The Down and Dirty Dawg Band

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Down and Dirty Dawg Band Official Site

The Down and Dirty Dawg Band is the Pep Band of UMBC. The mission of the band is to support the activities of the Athletic Department and student athletes of the University of Maryland Baltimore Country. The band was formed in 1999 and is under the direction of Jari Villanueva. The group has developed into a 25-member strong organization with plans to expand in the future as the school grows. The group performs in the stands at home games of the Retrievers Men’s and Women’s Basketball games and has been recognized as a significant contributor to spirit shown at events. In addition to basketball games, the band has been called on to perform at ground breaking, ribbon cutting and homecoming celebrations as well as the popular Midnight Madness held every year. Basketball games are not the only venue for this group. They have played for rallies honoring the champion UMBC Chess Team and at the opening swim meet at the school. They have performed on both ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's The Today Show.

The Down and Dirty Dawg Band performs upbeat music ranging from Swing, Jazz, Rock, Latin and Popular tunes as well as ceremonial music required for each game. The band closes each half and game with UMBC RISER, the official fight song of UMBC.

Membership in the band is open to all UMBC students. We are always looking for good musicians with school spirit to join our ranks. The group is uniformed in hats and shirts or wind breakers designed by the members of the organization. Rehearsals are every Wednesday at 8pm in the Retriever Activities Center and the group performs at Retrievers Basketball home games.

For more information on joining the Down and Dirty Dawg Band, contact the UMBC Music Department or Jari Villanueva at jvmusic@erols.com