This is an American dream story rarely encountered! Patrick Conway's lifespan and the golden era of the professional band in America literally coincided.¦This book tells how Conway became one of the luminaries of the professional band era; as famous in his day as John Philip Sousa.¦¦Within Conway's story we see how his professional band developed after the Civil War, how the instrumentation of the American wind band evolved, how band musicians learned their craft and made a living, and how bands functioned in the social fabric of the American culture.¦