Kenny's Sings the Blues on Sundays

For the past 30 years, Steve Guyger and his band The Excellos have been bringing the blues to clubs all over the country. While their style is classic and rock blues, it is a fresh sound to the Southampton area, an area where the acts that take center stage are typically either DJ, acoustic set or cover band driven.

Every Sunday night,  Steve Guyger and The Excellos play at  between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. . The band will be holding their 'Winter Blues Jams' from now until the end of March.

I recenly had the oppotunity to take in one of Guyger’s sets and it ran the gambit. It had everything from jump blues songs to get the crowd on their feet and twirling to mellow blues to bring the energy down but the emotion up. Guyger and the gang have really honed the way to work a crowd to a razor sharp blade, even calling for requests and pulling out oldies folks hadn’t heard for years.

I asked Steve a few questions about himself, the band and his ties to Southampton:

TB: What made you pick harmonica?
SG: I didn’t. My sister in law Marge gave me her dad’s and I started from there.

TB: Who have you played with over the years?
SG: I started playing with a high school buddy named Billy Goodman. Then I joined a band named Rock Bottom. We started playing Kenny’s in 1978. Steve Chrismar on guitar and vocals, Barry Brown on bass, Danny Bendig on drums and Bobby Michaels on sax. In 1980 I joined a band out of Boston called The Excellos to back up Jimmy Rodgers.

TB: What’s it been like to be playing back at Kenny’s?
SG: It’s great! Joe Shields called me to see if I would want to play Sundays through the winter. All I can say is we are having a blast. We haven’t had too many people sitting in except Bobby Michaels on sax so far, but that will change.

I strongly encourage anyone that loves music, especially blues, to get check these guys out. They know how to bring it to the stage and keep the night going. Plus the acoustics in Kenny’s are prime for live music.

Listening to the band jam is a sure way to get you dancing and forgetting the workweek is on the horizon. I know I’ll be back to get my fill and really soak in the sound they bring. Check out one of their upcoming shows, as it truly is one of the only ways to witness that Chicago sound in the Tri-State area.

Steve Guyger and the Excellos
Steve Guyger: Harmonica and vocals
Rich Macphearson: Guitar and vocals
Gary Phillips: Bass
John Kennedy: Drums