The Kansas City Blues Band

The Kansas City Blues Band, like their name suggests, were a blues group from Kansas City. The blues in Kansas City suffered locally for decades, orphaned without regular venues, until Colt 45: The Kansas City Blues Band started championing the cause in 1976. The quartet selected the Baghdad, a now-defunct venue adjacent to the Uptown Theater, as its base of operations, playing Saturday-afternoon jam sessions that drew capacity crowds. Colt 45 became the Uptown's de facto house band, opening for the likes of Rare Earth and John Mayall. It also staged the city's first blues festival at the Uptown, with Chick Willis headlining. When the Baghdad started to wane in the late '70s, Colt 45 looked to Westport, then more of a boarded-up retail graveyard than an entertainment district. Colt 45 instituted a Monday-night jam at Blayney's, which drew luminaries such as Steve Van Zandt and musicians from Kenny Rogers', Billy Idol's and the Righteous Brothers' bands. When the band underwent production on its debut record, Too Many Drivers, malt-liquor label Colt 45 caught wind of its moniker and sent the group a cease-and-desist letter. Colt 45 obliged, becoming the Kansas City Blues Band. The KCBB started touring regularly in 1980, spending two or three days a week on the road and frequenting New Orleans. In 1984, the members began moving to Nashville, with O'Neil starting the trend and Van Loon, the last holdout, relocating in 1995. All members remain involved in the music industry.