Shuffling, a bit of swing time feeling, heart-felt vocals and a lot of sax are the key ingredients to the success of the Barb Hamilton Band, a four person ensemble featuring the musical talents of singer and guitarist Barb Hamilton Maxey, bassist Mark Staley, drummer Tony Juodis and saxophonist Garard Montague. The Barb Hamilton Band will be performing at 6:30 p.m.
on Saturday, March 31 at Swingers Grille, located on the lower level of the All Seasons Entertainment Center in Normal. While many would consider them to be a jazz or blues band, the group actually has a wide repertoire. Their music ranges from Chicago blues to country blues to jazz blues with a twist of classic 70s rock thrown into contemporary Christian style.
"I love the rhythm and the beat, the walking bass lines, the feel and emotion and soul in the blues. It doesn't have to be 'down and depressed' to be blues. There are many different blues styles within the realm of blues.
I have always been attracted to the sound and feel of blues, especially when you feel it coming from the musician. It's real," Maxey explained. Maxey was raised in a family of talented professional musicians.
From an early age, she began instruction in piano and violin. At age 12 she began teaching herself guitar and then bass. Maxey attributes much of her musical inclination to being exposed to music from an early age.
Her solid foundations that she built up from early on allowed her to easily teach herself to play various instruments and apply music theory. Her parents' own musical skill and involvement also contributed to her abilities. "Both my parents, especially my father, have an incredible rhythmic feel in their music.
I applied my ear more in playing the guitar than reading sheet music . It was faster and easier. My parents taught me how to 'hear' the chord changes and intervals in pop/rock music," Maxey said.
For the past 20 years, Maxey has taken what she learned and has applied it throughout her musical career. Apart from being involved with two different church bands, including 13 years of service as a musician and worship leader for a non-denominational church, Maxey has performed and taught in Russia on two separate occasions. In 2001, Maxey began performing at local clubs, restaurants and coffeehouses in Central Illinois.
"I think the area is now coming back around as far as a site for music. Blues was everything around here. Bars stopped having live bands but now they seem to be promoting it again.
The area has some really incredible musicians, internationally acclaimed," Montague said. The Barb Hamilton Band received some recognition of its own when Maxey won the Blues Challenge People's Choice Award in 2004 for her duo performance with drummer Joe Beck of Bloomington. She was also a semi-finalist at the International Blues Challenge that same year.
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