Cleveland’s Blue Lunch To Celebrate 40th Anniversary With Series of Upcoming Shows

A staple on the local scene, the swing/jazz/blues act Blue Lunch began in 1984 as a five-piece band and has evolved into a larger ensemble with multiple singers and a three-piece horn section. It now plays soul, blues, R&B, swing and jazz. it’s perhaps the longest running blues-based band in the region.

“I didn’t even think about how long the band would last when it started,” says frontman Peter London via phone. “It’s crazy. It was November of 1984 when we played our first gig. I have a clipping about that gig. Blue Lunch was and is my first band. Most people were in high school bands, but for me, it’s just evolved and grown and stayed enjoyable and fun. We all enjoy ourselves, and that shows when we play live. Everything evolved even though there was no real plan.”

The band will mark its 40th anniversary with two special shows. The first one takes place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Barn, AKA Barnegie Hall, in Avon. Then, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, Blue Lunch returns to the Bop Stop. For the Barn show, Columbus-based singer-guitarist Sean Carney, who previously won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis for best band, and singer-harmonica player Tom Moore, frontman for Little Frank and the Premiers, will join the group. In addition, the group will play its annual latke party at the Beachland on Christmas night.

“Sean Carney is someone we worked with before. He’s great,” says London when asked about the special guests who’ll join Blue Lunch for the 40th anniversary shows. “He won the International Blues Challenge a couple of years ago and has toured Europe. It’ll be easy for him to come up from Columbus as opposed to flying someone in. Tom Moore is someone we worked with in the past too. We’ve worked with him and his band before.”

For the Bop Stop show, Blue Lunch will again be joined by Carney along with Akron-based Tim Longfellow on organ. Longfellow has performed with numerous bands throughout the region and has played with veteran producer and singer-songwriter Todd Rundgren.

“Sean [Carney] will come up again for the Bop Stop show, and Tim Longfellow will come up and play the Bop Stop’s Hammond with Leslie speaker,” says London. “He’s a local guy who has done some stuff with national acts such as Todd Rundgren. We’re actually going to expand the group, and it should be entertaining for the crowd. It makes it fun on stage too. We’re all veterans, and hopefully after all this time, we’ve gotten pretty good.”

Overdue for a new studio release, the group has started writing new material that will feature some of its new members for the first time.

“We have a relatively new member, Bill Seward, who is on guitar and vocals, and Maya Nicholson, who is in theater, and she is our youth component,” says London. “Our second youngest is Chris Burge, who is 50. He is in the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and Lynyrd Skynyrd worked with them on a few dates. He’s the kind of person who is a top player for jazz and blues. We’re recording with Chris Keffer at Magnetic North. We’ve actually never worked with Chris before. It’s been a nice match. We’re hoping we’ll have the new album for our summer gigs.”

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