour and then they disappear, and back into their own homes and lives.

Every time I went to hear the band, I would start to cry and I didn't understand why.

It was just so emotional for me.

You know, they start with "The Star-Spangled Banner."

They have a same tune, opens and closes the band every time.

And so I just would become overwhelmed by feelings and I thought, "Oh, I think I have to make a film about this."

This is what happens when you need to make a film.

You just get so compelled and you need that to push you through the process, which in this case, it actually took 10 years to make this short film.

And that's my process.

I've worked slowly and I've had to come to acknowledge that and appreciate it.

My family was making it with me.

My daughter's a cinematographer, and so part of the part that's shot on film is my daughter's work.

And we used a man that was living up at Tennanah Lake as our kind of our helper, our gaffer and production assistant.

And so I really wanted it to come from the place and my love of the place.

It used to be a tradition that every town had a band, a live band.

And that tradition has really disappeared as we've had more and more live music and that people are able to, you know, tune into Spotify or anything like that and be able to get any tune they want in the world, any orchestra at any time.

And so this little band is really sort of one of the last reminders of that time when everybody played a musical instrument, everybody participated in some kind of group activity that created community.

And that's my feeling about this band, is that music brings people together.

And that's why it's so important to continue having art and music and these things in schools because it's a way we all communicate and not everybody communicates through pictures or writing.

Some people communicate through sound and the songs that we have that we share together.

(drum beating rhythmically) (toddler imitating drum beats) - Well, if you come the main road from Tennanah Lake from the town- - You can either go over the hill or around the hill.

I always go over the hill.

- You take the road up to Shandelee- - You go straight, straight, wait a minute.

- Go up the hill, make another left up another hill.

If you're going downhill, you're not going right.

- You're gonna go across a bridge and then you make a right on- And I don't know the name of the road, but you make a right.

- I know how to go, but I don't know the- I don't know the road.

- Like I said, I'm not a good talker.

(upbeat orchestral music) (upbeat orchestral music continues) - And stay on that road into Callicoon Center and the bandstand is on your left.

(upbeat orchestral music) (people chattering) - Okay, okay.

(upbeat orchestral music continues) - I would say that we play vintage music.

It's old music, but vintage sounds a lot nicer.

- It's old music.

(chuckling) Old traditional music.

(upbeat orchestral music) - If there aren't bands performing this music, then no one will know it even existed.

And it will disappear.

(upbeat orchestral music) (audience applauding) - If you wanna view the Callicoon Center Band as a time capsule, then it's the right music because we're just playing music that you would've heard there in 1935 or earlier.

But I don't think we have musical memories for the younger people that are coming.

It's sentimental for the 80 or 90 year olds, yes.

But it may only be sentimental to them because it's the music that we played when they went there with their father who's no longer with us.

In that case, we become the musical memory.

- There are a lot of younger people who go to the band.

There are a lot of people, my generation, who grew up going to the band or people who are my age and therefore have kids around my daughter's age.

My daughter is three.

And we are the fans of the Callicoon Center Band, we're the groupies, the ones who show up week after week.

It's really a multi-generational thing because the Callicoon Center band reaches out to everybody.

(mellow orchestral music) - I think if we were ever going to be replaced, we would've been replaced by now because keyboards and electronic music and all those things have been around.

I think people come to hear us for the relief from that sort of thing, you know.

(upbeat orchestral music) Town bands historically were the live entertainment around the turn of the century.

And it was the kind of thing that you just did.

You got the kids washed and you put the pie on the window sill to cool and you went to the band concert.

That's what we are.

We are a present kind of entertainment.

It starts at eight o'clock on Wednesday and you know that it will, and we're gonna play a dozen or 14 tunes and we will raffle off some pies in the middle.

People could make a request and tell me that somebody has a birthday and we'll play happy birthday for them and we'll be back next week.

- This is a block they give me.

Usually they give it to you when you're dead.

So Jim said to me, band lead that he said to me, "We wanna give it to you while you alive," he says.

"We don't wanna give it to you when you're dead."

(upbeat orchestral music) - The first time I went over to the band, listened to the band, the wife wasn't agitating accident.

"Go over, you like that kind of music?"

I said, "Leave me alone."

Because I work two jobs every day.

So I went over there.

One of the guys said, "What can you play?"

