[The Band isn't really tied to any country...though they did get hired on by Murandy for a short while, and he did send some of them to help Elayne in Cairhien... Elayne had also made him agree to having the Band on a renewable contract with Andor in return for the Dragons...

And what does dude mean?]

You could say that. Mostly we just traveled and fought when we needed to, but we're helping Elayne since she's making the Dragons for us. [When they weren't contracted to anyone. The Band actually isn't a band of mercenaries.]