42nd Infantry Division Army National Guard Band tour performs in Cobleskill Saturday

COBLESKILL, N.Y. (08/05/2016)(readMedia)-- The New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division Band will play a free concert at the Scoharie County Sunshine Fair, Saturday afternoon, August 6. The performance is part of the summer concert tour of the band in venues across the HudsonValley, Central New York and Long Island.

WHO: New York Army National Guard "Rainbow Division" bandmembers and music fans

WHAT: A free performance, part of the 42nd Infantry Division Band's annual training tour.

WHEN: 3 p.m. Saturday, August 6, 2016

WHERE: Cobleskill Fairgrounds, Sunshine Drive, Cobleskill, N.Y., 12043

CONTACT: Staff Sgt. Christopher Smalls, christopher.c.smalls.mil@mail.mil or (914) 944-6552. Band members may be available for media interviews prior to the performance.

Bandmembers of the famed "Rainbow Division" 42nd Infantry appear in communities across New York State this August. The concert tour, conducted as part of the unit's annual training, delivers music spanning and connecting generations. With the expected military traditional and classical music, the band's range covers baroque to pop and jazz.

Background:

The "Rainbow Division" Band has a long history, playing for troops in World War I when the nickname "Rainbow" Division was adopted within the 42nd Infantry. Music is broad and varied, with multiple groups performing. Classical music, marches, patriotic selections, jazz, rock and popular music are all within the band's repertoire. Many musicians capably play more than one instrument. The band has historically played and performed wherever needed, whether as musicians for morale, stretcher bearers in care of wounded or as security more recently in Tikrit, Iraq. "Stretching across America like a rainbow" was a geographical reference for a group whose widely spread origins across the country came together proudly in a unit of precision and inclusion.

Today all members of the band train and maintain fitness on the same weapons and combat skills that all Soldiers learn, additionally practicing music. Members of New York's Army National Guard since 1947, the band deployed in 2005 to Iraq as part of the 42nd Infantry's Division headquarters. Band members played at ceremonies, in dining halls, for Iraqi officials and sometimes alongside Iraqi musicians.

The 42nd Infantry Division Band is under the command of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Mark L. Kimes and 1st Sergeant Leslie G. Saroka.

Upcoming upstate performances in August include:

• August 7th Syracuse Oktoberfest, Long Branch Park at Onondaga Lake Park, 3813 Long Branch Road, Syracuse, N.Y. 13209 at 11 am

• August 8th Landmark Theatre, 362 S Salina St., Syracuse, N.Y. 13202 at 7:30 pm

• August 9th Auburn Junior High School, 191 Franklin St., Auburn, N.Y. 13021 at 7 pm

For more information contact Staff Sgt. Christopher Smalls, christopher.c.smalls.mil@mail.mil or (914) 944-6552.

Follow the 42nd Infantry Division Band on Facebook and Twitter at 42nd infantry division band.