The group is based out of Oakham, but boasts players from Rutland, Barre, Hardwick, Bolton, and Holden.
Worcester County will be well represented in Springfield this weekend when the Cool Hand Blues Band sets up shop at Theodores’ in downtown Springfield. The group is based out of Oakham, but boasts players from Rutland, Barre, Hardwick, Bolton, and Holden.
“We are slowly spreading our wings to new venues like Theodore’s Blues Booze in Springfield,” said Mike McKeen, lead singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. “And we are still playing the places we’ve grown to love like Beatniks in Worcester, Quail Hollow in Oakham and Chooch’s in North Brookfield.”
Cool Hand Blues Band was formed in 2009. They describe themselves as a “three-ringed circus blues extravaganza.”
“We strive to make an evening with Cool Hand as entertaining as possible,” McKeen explained. “Our set has evolved to include some other styles or music with their roots in blues to keep things interesting for everyone. Soul, funk, old school R&B, even a little rockabilly. You won’t leave a Cool Hand show feeling blue. That’s for sure.”
Cool Hand Blues is a 10-piece outfit which includes a horn section. Along with McKeen, the band includes drummer Jay Brown, bassist Johnny Breault, Paul Flury, singers Stef Smith and Julia Marteros, keyboard player Roland Ochsenbein, horn players Steve Alnico, Jim Pavao and Mark Holloway.
McKeen and Brown tossed around the idea for a blues band long before Cool Hand Blues was born. McKeen said it took patience and persistence to see it come to fruition.
“Jay was really busy helping to run the family business and didn’t think he’d have the time,” he said. “As I started piecing this together I thought I’d give him another shot. This time it was different as he heard what was falling into place.”
McKeen says the group looks to the New England Patriots for management advice when it comes to the ins-and-outs of such a large outfit.
“To get the right working environment I went with a motivating technique I first heard from Bill Belichick,” he said. “Do Your Job. If everyone just does their job correctly and doesn’t worry about the musician next to them everything will work out fine. And it has.”
Cool Hand Blues performs at Theodores’ at 201 Worthington St. on Saturday at 9 p.m.