About Us

The Down and Dirty Dawg Band is the Pep Band of UMBC. It was started in 1998 when Dr. Charles Brown, UMBC Athletic Director, asked Mr. Jari Villanueva to put together a group to perform at home basketball games. Jari Villanueva was a member of The United States Air Force Band in Washington and known for his musical organizational and conducting skills and he happily took on the challenge. Up until then the band had been an ad hoc student group formed to play at some games. Jari recruited UMBC students to perform in the band and it has grown from a 12-piece ensemble into a much larger one. Mr. Villanueva initiated a Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble program comprised by pep band members who wished to broaden their musical horizons. Today, over 75 students perform in all three groups.

The name “Down and Dirty Dawg Band” was given to the band by the members to reflect the music and attitude of the group. The band plays popular and jazz funk charts and has grown over the past ten years, developing a core membership of highly motivated performers led by a student leader organization.

The group performs in the stands at home games of the Retrievers Men’s and Women’s Basketball games and has been recognized as a significant contributor to spirit shown at events. In addition to basketball games, the band has performed at ground breaking, ribbon cutting and homecoming celebrations as well as the popular Midnight Madness held every year. They have also played for rallies honoring the champion UMBC Chess Team and at the opening swim meet at the school. They have performed on both ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's The Today Show.

Membership in the band is open to all UMBC students. We are always looking for good musicians with school spirit to join our ranks. The group is uniformed in hats and shirts or wind breakers designed by the members of the organization. Rehearsals are every Wednesday at 8pm in the Retriever Activities Center and the group performs at Retrievers Basketball home games.