What started as a joke between old bandmates has grown into one of Edmonton’s most electric live acts. The BrassTactics are today a genre-defying brass band rooted in drum corp tradition and jazz school precision.
The group has been not-so-quietly making a name for themselves in Alberta and beyond. Their unmistakable energy, joyful sound and community-first mindset have had them running this summer. And soon they’re headed to Demmitt, AB!
The band started six years ago, but co-founders Matt Laird and Blair Wilkie grew up together, performing in the now-defunct Edmonton Strutters Drum & Bugle Corps.
They always joked about “getting the band back together.” After Laird returned from a trip to New Orleans and saw the marching street bands, the spark was lit. “I thought, ‘I could do this. This is so much fun, this is really cool and I could definitely do this,’” he says.
Laird and Wilkie recruited some friends from their jazz school connections (the band, while their energy is wild and raucous, also has impressive classical music training) and launched the group.
Things started modestly, “We got started playing for $50, for the whole band of six guys,” Laird laughs. But word spread fast.
Since then they’ve opened for The Trews, shared jam sessions with Elle King, performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and played everywhere from folk fests to electronica shows.
They play everything from originals to hip-hop to pop, from the 60s to 2025, whatever is going to get people moving.
“We’re fully mobile,” Laird says. “We don’t need power; we bring the power. It’s organic. When we have an energetic crowd, it’s insane how much energy we’re able to bring back to them.”
The core group of eight includes two trumpets, two trombones, two saxes, a sousaphone, and two drummers.
Their debut album, Tribute to the Groove, came out in summer 2024, featuring original tracks by multiple members. “Everyone has different influences so the writing styles are a little different,” Laird says. “At the same time they’re all pretty cohesively BrassTactics.”
They’re also big on mentorship, running clinics and working with young musicians. “We definitely look towards the future and bringing up the newer musicians in Edmonton,” Laird says.
Some weeks they have gigs every single day. And they’re not slowing down. “It’s been a wild ride, it’s been fun, it’s been a lot of juggling schedules, a lot of laughs,” says Laird.
Their goal now? Keep expanding, keep performing, keep inspiring.
“We just love doing it, we all get along really well, we really jive together,” says Laird. “People say, ‘You guys are so much fun,’ and I say, ‘well, we’re having fun doing it!’ That comes through in the music.”
The BrassTactics’ next show is at the Demmitt Hall in Demmitt, Alberta on October 18. More details can be found here.
The BrassTactics’ cover of “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish:
