Kevin Joughin
Above: My wife Bryonie and I holidaying in Milford Sound NZ July 2025.
Above: A recent (2025) pic taken after a convivial lunch of SA brass players, L – R, David Griffiths, Peter Whish-Wilson, Glenn Madden, David Barker, Geoff Meikle and Kevin Joughin.
Above: In the snow tobogganing with my Dad and my friend Greg Wislang
Above: My Mum and Dad, Alby and Eileen Joughin
Above: At my Grandfather Cleave Joughin's house. He taught me to play the cornet. My cousin Jimmy and sister Marlene are next to me. My Aunt Flo is standing next to Grandad.
Above: The Cornet section of the 1978 National Band of NZ , NOTE 9 x solo cornets, 3x Soprano Cornets . KJ on 4th Solo Cornet in the front row.
Above: Kevin at age 12 in 1966 played at his sister's 21st Birthday out the back room of the Woolston Bandroom.
Above: Cover of Band World, 1 April 2004
Above: At the 1984 National NZ Band Contest in Nelson, Kevin with Conductor, Mervyn J. Waters MBE taking out the A Grade honours. This was Kevin's last Contest as Principal Cornet with Woolston Brass before heading for Adelaide to live a few weeks later.
Above: Kevin as Principal Cornet for the then Skellerup Woolston Band in 1978 winning the National A Grade Contest. Note that no females were in the band back then.
Above: 1975 Skellerup Woolston Band photographed after arriving back from the British Open Contest in Bellevue, Manchester. The band gained 5th placing and the Test piece was Elgar Howarths "Fireworks". No band from the Southern Hemisphere has come anywhere near that placement since.
Introduction:
I first heard Kevin Joughin play in Mount Gambier in 1980. The Woolston Brass Band was on tour in Australia and performed at the Mount Gambier Band Festival.
At the time, they were the standout band in New Zealand under the direction of Mervyn Waters, and they made a lasting impression on everyone who heard them.
Kevin was absolutely brilliant in the Principal Cornet chair. His sound, musicality, and presence were unforgettable.
Not long after this event, I was rehearsing the K&N Brass Band at the back of the Norwood Town Hall when a young man walked in with his cornet and asked,
“Can I sit in for a blow tonight?”
I didn’t recognise him at first—but the moment he began to play, it clicked. It was Kevin.
Kevin soon joined the band and became our Principal Cornet.
I knew he had come from a rich and vibrant brass band culture in New Zealand, and we all had plenty to learn from him.
His contribution to the Kensington and Norwood Band—and his role-modelling within the South Australian banding community—has been magnificent.
I have the utmost respect for Kevin.
After many wonderful banding adventures together, including two National Titles, multiple State Titles, and a fabulous chapter with Brilliant Brass, I can only thank him for his friendship and the passion we’ve shared for the world of brass bands.
Bruce Raymond OAM
Geoff Meikle caught up with Kevin Joughin (September 2025)
Geoffrey Meikle: “So, Kevin Joughin. It’s Joughin without the “s” isn’t it?
Kevin Joughin: “That’s right!”
GM: “More often than not people refer to you as Joughins.”
KJ: “Like the Dave Griffiths and Peter Whish-Wilsons of this world.”
GM: “Julie Dorey just refers to you as ‘Jogs’, so what we’ll do is to jog everyone’s memory. So, Kevin who are your favourite musicians, bands and musical associates?”
KJ: “I’d say James Morrison would be at the top of the list. I’ve learnt a lot from him, his style of music and what he can do …… he’s just phenomenal.
Brass Bands, it would have to be the top bands in Britain that I listen to regularly, Cory, Black Dyke, Brighouse and Rastrick as well as the European Bands. I listen to these bands regularly on WOBPAY.”
GM: “So just digging down a bit further When you work with Morrison and these others are they personable and helpful?”
KJ: “They’re very approachable, you can ask them questions and feel like you are on the same wavelength as them, there’s no problem.”
GM: “I remember a few years ago when Bruce Raymond got me in to help out on a James Morrison concert. I was practising the fast bit from the ‘The Flintstones’ at a slow tempo just before the show. Morrison came up and tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘It goes a bit faster than that mate’...we both had a laugh! There was a distinct lack of prima donna antics in his demeanour which I duly noted at the time.”
