Elwood & the Blues Masters bring more than just a Blues Brothers tribute to the stage

3 hours ago

Allison Scavo,

Elwood & the Blues Masters. // photo by Allison Scavo

The Blues Masters is a band where the performance begins before the music. Elwood & The Blues Masters approach the idea of their band with respect for the tradition that built it. The set leans into staples that have lived on bar stages and dance floors for decades. Songs are not treated as nostalgia pieces but are delivered specifically meant to move a room.

At its core, the show functions as a live reminder of the musical lineage behind The Blues Brothers. Elwood & The Blues Masters are not simply referencing a film; they are drawing from the deeper catalog that shaped it and presenting those songs the way they were always meant to be heard. It was our pleasure to learn more about them in a recent interview with frontman Russ Dameron.

The Pitch: When did the band form, and how did that come to fruition?

Russ Dameron: Elwood and The Blues Masters was something I dreamed up several years ago, but it languished because I couldn’t find hardly any available horn players. Then one day last Spring (2025) I was at Knuckleheads talking to Frank Hicks, the owner, and I told him I had always wanted to have a horn band but could never line up any players. Frank said, “You want horn players? I can get you horn players!” He connected me with Garry Mac who had recently retired his phenomenal Atlantic Express show band, and before you knew it, I had half his band in rehearsals! So, I give Frank all the credit for making this happen. In fact, he even came up with the name The Blues Masters.

Elwood & the Blues Masters’ crowd at Knuckleheads. // image courtesy the artist

Your debut show drew a crowd of more than 200 people, from what I understand, with many dressed like the Blues Brothers. What did that first night feel like from the stage?

Our first performance was appropriately hosted by Knuckleheads. It was a Thursday night, just last June (2025), on the outdoor stage. We didn’t know if anybody would show up. Was anyone interested in the Blues Brothers’ music besides us? That night, over 200 people came to the show. We were blown away. Everyone in the band was thrilled. A lot of people came dressed as Blues Brothers, and we had given away sunglasses before the show started and they were all wearing them. You could feel the excitement and support of the crowd. They had been waiting for this. They wanted it and they wanted us to succeed at it.

It was so moving that at one point I stopped the show and had everyone in the crowd pose for a picture. I wanted to hold onto that feeling forever! And now it’s become kind of a tradition. We try to take a group picture of the audience at every show, and every crowd has been just as supportive and enthusiastic. They make the show happen.

Elwood, the Blues Masters, and the Blues Mobile. // image courtesy the artist

Russ, you actually own a Bluesmobile! Was that a passion that existed before the band, or did the car come after the formation of Blues Masters?

The Bluesmobile was my first movie car! Every year, my family holds an epic Halloween Costume Party. About five years ago, my brother-in-law (drummer, Denny Marx) and I decided to go as the Blues Brothers. I looked around to rent a Bluesmobile but no luck. I did some digging on the internet and found an article on a guy who lived in Harrisonville who used to have a Blues Brothers Act. I tracked him down and asked to rent his car. He said no, he wouldn’t rent it, but he would sell it to me. So, I bought it! My brother, my cousin, and I completely rebuilt and repainted it, including adding a screen-accurate, functioning, gigantic PA speaker. After that, I started buying other cars and building replicas of movie cars.

That turned into my side business, The Movie Car Man. We now have the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1, The Mystery Machine, Jurassic Park Jeep and Explorer, Herbie the Love Bug, Pizza Planet Truck, Vacation Truckster, Wayne’s World Mirthmobile, and we are currently building a Time Machine out of a Delorean. And I’m working on my third Bluesmobile. You can never have enough Bluesmobiles! But it was that first Bluesmobile that started it all, and after building that, I was more determined than ever to get a major blues band together! And by the way, we do our best to bring the Bluesmobile to every show. The Bluesmobile is an essential part of the band!

This is a nine-piece band with a full horn section. How does that bigger lineup shape the energy compared to a typical blues band?

