Time of Night, named in honor of evening partiers everywhere, has become a San Marcos staple.
The all-brass octet—comprised of Texas State alumni—has been taking the entertainment scene by storm.
The band met while studying music performance and education together. The members’ desire to perform encouraged them to continue providing entertainment to their community, even after graduation.
Time of Night is composed of Keaton Ainsworth, singer and manager; Scot Crum on trumpet, Matthew Flores on trombone, Derek Thigpen on bass and saxophone, Roosevelt Bradley on trombone, Nick Chacon on drums, Andres Ojeda as singer and guitarist and John Henrick on saxophone.
The band has gained popularity for continuously performing at several annual events in and around San Marcos, including The Mermaid Promenade, Sights and Sounds and the Pecan Street Festival.
Members said they love performing and supporting annual events, as they create a sense of community within the campus and city.
“It really helps bring people together, and the energy of an all-brass band gets people excited to celebrate,” Ainsworth said.
Additionally, Time of Night performs at casual venues like Tantra Coffee House, Aquabrew and The Coffee Bar.
Going hand-in-hand with their love for the community, Time of Night members often look to fellow local bands for inspiration like Blue Water Highway—based in Kyle—and Boss Street Brass Band from Austin.
The brassy octet has become fairly successful as a wedding and venue band throughout San Marcos. The band hopes to hone in on that specialty to expand its coverage of events.
“In the next few years, I hope we become the number one entertainment center in Central Texas,” Ainsworth said. “I hope we’re booking events all throughout San Antonio and Austin, not just in San Marcos.”
The band is working on a new YouTube channel inspired by NPR’s “Tiny Desk” series. The channel will be named “Time of Night Concert Series.”
For the production of each season-themed episode, the band will have a group of friends and fellow musicians to support and act as the show’s audience.
Local musician The Homily was present for the filming of the first episode. George Pappas—The Homily—said Time of Night is a band with unique instrumentation.
“They are all the best at what they do,” Pappas said. “It’s one thing to simply play charts, but Time of Night plays the subtleties in between that make them stand out as a brass band.”
Episodes will release monthly and feature Time of Night as well as other local bands from San Marcos and Austin. Their first episode is a Christmas special airing Dec. 15.
“Ultimately, the goal is to create more opportunity for those local artists looking to get more publicity,” Ainsworth said.
In this modern age of auto-tune and electronic instrumentation, it may seem challenging for an all-brass band to gain a following. However, Ainsworth has no doubt in the band’s abilities.
“I don’t think it’s difficult to get a following because we aren’t like a normal band,” Ainsworth said. “People see how high energy we are and they get excited.”
Several local musicians are enthusiastic about the band’s success and are looking forward to its future endeavors.
Maggie May, Ainsworth’s girlfriend, said more people should support Time of Night due to its originality and entertaining energy.
“They’re a fun-to-dance-to, unique band,” May said. “They aren’t like anything else in San Marcos.”
While Time of Night is primarily known for intuitive covers, they have started working on originals that will be released on Spotify in the near future.
For more information on upcoming gigs and bookings, visit timeofnight.net.