Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters: the story of a Minnesota music man

Many today are familiar with the Broadway musical The Music Man, but few could name one prominent band director active in their own region during the early years of the twentieth century, when community bands were as important to mid-sized towns as professional sports teams are to large cities today.

Among the most renowned in the Midwest in those days was G. Oliver Riggs, who was employed at one time or another by Crookson, Bemidji, Grand Forks, St. Cloud, and other cities, eventually build...