In 1993, Brungess was contacted by Steve Charpie, long time solo trumpeter with the famous Disneyland Band. Having heard about Brungess' research, he suggested that the two of them combine to form an "old time brass band" made up of top Los Angeles area brass players who also shared an interest in mid-19th century brass ensemble music. (Some even had collections of antique instruments, including Robb Stewart's renowned assortment of original and restored instruments of the period.) The band made two tours [1993 & '94], launching both from the Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky.

Because all of the other brass aggregations at the GABBF were from the east, southeast or the mid-west, The Gold Rush Cornet Band was given special billing because of its uniqueness. (It came from west of the Mississippi!) Most festival participants and audience members, including the American musicologists from the prestigious Sonneck Society, who had gathered for their yearly conclave, were unaware - even skeptical - of the "legitimacy" and/or significance of the literature and tradition the Gold Rush Band was representing - a tradition that was flourishing in Sacramento and the Diggins' 10 - 15 years before the Civil War! Most of the bands represented at the festival were recreated bands representing either the North or the South and thus played original music associated with each. (e.g., 26th North Carolina Regimental Band; aka, Salem Town Band.)