Matt Stuber and Mike Newhart of The Code Blue Band.

It's not clear who's supposed to have more fun at a Code Blue Band show: the band or the audience. In fact, they dare the crowd to have a better time, hang the consequences.

But somewhere out of the nicknames and swagger of this boys' club from Columbus, Marysville and Urbana, Ohio comes a sound that's both basic and complex at the same time. The Code Blue Band admits they are not blues purists, or even rhythm-and-blues purists. According to the band web site, they play songs containing "energy" that "shows hurt and pain, and maybe how to laugh at that, how to distract yourself from the pain."

Distraction and pain are not usually good things, but the musicians in The Code Blue Band make it work by throwing themselves into their music with the fervor of true believers, and that's as good a definition of the art of the blues as there is.

Front man Mike "Captain Mojo" Newhart is ably placed in charge of "chaos" administered vocally and through a harp. The less explanation given for Columbus guitarist Dave "Tripod" Thompson's nickname, the better. Matt "Jebus" Stuber is a one-man horn section, working baritone and tenor saxes, trumpet and flugelhorn into the act.

Keith "Shoeless" Blair plays keys with panache and elbows flying, drummer Frank "Da Freak" Lapinski vows to start using drumsticks instead of dowel rods some day, and Gary "The Enforcer" Mack plays four-string, seven-string and upright basses while singing background vocals - without a microphone.

The dirty little secret that the band doesn't admit to? Shhh: they're good. Playing as a five- or six-piece band for years has forged a style that is precise, unique and forceful, making The Code Blue Band one of the best-known blues bands around Columbus.

Members of the St. Marys Blues Guild caught The Code Blue Band's smoking set at the 2008 Columbus Blues Alliance Blues Challenge. Catch their introduction to St. Marys at 3:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 5 at the 2009 Riverside Bluesfest. And try to have as much fun as they do -- if you dare.
 

Discography:
Year	Title	Label
2009	Dark Bars & Pawnshops
2008	Tight At Midnight
2007	The Hard Way