BLB

About BLB

Fresh sounds, big dreams, much love. Simply put, the Blue Light Bandits are made up of a group of men with soul. For them, music is about passion or, more specifically, an emotional release. They are influenced by, listen to and play a wide plethora of music, but it all centers on one important concept: the ability of the music to relate.

"We pick music to listen to based on a full spectrum of everyday human experience and emotion. We strive to put that spectrum in our own music from our acoustic, easy listening tunes all the way to our heavy, emotional rock songs. We want our listeners to see and hear themselves in our music," says the band.

From the soul, passion and emotion, comes the creative impulse, but creation doesn't happen in a vacuum. It depends on what came before. It is a process, that each and every musician is apart of. They acknowledge those who have come before, their own personal growth, and even those who will come after thanks to them.

"Musical creation is something that's been given to us," they say. "We've spent many years sharing and indulging in music that inspires us and stirs indescribably fulfilling emotions within us. Such inspiration led to our own development of musical creation for the purpose of inspiring ourselves and others, which is becoming more of a reality every day." They continue.

"When inspiration leads to composition that develops into a piece of art that leads others to do the same thing, we feel like what we are doing has fulfilled us on the deepest and most important level, and simultaneously reminding us that we only stand at the beginning of such an endeavor."

The band is made up of Dan DecCristofaro, Ethan Bates, Mike Braz, and Joel Ansett, and they all have New England roots. Dan and Ethan specifically grew up in Central Massachsuetts, meeting and beginning to play together in high school. They perform often in the area and the band considers Worcester their musical home base.

What they Sound Like and Where they Perform

The music that usually ends up coming from their own personal creative process is "bluesy" rock and R&B, perhaps with a little funk thrown in. You'll find the band has a knack for finding catchy melodies that turn into fresh but listenable songs. They strive for clever but coherent, and once again relatable, lyrics.

A listen will surely remind you of modern alternative pop artists like John Mayer and Jason Mraz, with some Mumford and Sons and Coldplay thrown in. Fans of those bands will certainly find something to like in these young upstarts.

A few of the band's favorite places to perform in the area are the Lucky Dog and Funky Murphy's in Worcester, Guiseppe's Grill in Northborough, Dusk in Providence, and the Middle East Upstairs in Boston.

The Future

The band has some very specific plans, dreams and goals for the future. A few of them rather quite unique, including how they plan to release more of their original material.

"By the end of this summer we will have recorded a substantial number of our original songs," they say. "We plan to release them in a unique, non-album format that will involve coupled songs based on complementing theme and sound, distributed over an extended period of time. The best part: all will be free for download online."

As a result of this plan, there will surely be plenty of opportunities to be exposed to their music in the near future. They also currently have a number of small releases you can get a hold of if you so desire.

As for their dreams for the future, they state,

"We plan to take this project as far as it will go, whether or not success comes tomorrow or years from now. However, a few specific milestones we dream of experiencing are a headline show at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, a televised performance and interview on the Ellen show, and a free concert at York Beach, ME, where the band name originated and the band returns each year to plan the next."

In short, the creative process will continue, driven on with high aspirations, but they will always keep in mind why they do it all in the first place, their passion for the art. Staying grounded is ultimately what will lift them to great heights.