That first summer was when we started playing publicly. Before we knew it, we were booked for various shows and festivals. Then we got the opportunity to play a few winter festivals, opening for Dr. John and Phil Guy.
In less than a year? That's amazing! Why do you think the band was able to make that sort of leap?
It has been amazing. And the reason we were able to get to that level of performing was because of Mike Branton. He was fantastic! I don't know how he had the patience to stick with us, but he did and it's paid off.
We'd be at practice, get in 12-24 bars of play, and something would happen. We'd look at each other and go, "whoa!" We'd just hit that spot. Sometimes it was instant, sometimes not. But the more we played, the more it happened. It got easier to find that place over time. And I think it happens because we play how we feel. That's all we can do.
Despite the big steps we've taken in such a short time, we know we have a long way to go. It's been three years since we started down this road and it's been great so far.
What makes the band so unique? I'm not just talking about the age range of all the members necessarily...
From the beginning, we were all in agreement we weren't going to turn this into a dog and pony show with the kids. No fedoras and suits for them, no pushing them front and center all the time. Sure, we do point out their ages, but they have bring more to the table — actual musical ability! We wanted to be true to who we are and to the music. We love the music and we're genuine in what we're doing.
For instance, at the International Blues Challenge in January, one of the judges said Chris should try dancing around or do something to create more of a stage presence, but that's not him; that's not us. We earned the honor to compete at IBC on our talent and passion for the music, so we're sticking with the same formula.
Tell me more about competing at IBC.
Heading down to Memphis, to Beale Street, was incredible. As we were driving, we literally had to go down to the Crossroads to get to the IBC. We're a bunch of crackers from Canada and we're standing where the blues began. We played Beale Street at The Hard Rock Cafe! We're a Visa commercial — the whole experience has been priceless.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congratulations! This article was an Editor's Pick this week.
2 - John Cotton
Great write up, Thank you,
We consider it a honour to be listed as "One of The Top Ten Blues Bands To Watch"
The only thing I forgot to mention when we were talking on the phone was a big part of our "Shut The Front Door" recording session involved our engineer D'Arcy McGilligan he is on the Berklee College of Music advisary board for recording and has worked with Rick Derringer and George Wallace Jr (Lt Gov of Alabama) and we were both written up in the Berklee newsletter, Here is a link to that newsletter.
Also the "A Guy Out In Hollywood" is Skip Adams of Global Graffiti Music here is the link to his website Global Graffiti Music
John Cotton (The Bluesers)