Chapter five

The Bridge

Perry Watson started The Brass Band Bridge in 1980 as a typed newsletter from Raleigh, three years before there was an association for it to serve: “we needed to build bridges to one another.” It became NABBA's official journal, grew to a forty-page quarterly, went to PDF in 2006, paused for eight years, and came back in colour. Every issue that survives is here, with the story it led with.

117: issues in the archive
2,377: pages
10: editors
1980–: since

The editors

1980–1985
J. Perry Watson
Issues 1–21. Started The Brass Band Bridge in 1980 as a newsletter from Raleigh; NABBA adopted it as its official publication in 1983.
1986–1989
Karen and Don Kneeburg
"Official publication of NABBA"; introduced the NABBA Profiles column on board members.
1989–1992
Tom Myers
A 20–32 page quarterly with an officers box; the President's Podium column began in 1990.
1992–1996
Ronald W. Holz
A reviews-heavy journal edited from Asbury College.
1996–2004
Colin W. Holman
"The Official Journal", 24–48 pages, in a pre-contest and post-contest rhythm; eight years in the chair.
2005–2006
Eric W. Aho
"The Journal of NABBA", Fall and Winter issues.
2006–2009
Douglas Yeo
Issue 99 made the Bridge a downloadable PDF; issue 100 followed in August 2006; fifteen issues in all.
2009–2010
Betsy Jones
The last regular issues before an eight-year pause; issue 118 appeared in June 2010.
2011–2017
The Bridge pauses
Nothing appeared between June 2010 and April 2018.
2018–2021
Joel Collier
Issue 119 (April 2018) brought the Bridge back as a biannual; issues 120–123 are not in the archive.
2022–2024
Andrew Wainwright
A full-colour magazine from June 2022; issue 129 (March 2024) is the latest issue. The 2025 annual meeting moved Bridge content under the site's news.