KJ: “I’ve also learnt a lot from the recent concerts with ‘Brilliant Brass’. The guest artists that Bruce invites are top musos with great capabilities who are not necessarily brass players. One of the brass players who I’ve really enjoyed working with is Harmen Van Horne who has a brilliant, true cornet sound in the European style. Peter Moore is another great young player that Bruce has brought here.”
GM: “Ok, moving along. Is there anything that you would do differently?”
KJ: “I’m seventy-one now so I’m thinking of taking a back seat. I’ve told K & N that I’m not interested in contesting anymore because it’s a chore and I’ve got other things that I’d like to do. There’s too much pressure involved, which was alright when you were younger. Bands need to contest to maintain a standard. You’ve got to keep up with the test pieces that are being composed all the time in Europe especially ……. the old story is ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it’. I’ve told K & N that I am happy to do community concerts anywhere in the cornet section, or flugel and maybe state contests.”
GM: “Now you’re married and you have children. Has banding affected your family life?”
KJ: “Man, that’s a big question (GM: ‘You don’t need to give me all the gory details!!’), I feel very selfish! It’s been a hard row to hoe because my life has revolved around the band. Now I have to do it the other way ‘round. I’ve sacrificed my family a lot over the years for the band, particularly at Easter, which is a ridiculous time of the year to have a national contest, it’s meant to be time with family. Every Easter I’ve been away with a contest and the family disapproves!! I think they got used to it but now feel better that I won’t be committed to contesting.”
GM: “You have children. Do they play an instrument?”
KJ: “My son is thirty-six now and he doesn’t play but I’ve got my three-year-old grandson playing cornet, he can blow a few notes!!”
GM: “Has banding influenced your social life? Do you have a social life outside banding?”
KJ: “There is a group of people on our street who meet on a Friday for a drink and some of them come to our Brilliant Brass concerts.”
GM: “I know your occupation involved socialising.”
KJ: “My occupation was international freight forwarder in Port Adelaide. There were a lot of overseas trips involved in that to places like China, Malaysia, New Zealand and meetings around Australia…...there was a lot of socialising!!”
GM: “What are your other interests?”
KJ: “Camping ... I go camping with my son-in-law. We recently went to the Flinders Ranges and sometimes to Deep Creek and Katarapko Creek up near Berri.
GM: “So what lies ahead for you? ……. You said before that you were going to step back a little in the banding scene.
KJ: “I’d like to help and encourage the young kids, there are some good ones but they seem to be concert band orientated not the true brass band tradition.”
GM: “I don’t think the standard is what it used to be. The kids that come through now are not tackling the Zeldas and Zanettes anymore like we used to.”
KJ: “They’re not the traditional brass band people. They come from trumpets to cornets and it should be the other way ‘round, it’s easier to transfer from cornet to trumpet (GM: ‘You think so?”). Yep, I’ve done it myself.”
GM: “I remember Glenn Madden saying that he felt that he struggled with cornet when he came off trumpet….it was stuffy and couldn’t get enough air through etc.”
KJ: “The cornet is lot harder to play, you’ve got more range on a trumpet, but you learn more technical stuff on a cornet.”
GM: “It’s interesting to hear the views of Thomas Stevens who was a well-known American trumpet player. He says that the tutor book written by Schlossberg was the first book to break away from Arban and focus on the needs of trumpet players rather than the cornet style of Arban.”
KJ: “The other thing also is that the standard of playing here in South Australia is not that good compared to the Eastern States. It’s the thing that I miss the most, but we live here in Adelaide, and we have to put up with it and it’s not getting any better.”
GM: “We are at disadvantage because of our smaller population here.”
KJ: “I don’t think that is necessarily the problem. There’s no brass band teaching in the schools. In New Zealand they’ve got a much smaller population, but their standard of playing is just phenomenal. They’ve got secondary school brass bands and even a National Secondary Schools Brass Band. You have to audition for that as well as the National Youth Band which you have to audition for and then you’ve got the National Band of New Zealand to aspire to.”
GM: “I remember hearing Skellerup Woolston in 1980 at Mt Gambier and being knocked out by how good they were and how uniform and consistent their sound was throughout the band. Everyone played in the same way…... very, very together.”
