Josh Boyd and his V.I.P. Band come to Riverside Sept. 5.

On a frigid Sunday evening in February, 2008, that was so cold the audience in the Toledo Speedway Ballroom didn't take off its coats, the Black Swamp Blues Society held a "Blue Collar Blues Fest" offering a $2 discount for union card holders and featuring Watermelon Slim & the Workers with three other bands (appropriately, one was "The Frostbite Band").

Four members of the St. Marys Blues Guild were there to hear Watermelon Slim, but they drove home thinking about a different band.

It might have been the cold, it might have been the shortened set, but for whatever reason, a power trio from Toledo played driving blues and R&B for nearly an hour without a break - almost without pausing for a breath. There was no dithering, no intros, no tuning of guitar strings between songs, just one gem after another slammed together before the walls stopped vibrating from the last song.

The onslaught would have been unbearable from an average band, but these guys were anything but average, and the marathon medley that night was an unforgetable treat. That was our introduction to Josh Boyd & the V.I.P. Band.

Josh Boyd is a born guitar player who didn't discover his life calling until the age of three. His playing has steadily improved every year since. Bassist Junior Springs radiates energy, bouncing six inches off the stage to keep time, and drummer Charles Gaston holds them all together through sheer force and will power.

Playing original songs and old favorites (sometimes with a few double-entendres thrown in for fun), Josh Boyd and the V.I.P. Band are consummate entertainers who know how to please an audience. "Always leave them wanting more," is a show business maxim, and this band does just that.

Josh Boyd & the V.I.P. Band hit the Riverside Bluesfest stage at 6:30 pm Saturday, Sept 5, for one hour. You'll be wanting more.
 

Discography:
Year	Title	Label
2005	Josh Boyd & the V.I.P. Band
2003	I Only Talk To Angels