ERIN GO BRAUGH! GRAND ISLE FIRE BRIGADE LOVES TO PLAY FOR St. Paddy's Day! In green vests and festive Irish hats, GIFB celebrates the emerald isle with Minstrel Boy, Londonderry Aire, Washwomen, and more contemporary (and dubiously authentic) tunes like "MacNamara's band, Harrigan, and When I'm 64. As always you can count on a a few novelty surprises! Being a small group, and requiring no amplification, GIFB can wander in a big venue from one room to another and be as close to your audience as you dare. Our roots may be in Germany, but on St. Paddy's day our hearts are Irish and our blood is shamrock green!

Grand Isle Fire Brigade (GIFB) is a 5 piece band modeled after "The Hungry Five" a group that was directed by famous arranger Harry Alford, in the 1930s. The Hungry Five was unusual instrumentation in having 2 clarinets, trumpet, trombone and tuba. The music is rooted in german oompah style, but they also did variety shows featuring tunes from Ireland, Spain, Italy,ragtime, Broadway favorites of the 1930's and Christmas carols.

We play Harry Alford's wonderful arrangements as well as bring the fun of oompah to the masses. Five musicians with extensive experience in previous bands formed the group in 2010 and have since played for Oktoberfests, Christmas and St. Patricks day events in Redding, Elk Grove, Woodland, Grass Valley, Mountain View, Clear Lake and Sacramento.

We typically require no amplification, and being a small group (5) are suitable for small venues, or working along a parade route or event venue. We can easily walk from one location to another and have participated in parades riding a historic fire truck!

Our music would have been typical during the holidays in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom or even at the turn of the Century in the U.S. If you like what you hear, let us bring a little bit of European style to your next event!