About
Sunshine Blues Band is a blues band for hire in Sunshine Coast, QLD.
Rooted in Chicago and branching out towards Texas and LA, the Sunshine Blues Band play stripped-back, upbeat blues built for dancing rather than chin-stroking. Russ Babcock's harmonica and vocals sit over Chris Roberts on guitar and Marc Chadwick on keys, with Don Ross and Tony Vobr on drums and bass holding the engine room. The traditional rhythms get pushed into jazz and rock territory. The material runs from Little Walter, Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker through to Taj Mahal, Albert Collins and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Between them there are decades of gigs behind it, in venues from Perth to Brisbane, New Zealand, the US and London. Sunshine Coast based, own PA, fully insured.
Watch
The show
Stripped-back, upbeat blues with the rhythm pushed forward, rooted in Chicago and reaching across to Texas and LA. Russ Babcock plays harmonica and sings, Chris Roberts is on guitar and Marc Chadwick on keys. Don Ross and Tony Vobr, drums and bass, drive it from behind. The traditional blues patterns get bent towards jazz and rock, which is what makes it a dancing band rather than a listening one. Decades of stages behind them, from Perth to Brisbane and further, New Zealand, the US and London.
On the day
Sound gear comes with them, along with everything else they need, so a bare room is fine. If your venue would rather they used the house system, that's workable too, it just needs a conversation first about what's installed and whether it'll cover the room.
Performance options
The band works to two usual lengths: a single hour, or a full three hour gig. Both are the same five piece, so the difference is how long the dance floor stays busy rather than who is on stage. Corporate functions and festivals further afield are regular work too, and they'll travel for those.
Insurance and paperwork
Public liability insured
Song list
52 songs
My Babe F(b flat) 3
She Caught the Katy B♭(e♭)/A(d) 4
I Got A Woman E(a) 5
Early in the Morning B(e) 7
Lie No Better A(d) 8
T-Bone Shuffle B(e) 9
Darlin A/Bflat/B(g/aflat/a) 10
Blues ain’t Nothin G(c) 11
Crosscut saw G(c) 12
Trouble No More G (c harp) 13
Ah'w Baby G (c) 14
Neighbor tend to your business G(c harp) 15
Wait on Time B(e harp) 16
She's Tough E(a) 17
Automatic E(a) 18
I’m ready 19
No Fightin B (e) 20
She’s Dangerous 21
Somebody G(c) 22
I’m Sorry G(c) 23
Lonesome C(f) 24
Got My Mojo Working 25
I Don't Know Why D(g) 26
What goes on in the dark C (Low f) but use B♭harp 27
