Nebraskans to rock at Lefty’s Bar

Published 9:25 am Friday, January 13, 2012

A Nebraska band will be rolling through to rock Lefty’s Bar on Saturday.

Blu Simon, self-described by band members as “reformed rock and roll,” will play at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and band members are enthusiastic about the chance to entertain Austin.

“Our goal when we put on a show is to make it fun all the way around,” said Ben Shoemaker, the drummer. “If you came to a Blu Simon show, you could expect us jumping on tables and engaging the crowd.”

Email newsletter signup

Shoemaker said the band does its best to interact with the crowd, including engaging in conversations with bar patrons during breaks in their set.

The three-member band’s goal in being an interactive band is to bring quality and consistency to live shows. Shoemaker has spear-headed an effort, called the Live Music Association, to bring quality entertainment to local communities.

“One of the biggest deterrents to a person going out to a bar with live music is that they have no idea if the band will be good or bad,” Shoemaker said. “The LMA function is to find bands and insert them into these venues, thus helping control the quality and consistency, in turn this will develop a solid in-house crowd.”

Blu Simon writes its own material, but because of the members’ 1970s rock influences, the band likes to incorporate covers into its set list.

“We also play covers of bands like The Who, Jim Croce, Foghat, Queen, Three Dog Night, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and much more,” Shoemaker said.