Nothing delivers the power of rhythm & blues and soul music like a great horn section, and we have an incredible one. The Blues Masters’ Funk Force Four captures the harmonies and lines of the original hits with tremendous precision and passion. They’ve known each other and played in bands together for a long time, so they came into this project with that advantage, giving us a real leg up and an ability to learn a lot of songs in a very short amount of time.

The three or four-piece blues band is one thing, and it can be a great thing of course, but when you add a full horn section that plays in harmony, not just in unison, it takes the band and the audience’s experience of the music, especially The Blues Brothers’ repertoire, to an entirely different level. But it’s one of those things that you have to experience first-hand to really get it. Video clips and TikToks do not even begin to do it justice.

Elwood & the Blues Masters. // photo by Allison Scavo

What are some of the musical backgrounds of the band members, and how did those musical histories influence the chemistry of this lineup?

I’m proud and delighted to say that The Blues Masters are among the best musicians Kansas City has to offer. These guys are real pros. Bryan Wood (sax), Fred Zimmerman (trombone), Byron Jones (trumpet), Pat Pearce (keys) all played with Atlantic Express for many years as well as other very successful bands in the Midwest; Cole Gurley (bari-sax) also plays with the MGDs, Cliff Payne (bass) played with Platinum Express and toured with Niki Sullivan of Buddy Holly’s original Crickets, and Scott Christensen (guitar) and Denny Marx (drums) both play in The TrueTones, a Beatles-British Invasion-60s tribute band, actively performing about town, including occasional entire live versions of the Beach Boys Pet Sounds and the Beatles Sgt. Peppers albums.

We all share a love for classic R&B and soul and the incredible songs the Blues Brothers covered like “Soul Man,” “Who’s Makin’ Love,” “Flip, Flop & Fly,” and so many more. So, we jelled as a group on a personal level and as a band right away. It all felt very natural from the beginning, like we were old friends. It’s a great combination–the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts–and I don’t think there is anything like this band on today’s local music scene.

The Blues Brothers weren’t just a band—they were a cultural phenomenon created by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. How much of your show is tribute, and how much is your own interpretation?

In fairness, we are more accurately an homage to the Blues Brothers than a straight-up tribute. It’s Elwood and The Blues Masters. There’s no Jake. He’s back in Joliet Prison, unfortunately. The Blues Brothers are the inspiration for the band and the music, but we are trying to take it even further. We do all the Blues Brothers’ songs with the same passion and precision, and we are definitely tapping into their energy, humor, love, and respect for the phenomenal and legendary Stax and Atlantic artists like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, and Eddie Floyd. But we’re also changing it up in a way that gives us freedom to add our own interpretation to the material, while still honoring it.

We are adding in more artists outside the Blues Brothers’ normal repertoire, like Joe Cocker, Joe Tex, Van Morrison, and the like. So, it’s way more than just a Blues Brothers tribute act. But at the same time, we want everyone to leave feeling they have had a genuine Blues Brothers experience. And to our delight, that’s exactly the feed-back we’ve been getting from our audiences!

Your shows are described as “horn-blasting, spirit-lifting rhythm and blues.” What’s the moment in the set where the crowd usually erupts?

There’s a spontaneous, almost knee-jerk reaction of hoots and hollers every time the audience spots Elwood headed to the stage with his briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. If you know the movie, you know. And then, when the horns blast the climactic end of the opening instrumental version of Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose,” there is an eruption of applause that you can tell comes from a genuine and deeply felt love of the Blues Brothers, their music, and the thrill of being able to experience it live. It’s absolutely invigorating.

Elwood & the Blues Masters. // photo by Allison Scavo

How much room is there for improvisation during a show?

