In just a few short days, the stage at Creekside Theatre in Lake Country will be filled with the sounds of a high energy duo and band: The Soulmen. Formerly known as “The Blues Brothers Too”, Ian McDonnell and Grant Eisworth have rebranded as “The Soulmen” and are in the process of adding different elements to their future shows. In anticipation of their upcoming show on Saturday, September 24th, Eisworth was happy to give some insight into their act and answer a few questions.

First of all, can you tell readers a little about how you formed the SoulMen: Blues Brothers Tribute band and your background?
We formed Blues Brothers Too (now known as Soulmen) approximately 8 years ago as a joke. I wanted an opening act for an event I was co-producing (The Valley Music Festival). On a dare, my associate [Ian] and I dressed up as Elwood & Jake and lip synced (neither of us had ever sang before) to a song from the movie “The Blues Brothers”. We then rushed off stage and continued to run the Music Festival which was an all tribute artist type of festival.

Well, so many people kept coming up and requesting that the Blues Brothers perform again, that we decided to try it again at another event which we were invited to perform at. We kept getting so many invitations to perform (and offers to be paid as well), that we decided we couldn’t lip sync and we had to sing live (it’s harder to lip sync than sing live anyway believe it or not). The rest is history, we keep getting booking requests from all over Canada and the US, but we prefer to mostly stay and perform close to home around western Canada and western US.

For someone who’s never attended one of your shows, how would you describe your show and style?
Our shows are 100% entertainment right from the get-go. Visual, acoustical, and with stage props (we even have the Blues Mobile on stage in some venues). Most times we also feature video and slides during the show which add to the excitement. Definitely high energy throughout. Most songs are choreographed with Jake and Elwood dancing up a storm. You will hear signature songs from the Blues Brothers movies as well as Soul, Rhythm & Blues, and Rock & Roll. At some venues we even throw in a little ZZ Top and Bruno Mars (Uptown Funk) to boot.

As a Blues Brothers Tribute band, have you tried to remain as true to the original Blues Brothers as possible, or do you add in your own flair to the performance here and there?
Our shows are 100% entertainment right from the get go. Visual, acoustical, and with stage props (we even have the Blues Mobile on stage in some venues). Most times we also feature video and slides during the show which add to the excitement. Definitely high energy throughout. Most songs are choreographed with Jake & Elwood dancing up a storm. You will hear signature songs from the Blues Brothers movies as well as Soul, Rhythm & Blues, and Rock & Roll. At some venues we even throw in a little ZZ Top and Bruno Mars (Uptown Funk) to boot.

What was it about the Blues Brothers movies and performances in the shows that inspired you, or spurred you on to form a tribute band?
We’ve found that the Blues Brothers Movies as well as their concerts, have gathered quite a following, similar to other high profile bands of the past. For example, the Blues Mobile (which was definitely highlighted in the Movies), is touted as the 2nd most popular and well know movie car in the World – second only to The Judge from Dukes of Hazard. Whenever we pull up to a venue and let’s say a band is playing, more often than not, the band breaks into a version of “Soulman” or “Peter Gun”. We are always approached by fans who continuously recite lines from the movies such as “4 Fried Chickens and a Coke”, or “We’re On A Mission From God”, or “You Can’t Outrun A Motorola”, and the list of sayings is almost endless. Some fans know the movies almost word for word. Also the Blues Brothers Movie just happens to be one on the few movies that has been added to the Actual Vatican’s Approved Movie List (just google it and read all about it).

What is one of your favourite songs to perform?
Some of our favorite songs (which come from the movies and Blues Brothers Concerts of past), include ‘Rawhide’, ‘Rubber Biscuit’, and ‘Soulman’. However, all the songs we do are pretty much 100% recognizable by most everyone. Also, we love to show off “The Showband” and there are band solos throughout our concerts which highlight the fantastic talent of our musicians (who by the way are all seasoned professionals).

How long have you worked together with your band members and fellow Blues Brother?
We’ve been singing, dancing, and performing with this act for 6 years now and it just keeps getting better and better.

Do you have any crazy stories from touring you’d like to share?
Lots of crazy stories from performing in different cities. We get flashed a lot (ya all the girls seem to go crazy over Jake), and we are asked autograph various parts of the female persona (we don’t sign body parts). It never ceases to amaze me that when we perform, we can look at one side of the stage and see a young toddler still in diapers, dancing away to the music, and at the same time look to the other side of the stage and see some grandma getting up out of her wheel chair and dancing along to the same song. As a matter of fact, for our family concerts, we have special choreographed dance songs which we invite all the children in the audience to join in and dance along with us.

What’s next for the band?
So, what’s next for our shows? Well, as we do more of our own concerts (which we really prefer to do), we are continually updating and adding songs to our act. We are now working on adding a new character which you will see in future shows. “TRIXIE BLUES” will adorn the stage performing songs like ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T’, ‘Son of a Preacher Man’, ‘Think’, and other songs which give our concerts an added dimension. And by the way, just ask any female vocalist about singing such songs, they are very vocally demanding that most females won’t even attempt to sing. We are continually invited to perform as music festivals, concerts, fairs, and all sorts of trade shows and conventions. So, be sure to keep an eye out for “The Soulmen” aka The Blues Brothers Too when we come to town.

Check out ‘Elwood’ & ‘Jake’ and band when they cruise through Lake Country this Saturday September 24th at 7:30 pm at Creekside Theatre. Tickets are $25 available at the door, online at www.kelownatickets.com or by calling 250-860-2867.