They might be called the Dixie River Band and they might be playing at a casino that looks a lot like a Mississippi River paddle boat, but these guys play more than the expected New Orleans style Dixieland jazz. These guys will play anything that's going to produce a smile. They regularly play from Thursday to Sunday, (9 p.m. to midnight PST) on the casino floor near the front entrance of the Colorado Belle, in Laughlin, Nevada.
Group Comprised of Veteran Musicians
All four band members are seasoned musicians with credentials. They hail from different parts of the country with different backgrounds but they've come together at the Colorado Belle to play music for one reason and one reason only -- fun.
"Our bass player is David Littlefield from San Diego," Ollie LeMay, band leader and drummer, told Suite 101. "He's played with different people and its a treat that he's hooked up with us. Johnny Hull is a guitar player, banjo player, steel guitar player and he's been playing around here 13-15 years. People love him. He's from Salt Lake City, Utah. Kenny Davis plays bass guitar and everybody's crazy about him. He used to play with the Flamingos and he's out of Washington D.C., but he likes it here. I'm from Oklahoma City originally. I've been playing for years with people like James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner, and Peaches & Herb. This group has been together the last two years.
These guys are all about playing to the people.
"Anything they want to hear, we play-French music, Italian, German, we play a lot of Spanish music. The main thing is to keep people happy and make them smile. We have people telling us, 'you guys made my night, you played Your Cheatin' Heart or Green Green Grass of Home. The thing is we try to play everything for everybody. If they came from the moon, we'd play to them too. I don't know what we'd play-maybe Moon River."
Creating a Party Atmosphere
The Dixie River Band is easy to spot. Their stage is at the front entrance where people can't help but start dancing the minute they're inside the door. Some nights the casino floor becomes party central.
Then there are some nights the crowd wants to get in on the act.
"You wouldn't believe the people who sing with us. Sometimes it sounds like a choir in here, sometimes it's like live karaoke. The best thing I can say is come and see what we're about and you'll get a better picture of what we do. You have to see what we're able to do and how people react to us."
The Guys Play Requests
If the Dixie River Band doesn't know a particular song, the person requesting it will never know. These guys will play it anyway. "It's hard to tell we can't play it," LeMay said. "There's nothing we won't try. It will sounds like we play it every day. We know each other's hands and we can tell where the song is going, as if we know exactly where to go with it. We play like we know it. You don't find musicians like that. People will tell us, 'you played that great,' and I'll tell them 'we never played it before.' Other musicians might not go there, but these guys will say, 'let's play it.' Sometimes we spend so much time learning new stuff and writing down songs, we forget what we already know. We'll play any kind of music-country, from the classic stuff like Hank Williams, Porter Waggoner and Merle Haggard to the new stuff, disco, whatever you want to hear, the guys go to playin' it."
Most bands have scheduled breaks and take them, but the Dixie River Band doesn't like to break up the party if people are into the moment. "Sometimes things are happenin' and we play through because we want to keep the party going," he said. "People don't want us to stop and when you do stop when people are getting into it, you lose them and they don't come back. They go onto something else. Sometimes we have to ease off the stage so they don't know we're going home.
"We're right in the middle of the casino. People can't help but hear us. Some people will tell us, 'you make our day,' or 'we have good luck when you guys play,' or 'we enjoy what you guys are doin'. It's good to hear that." Nice words like that -- music to their ears.
JoAnn Smith - Hi, My name is JoAnn Smith and I've been a reporter/writer and photographer for more than 30 years. I received an Associate of Arts ...
