BLUE LUNCH

Blue Lunch, now celebrating its 30th anniversary with the release of a compilation album Blue Lunch Special, belongs to a rare breed of roots bands. Singer and guitarist Bob Frank, a band member since 1995, explains, “It’s harder to define the sound for us than anybody else. We do everything from doo-wop harmonies to close to straight-ahead jazz to the most low-down gutbucket Chicago blues. And we explore different periods of r&b [like 1940s jump-blues and 1950s New Orleans-style] but we do them all authentically.” Singer and harmonica player Pete London, a founder of the Cleveland-based band back in 1984, adds, “To call us a blues band is accurate, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.”

The 8-piece group, includes three horns, communicates a wondrous vibe that steers clear of sounding dated. They’re stylistic kin to Roomful of Blues, the long-running r&b-blues juggernaut, yet different. Blue Lunch features two lead singing voices and backup harmonies, relies on solid original songwriting mainly by Bob, and has a stable, unchanging roster of musicians. They pack a big punch as musicians and entertainers. Terry Stewart, the former executive director of the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, knows the score: “Check ’em out because these cats can swing!”

Acclaimed by Ohio’s largest newspaper, The Plain Dealer, magazines Blues Revue and Jazz & Blues Report, among other media outlets, Blue Lunch has appeared at several leading roots events like Pittsburgh Blues Festival and, in fact, even performed at the 2004 Presidential Inaugural Ball back east. They had the privilege of performing with their mentor-friend-neighbor Lockwood as well as Little Milton on his last stop in Cleveland. Blue Lunch, too, has crossed

paths with Muddy Waters Band pianist Pinetop Perkins and many other luminaries. Early in 2014, the guys have been working top Midwestern clubs with lauded blues ladies Candye Kane, Laura Chavez, and Long Tall Deb. A second Rip Cat release is in the works. Bob Frank promises more great music, “Our sound’s totally evolved, and it’s evolving still.”