KJ: “That’s right, there was no harshness, I felt a lot of the bands here in South Australia sounded harsh, there was no finesse although that is getting better. They don’t play ‘together’ and when they are told to keep the dynamics down or up, they keep forgetting. You can tell them a hundred times, but they keep forgetting, they want to be heard rather than blend in. In New Zealand we were disciplined in our approach to banding, if you were late for practice you had to have a very good excuse. These days people walk in willy nilly and don’t even apologise.”
GM: “I think that’s just part of a general problem with society.”
KJ: “People are too soft these days (GM: ‘Dead right mate! I couldn’t agree more.’), we’d work more than eight hours a day come home have something to eat then go to band.”
GM: “Oh well, anything else? …. Thoughts and opinions?”
KJ: “I think in South Australia the Salisbury Slow Melody Contest is very good. A lot of us at K & N have been talking about it and we aim to enter it next year. It’s great that it is still going. We are travelling a fair bit these days. We’ve been to New Zealand twice this year and when I first retired, we went to America for two months and drove up the Eastern Seaboard from Florida to Nova Scotia. We want to do more of that while we still have our health.”
GM: “Sounds wonderful, it’s been very nice talking to you. Thanks for participating.”
SNAPSHOT PROFILE, Kevin Joughin.
Name and place of birth: Kevin Joughin, Christchurch New Zealand.
Parents names: Alby and Eileen Joughin
Instrument(s): Cornet and Flugelhorn
Who were your first influences and who gave you your first lesson
My grandfather Cleave Joughin
What band(s) have you played in?
Has there been a particular time in your life that has been important in shaping you as a musician?
Yes indeed, when I was in my early twenties I was tutored by the MD of Woolston Brass in New Zealand, Mr Mervyn Waters MBE. I rose through the ranks of NZ’s best brass band to become the principal cornet player and band leader at 22. This lasted for eight years before moving to Australia. That particular role very much improved my playing and musicianship.
Contesting …. Is it worth the effort?
At the age of 71 I can honestly say “no” because I want to do other things in life and evade being committed to rehearsing a test piece for three months to give a 15 – 20 performance at the contest. But in general, it is vital, absolutely vital to maintain standards.
What awards, prizes and achievements have made you glad that you made the effort?
What are your preferred styles of music?
Classical Brass, Brass Band, Jazz/Swing
Who are your favourite musicians, bands and musical associates?
Julie Dorey and David Barker spring to mind as great back-up players to me over the years. David excelled when he moved to Melbourne and became principal cornet in the Hawthorn Band.
Bruce Raymond has always been an inspiration to me and others and has given me and others lots of opportunities to perform at top level, particularly the group Brilliant Brass.
I first heard Kevin Joughin play in Mount Gambier in 1980. The Woolston Brass Band was on tour in Australia and performed at the Mount Gambier Band Festival.
At the time, they were the standout band in New Zealand under the direction of Mervyn Waters, and they made a lasting impression on everyone who heard them.
Kevin was absolutely brilliant in the Principal Cornet chair. His sound, musicality, and presence were unforgettable.
Not long after this event, I was rehearsing the K&N Brass Band at the back of the Norwood Town Hall when a young man walked in with his cornet and asked,
“Can I sit in for a blow tonight?”
I didn’t recognise him at first—but the moment he began to play, it clicked. It was Kevin.
Kevin soon joined the band and became our Principal Cornet.
I knew he had come from a rich and vibrant brass band culture in New Zealand, and we all had plenty to learn from him.
His contribution to the Kensington and Norwood Band—and his role-modelling within the South Australian banding community—has been magnificent.
I have the utmost respect for Kevin.
After many wonderful banding adventures together, including two National Titles, multiple State Titles, and a fabulous chapter with Brilliant Brass, I can only thank him for his friendship and the passion we’ve shared for the world of brass bands.
Bruce Raymond OAM
Geoff Meikle caught up with Kevin Joughin (September 2025)
Geoffrey Meikle: “So, Kevin Joughin. It’s Joughin without the “s” isn’t it?
Kevin Joughin: “That’s right!”
GM: “More often than not people refer to you as Joughins.”
KJ: “Like the Dave Griffiths and Peter Whish-Wilsons of this world.”
GM: “Julie Dorey just refers to you as ‘Jogs’, so what we’ll do is to jog everyone’s memory. So, Kevin who are your favourite musicians, bands and musical associates?”
KJ: “I’d say James Morrison would be at the top of the list. I’ve learnt a lot from him, his style of music and what he can do …… he’s just phenomenal.
