A right to sing the blues

Not everybody loves the blues as much as members of the band Acme Blues do. A few years ago they were playing a high school reunion at the A.C. Brase Arena Building when a former cheerleader approached to ask how much they were being paid for the night. Six-hundred dollars, they told her.

"If I pay you $600 more, will you quit?" she asked.

In true blues tradition, they took her money and walked out.

In a bar on a different night a patron threw a beer bottle on stage, just missing drummer Greg Shivelbine.

As Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and plenty of others have demonstrated, even white boys get the blues.

Twelve years ago, founding members Shivelbine and bassist Tom Bloodworth were playing whatever people wanted to hear in a group at the now-defunct Candlewick Lounge. If the band played two blues songs in a row, the crowd sometimes yelled nasty things, Bloodworth said. Even though the Candlewick was one of the few live music venues in Cape Girardeau at the time, they decided to form a blues band.

"We got tired of playing 'Gimme Three Steps,'" said Bloodworth.

Bill Shivelbine, who is Greg's cousin and plays keyboards and saxophone, was reluctant to join the band until he heard they were going to play the blues exclusively. Along the way they added keyboardist Scott Blackwell, who eventually went off to Nashville and was replaced by Al McFerron.

They changed their name from the Blues All-Stars to Acme Blues. For a few years they were the house band at another vanished Cape Girardeau nightclub, Griffin's.

Over the 12 years, lead singers Jim Skinner and later Willie Bollinger joined and departed, and original guitarist Steve Pirtle gave way to Brad Springmeyer. A few years ago, trombonist Aaron Chandler filled out the horn section.

Bloodworth is the primary singer now with Springmeyer adding some lead vocals.

All the band members have careers in the music business. The Shivelbines are among the partners in Shivelbine's Music Store. Bloodworth is an employee there. Springmeyer works in promotions for St. Louis Music. Chandler is a musical instrument repairman in St. Louis, and McFerron is the band director for the Chaffee schools.

With most of the members of Acme Blues in their 40s now, playing music is a pastime. They play about one weekend a month. But they still pay tribute to the greats: "all the Kings --Albert, B.B. and Freddie," Bloodworth says.

Texas blues and Delta blues are the meat and potatoes of Acme Blues' repertoire. The 15-minute Buddy Miles tune "Them Changes" currently is their signature song.

The performance high point for the band so far was the Crosssroads Music Festival in Memphis, Tenn., where they played at a club on Beale Street.

On March 1 they will be a featured act at the Soulard Mardi Gras festival in St. Louis. And this Tuesday night they will share the stage with Mid-Life Crisis and Funky Donkey Cheese in one of the area's largest New Year's Eve celebrations.

Acme Blues is in the same league with other local bands like Mike Smith and the Runaways, Fletcher, The Fad and Papa Aborigine in terms of longevity. In the best blues tradition, Acme Blues doesn't waste notes anymore.

"We never practice," Greg Shivelbine said.

They also don't play weddings or high school reunions anymore either. "We're not a variety band," Shivelbine said.

"We're a blues band," Bloodworth affirmed.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

Want to go?

Who: Acme Blues, Mid-Life Crisis, Funky Donkey Cheese

What: New Year's Eve party

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Holiday Inn Convention Center

Admission: $25

Information: Phone 334-5216 for tickets or information or visit Shivelbine's Music Store. A package that includes two tickets to the party, a room at the Holiday Inn and breakfast buffet also is available for $149.95 plus tax. Phone 334-4491.