See, over in Germany, I always wanted to play that bass drum.

Just over in Germany, you gotta go to school if you wanna learn how to play the bass drum.

So I says, "I think I can play that big drum."

So we played four or five songs.

So he says to me, "You have to play the bass drum."

I says, "You got a bass drummer."

"Well," he says, "She can read music," he says, "Just she can't hold a beat."

(upbeat orchestral music) - I joined the Callicoon Center Band when I was 13, and we've been doing it ever since.

My dad played in the band for 60 years and was president for a long time.

When I was born, I think it was already determined that I was gonna be a trumpet player and he wanted very much for me to play in the band.

And I'm glad he did.

It was a great opportunity.

I really learned a lot, playing some very challenging music at an early age.

My wife and I live in the suburbs in New York City because there isn't much to do if you're a professional musician up in Solomon County.

(mellow orchestral music) - The area where we live is a little more slow paced than living in suburbs or in the city.

And it's tough for a musician to live here when you want to go to a show or just go to a concert.

(horn blowing) - Wow.

That's really helping.

- When I was growing up, my teachers carted me all over the place.

We played everywhere.

And that's how I learned how to be a really fine musician because I sat next to these people going to New England Conservatory or from the Boston Philharmonic.

So we're their chance to sit by a pro and really learn what you can't learn sitting in a high school band.

(mellow wind instrument music) Nice job.

So why did you pick that song, Catherine?

- My sister said I should.

- Your sister said you should?

Why would she pick that one?

- Because that's the one they play at the Callicoon Center Band.

- Right.

Very good.

And that's pretty far up in your book, so you got some good finger work on that song.

So is playing in the band one of the things that you'd like to do someday?

- Yes.

(people chattering) (horn blowing) - We have approximately 40 people that play each week and they have a really balanced instrumentation, I would say for a town band with seven flutes, about the same number of clarinets, two baritones, a quartet of saxophones, four trombones, two tubas, six or seven trumpets, depending on the night.

Two percussion players.

(wind instrument blowing) Okay.

Let's start with a roll off.

(drum beating rhythmically) (upbeat orchestral music) Just play a downbeat, just a single downbeat on a snare drum.

- For the roll off?

- No, not the roll off.

I'm talking about the first note of "Colonel Bogey."

- Okay.

- Okay.

Two.

(drum beating and rolling) (upbeat orchestral music) There are 10 rehearsals starting 10 weeks before the first concert, and they're held at a local middle school.

And then we set aside the next 10 Wednesdays for the concerts.

(speaker vocalizing) It's an E natural.

Play your E. (flute blowing) The high E. (flute blowing) No good.

The adults practice.

Kids certainly practice or we get after them for that and the people will take pride in their playing.

(flutes blowing) Okay, let's try it one more time.

We're in four.

Ready.

(upbeat orchestral music) We have two people who are unique to this band and probably to any band.

And there's a spoon player.

Agnes Tilson and her sister on bells.

(audience applauding) - They have played the spoons in the Callicoon Center Band since I was a little kid.

I thought that was the coolest thing when I was little.

(upbeat orchestral music) - I sometimes kid with Agnes about her being sharp or flat or that she should use soprano spoons or bass spoons.

(upbeat orchestral music) (drum rolling and beating) - There are a lot of people who plan their lives in the summer, around band night.

They just want to have a good time.

And it really is a social hour.

There are people who sit up close because they wanna hear the music and that's all they're there for.

And then there are people who are across the street and they'll talk to their neighbors and do all that kind of thing, so.

There are different areas around where the band plays and the firemen are out there.

You know, the fire, police, everybody's out there.

(mellow wing instrument music) There's a guy who brings his herbs, he's a master gardener and he has to make sure that he comes around and he hands out herbs, because they keep all your bugs away.

- This gives the air fragrance of root beer.

Yeah.

Take this plant and touch the leaf and sniff.

I can smell it from here.

I started going to the Callicoon Band Center about 20 years ago, shortly after we moved up here.

- Thank you so much.

(people chattering) That means everything.

- So we've been going there for a long time.

We've made a lot of friends.

- Oh, rest was a little (speaking indistinctly).

- And I've given them a piece of almost everything that's in the garden, just about.

- I am going to make a pie for the band tomorrow.