Brass Bands, it would have to be the top bands in Britain that I listen to regularly, Cory, Black Dyke, Brighouse and Rastrick as well as the European Bands. I listen to these bands regularly on WOBPAY.”
GM: “So just digging down a bit further When you work with Morrison and these others are they personable and helpful?”
KJ: “They’re very approachable, you can ask them questions and feel like you are on the same wavelength as them, there’s no problem.”
GM: “I remember a few years ago when Bruce Raymond got me in to help out on a James Morrison concert. I was practising the fast bit from the ‘The Flintstones’ at a slow tempo just before the show. Morrison came up and tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘It goes a bit faster than that mate’...we both had a laugh! There was a distinct lack of prima donna antics in his demeanour which I duly noted at the time.”
KJ: “I’ve also learnt a lot from the recent concerts with ‘Brilliant Brass’. The guest artists that Bruce invites are top musos with great capabilities who are not necessarily brass players. One of the brass players who I’ve really enjoyed working with is Harmen Van Horne who has a brilliant, true cornet sound in the European style. Peter Moore is another great young player that Bruce has brought here.”
GM: “Ok, moving along. Is there anything that you would do differently?”
KJ: “I’m seventy-one now so I’m thinking of taking a back seat. I’ve told K & N that I’m not interested in contesting anymore because it’s a chore and I’ve got other things that I’d like to do. There’s too much pressure involved, which was alright when you were younger. Bands need to contest to maintain a standard. You’ve got to keep up with the test pieces that are being composed all the time in Europe especially ……. the old story is ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it’. I’ve told K & N that I am happy to do community concerts anywhere in the cornet section, or flugel and maybe state contests.”
GM: “Now you’re married and you have children. Has banding affected your family life?”
KJ: “Man, that’s a big question (GM: ‘You don’t need to give me all the gory details!!’), I feel very selfish! It’s been a hard row to hoe because my life has revolved around the band. Now I have to do it the other way ‘round. I’ve sacrificed my family a lot over the years for the band, particularly at Easter, which is a ridiculous time of the year to have a national contest, it’s meant to be time with family. Every Easter I’ve been away with a contest and the family disapproves!! I think they got used to it but now feel better that I won’t be committed to contesting.”
GM: “You have children. Do they play an instrument?”
KJ: “My son is thirty-six now and he doesn’t play but I’ve got my three-year-old grandson playing cornet, he can blow a few notes!!”
GM: “Has banding influenced your social life? Do you have a social life outside banding?”
KJ: “There is a group of people on our street who meet on a Friday for a drink and some of them come to our Brilliant Brass concerts.”
GM: “I know your occupation involved socialising.”
KJ: “My occupation was international freight forwarder in Port Adelaide. There were a lot of overseas trips involved in that to places like China, Malaysia, New Zealand and meetings around Australia…...there was a lot of socialising!!”
GM: “What are your other interests?”
KJ: “Camping ... I go camping with my son-in-law. We recently went to the Flinders Ranges and sometimes to Deep Creek and Katarapko Creek up near Berri.
GM: “So what lies ahead for you? ……. You said before that you were going to step back a little in the banding scene.
KJ: “I’d like to help and encourage the young kids, there are some good ones but they seem to be concert band orientated not the true brass band tradition.”
GM: “I don’t think the standard is what it used to be. The kids that come through now are not tackling the Zeldas and Zanettes anymore like we used to.”
KJ: “They’re not the traditional brass band people. They come from trumpets to cornets and it should be the other way ‘round, it’s easier to transfer from cornet to trumpet (GM: ‘You think so?”). Yep, I’ve done it myself.”
GM: “I remember Glenn Madden saying that he felt that he struggled with cornet when he came off trumpet….it was stuffy and couldn’t get enough air through etc.”
KJ: “The cornet is lot harder to play, you’ve got more range on a trumpet, but you learn more technical stuff on a cornet.”
GM: “It’s interesting to hear the views of Thomas Stevens who was a well-known American trumpet player. He says that the tutor book written by Schlossberg was the first book to break away from Arban and focus on the needs of trumpet players rather than the cornet style of Arban.”
KJ: “The other thing also is that the standard of playing here in South Australia is not that good compared to the Eastern States. It’s the thing that I miss the most, but we live here in Adelaide, and we have to put up with it and it’s not getting any better.”