While we are trying to recreate The Blues Brothers songs as faithfully and accurately as possible, there is plenty of room for improvisation. We cover way more songs than they did, so it’s more than just a Blues Brothers show. We are covering a wide range of classic R&B and Soul songs and artists, including Average White Band, Joe Cocker, Van Morrison, The Commitments, James Brown, and Ray Charles. We are playing a lot of material that you don’t hear much on the Kansas City music scene and doing it with a nine-piece band in a way that is not often heard.

Also, most of the songs feature solos that let our guys let loose and display their creativity and instrumental prowess, while the arrangements bring them back to the tried-and-true original hits. Plus, these guys have a great sense of humor and love to have fun. They always end up moving, dancing and singing along as much as the audience. The music tends to have that effect on everybody.

Kansas City has a deep jazz and blues history. What does it mean to bring this Chicago-style rhythm and blues revue to a city with such a strong musical identity?

We feel we are bringing something fresh and new to the Kansas City music scene. This is a nine-piece powerhouse R&B and soul band playing songs you don’t normally hear in the clubs and in a way that is not often heard. I don’t know of any other bands doing what we do. At the same time, we revel in the history of blues and jazz in Kansas City.

The Blues Masters are individually very much a part of that history, have contributed to it and love it. The people who come to our shows feel a part of that history too and have embraced the music wholeheartedly within that tradition. But they are excited to hear music presented our way. We feel it fits right in like another piece of a beautiful puzzle.

What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to the band onstage so far?

Inevitably, during every performance, something hilarious happens, but not always on purpose. To start off every show, while the band is blasting out the opening number, “I Can’t Turn You Loose,” Elwood comes on stage with his harmonica locked in a briefcase that’s handcuffed to his wrist. A member of the band awaits, twirling the only key on a long chain. At just the right moment, he ceremoniously unlocks the handcuffs, and Elwood dramatically reveals the contents of the briefcase, holding up his harmonica to the crowd’s delight.

On one occasion, however, the twirling of the key chain is a bit overly enthusiastic–actually a LOT over-enthusiastic–and it slips out of his hand and shoots up into the air like a bullet and off into the dark, leaving behind a stunned Elwood who now quite literally “couldn’t turn loose.” I sang the entire first hour-and-a-half set with a briefcase chained to my wrist.

Elwood & the Blues Masters. // photo by Allison Scavo

What song do you perform that never fails to get people dancing?

It is probably blues blasphemy to admit this, but out of over fifty tunes that we perform, it is the great Wilson Pickett’s song “Mustang Sally” that never fails to get people up and dancing. In fact, it’s practically a stampede. For the unaware, there is an unwritten “No Mustang Sally Rule” amongst some blues musicians and in blues competitions, due to the song being frequently requested and historically overplayed.

We don’t feel that way about it, and we are excited to perform it, especially with a horn section in full swing. We love “Mustang Sally” and audiences love it when we play it, and every time we play it, we perform it like it’s the first time.

The suits, sunglasses, and attitude are iconic. How important is the visual identity of the Blues Brothers aesthetic to your show?

I fully embrace the visual identity of the Blues Brothers. I wear prescription Ray Bans, an exact replica of Elwood’s fedora, black suit, skinny silk tie, and white socks. I even wear a replica of their Timex digital watches with the red LED display. Only mine actually works! The only thing I have never deliberately tried to emulate is their notorious odor, as pointed out in the fine dining restaurant scene when a customer demands to be moved to another table because The Blues Brothers are “offensive … smelling. I mean they … smell … bad.” I passed on this screen-accurate detail, but in all honesty, by the end of the night, I may rival both Jake and Elwood after sweating out three and a half hours of R&B and Soul powerhouse dance hits. (We do one slow song the whole night!)

But, to answer your question, when you put on the suit and glasses, it transforms you. And it transforms the audience–one of the reasons we often give out sunglasses and hats. You know the idea. “Be the Blues Brother!” And it sends a message that we are in this 100%. It’s a picture that paints a thousand words to Blues Brothers fans and delivers the message: We’re on a mission from God!

All photos by Allison Scavo