City of Yelm holds first ever ‘Brass on the Grass’ concert

To close out the Fourth of July weekend, the City of Yelm hosted its first ever “Brass on the Grass” concert at Yelm City Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon, July 6.

Over 100 Yelm residents lounged on the grass in front of the Yelm Centennial Stage, some sitting in lawn chairs under the shade of trees, others basking in the sun, to watch and listen to two sections of the 133rd Washington Army National Guard Band: The General’s 7 and Brassquatch.

The General’s 7, a traditional jazz band fronted by vocalist, and trombonist, Sgt. Dan Ruiter, delighted the crowd with classic numbers such as “Bourbon Street Parade,” “Down by the Riverside,” and “Deep River Blues,” before venturing into the playful Star Wars “Cantina” song. Later on, the band closed out their set with “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” “St. James Infirmary,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In,” all songs made famous, at least in part, by the great Louis Armstrong.

Before playing “St. James Infirmary,” Ruiter took a moment to honor the many military members who made the ultimate sacrifice in support of their communities.

After a short break, Brassquatch took the stage with their all-brass band (and percussionists) to entertain the crowd with interpretations of popular hits including Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” A-ha’s “Take on Me,” and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” They finished their set with an encore performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.”
Staff Sgt. Charyl Schmidt sang and performed as a saxophonist as part of Brassquatch. The former Yelm resident was the band director at Ridgeline Middle School from 2008-16.
“I’ve played with my students in this park back when it just had the one little barn, and we were huddled in the rain and snow… It’s just amazing and wonderful to see what they’ve done (to the park),” Schmidt said. The staff sergeant added that it felt like “coming home, because this was probably one of my favorite places that I’ve ever been and taught, so I enjoyed it a lot.”

Though she currently teaches in Montana, Schmidt told the Nisqually Valley News about a previous drive into Yelm when she saw the Yelm Centennial Stage. That drive led to her contacting Line Roy, the city’s communications and recreation coordinator, with an idea about putting on a show at the park.

“And so I called Line (Roy) and she was like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ I said, ‘Well, we can be the thing for Fourth of July, because I know that Yelm didn’t do any fireworks.’ And she said, ‘Well, you can be the thing.’”

Just like that, the first “Brass on the Grass” concert was born. Schmidt noted that Camp Murray is only 35 minutes away from Yelm.

“It’s a really easy community to support, and we know it’s a lot of military, a lot of retired military, and so we always like to come and support the veterans and the people that live in the community,” Schmidt said. “So that’s kind of our deal. We really like that.”

Sgt. 1st Class Heather Schaefer holds one of two full-time positions with the 133rd Washington Army National Guard Band. Her responsibilities include operations, training, administration and human resources. She also plays the flute in the band.

“We are one of the more active Guard bands as far as the individual states go,” Schaefer said. “We do anywhere from 80 to 100 different missions a year performing in our community and all around the state of Washington. We like to do educational outreach, so we get out into the schools quite a bit. We also do recruiting, so we’ll show up to certain events where recruiters are there. And then also we do what’s called COMREL, which is community relations. So, you know, any kind of festivals, community events, things like that.”

Schaefer added that, in addition to their Guard duties, the majority of the band members have civilian jobs, some as doctors, electricians, and band directors, like Staff Sgt. Charyl Schmidt.

Schmidt said that Sunday’s show was part of the band’s annual training.

According to Schmidt, the band usually sets up a summer tour visiting areas of the state that don’t get live music very often.

“We are free. You can call us, no charge. We come out, we do whatever groups you request, and we do shows for you because that’s part of what we do. We belong to the governor of the state. And we are already paid. So if you request us, we come (and) try to fix it into our schedule.”

Now that “the word is out,” Schmidt hopes this year’s “Brass on the Grass” performance at Yelm City Park will lead to an annual event, possibly with an added rock band to make a full day’s worth of music.

The former Yelm resident said she thinks being in the Army Band is “the best job in the Army.”

“You get to touch people in very significant ways,” Schmidt said. “And you represent the soldiers that are downrange, and you keep them in the mind of the community, that there are still people in harm’s way. We’re telling you. We’re showing there’s still somebody out there.”

The 133rd Washington Army National Guard Band will return to the Yelm Centennial Stage for the annual Jazz in the Park festival August 1-2, with show times to be announced.