Saturday’s performance of the U.S. Air Force Academy Band Wild Blue Country at the University of North Texas will be a homecoming for one member of the group.

Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey S. Valentine, the band’s steel guitar player, attended UNT, and he said he is looking forward to performing for a hometown crowd.

“It’s going to be fun to come back and play,” Valentine said. “I’ll have a number of family members there.”

Valentine said Wild Blue Country will perform a variety of country songs during the show, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Main Auditorium of the UNT Auditorium Building, 1410 W. Hickory St.

“We do everything,” Valentine said. “We play a few tunes that are on the charts right now, and we do some classic country. We’re going to stretch the ages.”

The show is sponsored by Bell Helicopter, a Textron company, and admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets can be obtained at the Denton Record-Chronicle, 314 E. Hickory St. Limit four tickets per person.

The band also will offer patriotic tunes as a tribute to veterans and perform a bluegrass set, Valentine said.

“We break it down and change the pace a bit.”

Valentine said his family lived in Lake Dallas when he was in kindergarten and later moved to Colorado. He returned to the Denton to attend UNT, where he was a member of the One O’clock Lab Band.

Back then, his primary instrument was the trombone, he said.

“I won this job on trombone,” he said. “I got the job in 2003, during my last semester at UNT.”

Members of Wild Blue Country and other U.S. Air Force Academy ensembles are all on active duty in the Air Force, Valentine said, but unlike most military personnel, band members win their jobs by auditioning, then take basic training.

“We get out of basic training and go right to work,” he said.

Valentine said his education at UNT has been a big help in his new job.

“My education musically at North Texas was so good that I just had to learn to play the instrument,” he said. “It’s an opportunity I never would have had otherwise.

“I’ve become a pretty good pedal steel player. I love this new instrument.”

Valentine can’t afford to get rusty on trombone, though.

“We’ll have marching band gigs where I play the trombone,” he said. “If they [band members] play an instrument that you can’t march with, they play another instrument.

“This band can turn around and play good jazz.”

In addition to Valentine, Wild Blue Country features Master Sgt. Jerome J. Oddo on bass, Tech. Sgt. Julie A. Bradley on vocals, Tech. Sgt. Stephen L. Brannen on guitar and Tech. Sgt. Timothy A. Stombaugh on drums.

Air Force bands support the global Air Force mission in war and peace by providing professional musical products and services for official military, recruiting and community relations events, according to the Air Force Web site.

“It puts a face on the military,” Valentine said. “It’s a really good thing for everybody, really.”

Band members’ permanent duty station is Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., Valentine said, although they are usually busy traveling and performing both here and abroad, including shows on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The band has been featured on television shows such as Nashville Now, Opry Backstage and Good Morning America, and members have performed with Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams Jr., Louise Mandrell, Reba McEntire, Ray Price and many others.

LES COCKRELL can be reached at 940-566-6887. His e-mail address is lcockrell@dentonrc.com .