We take turns making pies and cakes for the Callicoon Center Band.

It's my turn to make a pie.

I'm picking rhubarb because that's what I have in my garden, our own rhubarb.

And I'll prepare the rhubarb and then I'll make the crust.

I cut my hand this morning, so got this little gizmo here that is in the way.

And this is how we do it.

(upbeat orchestral music) - Oh, lordy.

The pies.

Everybody comes, spends 50 cents for a chance.

- I was fortunate enough to win one last week.

(laughing) - You eat a pie if you're lucky enough to win from the pie raffle, because I still haven't.

I think it's rigged.

- Yeah.

And all the years I come, I got one pie.

- Well, all the years I've only had two pies, so.

- Halftime intermission you, they go up and they pick out the names.

- Judy van Putt from- (audience applauding and cheering) - It's always fun when a band member wins the pie.

We all say we're going to dessert at their house.

(somber wind instrument music) - Our spoon player, Agnes, has been with our band for over 25 years.

So when she didn't come to the first rehearsal, we didn't think a whole lot about it.

And when she didn't come to the second rehearsal, we began to ask questions and then found out that she wasn't feeling well.

- I didn't see no summer.

I wasn't present for three months.

- You were?

- Yeah.

With the hospital.

- Oh yeah, the hospital.

Yeah.

- It was awful.

- Oh, I understand.

- I got a telephone call from a man in New Windsor who was planning to come to Callicoon Center if we would let him and play the spoons in honor of Agnes Tilson.

And it is a great pleasure- The unique part of that band was Agnes with her spoons and her being sick, we decided to do something as a fundraiser to maybe help her with whatever costs that she has had now for the past summer.

Though, it'd be probably just a pittance of what the bills are, but hopefully in some way it no doubt kind of cheered her up just being out in the audience and being honored.

(upbeat orchestral music) (audience applauding) - Can you believe all these people came here just for you?

Isn't that amazing?

- Yeah, it is.

It really is.

- Did you know you were so important?

- No, no, no, I never dreamed it.

- Well, I guess you know now.

- I know now.

- So that should help get you through this.

- Right.

- Right?

Right, right.

- Right.

Okay.

Okay.

There's more people that wanna talk to you.

- Okay.

- Okay?

- Yeah.

- Good to see you.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Good to see, I'm glad you got out.

- Yeah.

- I did.

Hi.

- Yeah.

- Good.

- Hi.

- Yup.

Yup.

Oh.

- Be well.

- I just wanted to say good luck to you.

- Yes.

- Yup.

They had a beautiful thing here.

That was very nice.

- Thank you.

- Yup.

- Okay.

- Good luck to you.

- Okay, thank you.

- There's a kind of a standing joke that the only way out of this band is feet first.

Nobody can quit.

We don't want anyone to quit.

And, but we don't want them to go feet first either.

(mellow orchestral music) Somebody will say to me some time, "Oh, I think, you know, I'm not playing the way I should, or I'm not playing the way I used to.

Or maybe I'll just step down for a year."

And then I just say, "No, that's not how you leave the Callicoon Center Band."

And you're just here until you're not here.

And we like it that way.

(mellow orchestral music) - The band ought to be able to survive, you know?

I do see though, fewer and fewer people actually attending the concerts.

(mellow orchestral music) It seems like, you know, five years ago there were more people there.

(mellow orchestral music) - I played for 36 years.

I says, that's enough.

I said, just, I tell you the truth, I miss it.

I miss it.

I quit.

Just, I miss it.

(mellow orchestral music) - You can't think about your troubles when you're playing an instrument.

That's what music does.

It puts you in a place.

It puts your brain in a different place.

There was always a band before me, and there'll be a band hopefully after me.

And you know, we have their memories.

(audience applauding) (mellow orchestral music) (mellow orchestral music continues) (upbeat orchestral music) (upbeat orchestral music continues) (upbeat orchestral music continues) - Learn more about the films and filmmakers in this season of TV Film at wmht.org/tvfilm and be sure to connect with WMHT on social media.

I'm Jermaine Wells.

- I want to, in some way, thank the band members who allowed me to make the film because most of them are very private people and it's not their idea of fun to have somebody following them around with a camera.

They allow a story to be told to a larger group of people.

- TV film is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State legislature.