What it’s like from the local stage 

Much like New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis, one can find live music any night of the week in Shreveport- Bossier City.

There’s a variety of local original bands, including the Seratones, Engine, Shayliff, Dirtfoot, Hwy Lions and Hydrogen Child (there are many, many more. I’d suggest searching within GigMasters.com for a full list); and there are several cover bands, from Easy Money, to Floyd Grigsby and the 5GK Band, to the Moulin Dudes and Windstorm, which crowds can dance and sing along to inside Chicago, Brass Monkey and the Red River District, to name a few.

No matter the type of band, you can guarantee each member of every band has their own story of their place in the band. This is my own account:

Back in the fall of 2012, a cover band called The Good News was formed by saxophonist Allen Wheless.

Allen pulled together both friends and musicians alike: Chris Campisi on bass; Michael Bryant on lead vocals and keys; Steve Emery on drums; Collie Durham on vocals, guitar and violin; Chris DeRosia on lead guitar; John Casey on vocals and myself on vocals; and the ever-complicated tambourine.

Unlike anyone else in the group, this was my first time to be in a band. I remember when Allen called me, asking if I’d be interested. At the time, the most singing I had done publicly was either at church or after two drinks at Noble Savage with Dirty Redd. While flattered to have been asked, I was intimidated to work with such seasoned musicians.

Each of us had individual experience Allen was looking for, and he wanted to create a band that not only delivered legitimate covers of 1950s and ’60s Motown fan favorites, but an experience, too. The five males in the group were to wear baby blue tuxedos on stage, while Collie and I would be in black skirts and blazers. With us all in trilbies, sunglasses or both, we truly had a “look” that would be memorable for the audiences of our shows.

While we had several months before our first show (The Shamrock 2013! put on by Cohab in Festival Plaza), this time together was critical; we had a list of songs to learn along with ensuring the chemistry between each band member.

The Shamrock 2013! emcee, Mollie Corbett, introduced us to the crowd that Saturday afternoon, asking, “Who’s ready for some gospel?” and Emery counted us off to “Rock and Roll Part II.” The months following were pretty incredible. We were good, and not in the my-band-is-better-than-yours attitude, but in the proof: We were booking shows left and right. We played weddings in Shreveport and Minden, bars (Voodoo, Chicago, Noble Savage), fraternity parties in Ruston, the Centaur Grande Bal and were asked to perform for KTBS at their annual Independence Day Festival on the riverfront, alongside Windstorm, Brady Blade Band, Kix Brooks and Juice Newton.

Thanks to word of mouth, we’ve continued to book shows. I swear, I tell people that Lincoln Parish can’t get enough of us. We’ve since booked wedding after wedding and fraternity party after fraternity party in Simsboro and Ruston alike.

In Shreveport-Bossier City, our most recent venues have been Great Raft Brewing, Central Artstation for SBC Unfiltered, the Mad Scientist Ball at Sci-Port: Louisiana’s Science Center and Cash Point. A few future shows include Chicago, the American Advertising Federation of Shreveport-Bossier annual ADDY Awards and a Shreveport wedding in May.

While bookings have remained consistent, our sound, style – even band members – have changed. We’ve added more of today’s Top 40, along with ’80s and ‘90s hits and funk. Dirty Redd has joined on the trumpet, Scotty Gerardy on saxophone, and John Todd Heard now plays the keys.

When I see someone in the audience either singing along or dancing, I know we’re affecting at least one person’s mood for the better, and that’s what music is intended to do, right? Most bands seen around Shreveport-Bossier City can all agree: The joy of playing outweighs the typically small compensation given for the time invested into putting on a show.

Whichever band you’re watching on stage in Shreveport-Bossier City, understand that each individual musician onstage has a passion to be there, no matter the tune, original or re-worked. Live entertainment is a perk of living in Shreveport-Bossier City, and we’re lucky to find it in our corner of the state whenever we’re looking for it.