Territory Band - Well-Established Territories

Well-Established Territories

The home 'territories' were loosely defined, but some classifications emerged. Generally, the areas were defined as Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West Coast, Southwest and Northwest. In addition, some state-groupings became common. One such group was usually referred to as MINK — Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Another group was VSA — Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama.

The Southwest proved especially fertile for territory bands. Texas, with its spread-out geography and relatively large population, offered the greatest opportunity with developed markets for dance music in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Amarillo, and other cities. The homegrown audiences of Texas bands were so plentiful that the bands developed to a high degree in relative isolation from outside influences. One such band was that of Alphonso Trent.

There was a military territory, too — NCO Clubs, Officers' Clubs. These clubs took bands to Greenland, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, as well as the US.