Membership includes the brass and woodwinds, drumline, the feature twirler, colorguard, and drum majors.

The group was chosen to perform for the Captain's Celebration of the 2008 Ryder Cup[2] at the Valhalla Golf Club.

The group has also been featured and/or written about on ESPN,[3] FOX Sports, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson, Inside Edition, and ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

The Cardinal Marching Band has been the "Official Band of the Kentucky Derby" since 1936 and has received national recognition through features on ESPN, ABC World News Tonight, Oprah, Sports Illustrated, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and the NFL Network.

Additionally, the CMB has performed at 17 bowl games including the Russell Athletic, Sugar, Orange, Liberty, Belk, Beef O'Bradys, Gator, GMAC, Humanitarian, Motor City, Fiesta, Pasadena, and Sun Bowl.

The Cardinal Marching Band was formed in 1928 under the direction of E. J. Wotowa (composer "Hail Purdue!")

Its greatest honor every year takes place minutes before the big race—the playing of the Stephen Foster classic "My Old Kentucky Home" near the Derby Winner's Circle for all those in attendance and for those that watch on television.

[10] The first concert of the Orchestra's season was called Fanfara—held at The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in September every year.

The marching band was featured as the opening act, usually entering and exiting to a drum cadence but stopping to play The Star-Spangled Banner while on stage.

The playing of the American national anthem appropriately kicked off the Orchestra's season of wonderful live music.

Since 2007, when the competition returned to Louisville after a long drought without it, band members have assisted the Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) in hosting the semi-finals and finals of Kentucky State Marching Band Championships at Cardinal Stadium.

At the end of the competition, the UofL Drumline (ULD) plays a series of cadences as all of the finalist bands reenter the stadium for the trophy ceremony.

This visible commitment attracted increasing crowd and media attention throughout the fall football season, and the pair of Patricks were featured in a variety of television and newspaper coverage.

Other additions to the new field include a new shed for the storage of both instruments and equipment, a roofed sitting area to escape the sun's heat, and water fountains to hydrate the band members.

Recorded at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in November 1990, the CMB performed charts and percussion features from the landmark 1990–91 football season that culminated with Coach Howard Schnellenberger leading the Cardinals to an historic victory over Alabama in the 1991 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.