GM: “We are at disadvantage because of our smaller population here.”
KJ: “I don’t think that is necessarily the problem. There’s no brass band teaching in the schools. In New Zealand they’ve got a much smaller population, but their standard of playing is just phenomenal. They’ve got secondary school brass bands and even a National Secondary Schools Brass Band. You have to audition for that as well as the National Youth Band which you have to audition for and then you’ve got the National Band of New Zealand to aspire to.”
GM: “I remember hearing Skellerup Woolston in 1980 at Mt Gambier and being knocked out by how good they were and how uniform and consistent their sound was throughout the band. Everyone played in the same way…... very, very together.”
KJ: “That’s right, there was no harshness, I felt a lot of the bands here in South Australia sounded harsh, there was no finesse although that is getting better. They don’t play ‘together’ and when they are told to keep the dynamics down or up, they keep forgetting. You can tell them a hundred times, but they keep forgetting, they want to be heard rather than blend in. In New Zealand we were disciplined in our approach to banding, if you were late for practice you had to have a very good excuse. These days people walk in willy nilly and don’t even apologise.”
GM: “I think that’s just part of a general problem with society.”
KJ: “People are too soft these days (GM: ‘Dead right mate! I couldn’t agree more.’), we’d work more than eight hours a day come home have something to eat then go to band.”
GM: “Oh well, anything else? …. Thoughts and opinions?”
KJ: “I think in South Australia the Salisbury Slow Melody Contest is very good. A lot of us at K & N have been talking about it and we aim to enter it next year. It’s great that it is still going. We are travelling a fair bit these days. We’ve been to New Zealand twice this year and when I first retired, we went to America for two months and drove up the Eastern Seaboard from Florida to Nova Scotia. We want to do more of that while we still have our health.”
GM: “Sounds wonderful, it’s been very nice talking to you. Thanks for participating.”
SNAPSHOT PROFILE, Kevin Joughin.
Name and place of birth: Kevin Joughin, Christchurch New Zealand.
Parents names: Alby and Eileen Joughin
Instrument(s): Cornet and Flugelhorn
Who were your first influences and who gave you your first lesson
My grandfather Cleave Joughin
What band(s) have you played in?
Woolston Brass, Christchurch New Zealand
Kensington and Norwood Brass
National Youth Band of NZ
National Band NZ
Australia Brass
Box Hill Band, Victoria
Victoria Brass
Brilliant Brass
Kensington and Norwood Brass
National Youth Band of NZ
National Band NZ
Australia Brass
Box Hill Band, Victoria
Victoria Brass
Brilliant Brass
Has there been a particular time in your life that has been important in shaping you as a musician?
Yes indeed, when I was in my early twenties I was tutored by the MD of Woolston Brass in New Zealand, Mr Mervyn Waters MBE. I rose through the ranks of NZ’s best brass band to become the principal cornet player and band leader at 22. This lasted for eight years before moving to Australia. That particular role very much improved my playing and musicianship.
Contesting …. Is it worth the effort?
At the age of 71 I can honestly say “no” because I want to do other things in life and evade being committed to rehearsing a test piece for three months to give a 15 – 20 performance at the contest. But in general, it is vital, absolutely vital to maintain standards.
What awards, prizes and achievements have made you glad that you made the effort?
2004 - Ern Keller international soloist of the year.
Various state and national first placings.
1978 - World contest winners in Kerkrade Holland.
1975 - 4th placing in the British Open with Woolston Brass.
Various state and national first placings.
1978 - World contest winners in Kerkrade Holland.
1975 - 4th placing in the British Open with Woolston Brass.
What are your preferred styles of music?
Classical Brass, Brass Band, Jazz/Swing
Who are your favourite musicians, bands and musical associates?
Julie Dorey and David Barker spring to mind as great back-up players to me over the years. David excelled when he moved to Melbourne and became principal cornet in the Hawthorn Band.
Bruce Raymond has always been an inspiration to me and others and has given me and others lots of opportunities to perform at top level, particularly the group Brilliant Brass.
 Above: Kevin's first National Contest at age 11 in the Woolston Auxiliary Band 1966 when the band won everything in C Grade. Kevin is featured 3rd left in the front row. |
 Above: Pic from Australia’s Band World magazine 2004. |
 Above: Pic from Australia’s Band World magazine 2004. |
