About The Band

After working continuously for over 14 years beginning in 1986, “The West End Blues Band” went on hiatus from mid-2000 through much of 2001, following the departure of rhythm section members Chip Fontaine and Richard Baker. Faced with the prospect of once again re-tooling the band, leader and founder Jim Atkinson elected to take a break from performing to focus on other business interests and family. At the time, it appeared that the band was finished as a Boston area musical entity.

Almost on a parallel track, veteran bluesman Gary Bernath also felt the need to take a break from his long time project “The Gary Bernath Blues Band” following the departure of guitarist Peter Henderson to join the band “Fatwall Jack.” On Henderson’s recommendation, Gary hired Jim Atkinson to finish the band’s remaining dates and there was an almost instant chemistry between the two band leaders.

Jim and Gary began discussing the possibility of writing material together, with the eventual goal of producing a CD of original compositions. In the first two or three sessions, they discovered that their performing chemistry also carried over into a very natural songwriting collaboration. Within a short time, the two had almost more original material in the works than both had recorded with either of their earlier projects.

It soon became clear that a “Recording” project was just not going to be as much fun as getting back into clubs and performing live. Armed with fresh songs and a huge base of blues material perfected during their many years of performing in area clubs, Jim and Gary were ready for “re-entry!” They enlisted former saxophone mainstay Dave Stringham, and added a rhythm section anchored by former “Gary Bernath Band” bassist Ray Fisk and Boston area blues veteran Jim Lavezzo, resulting in a completely revamped version of “The West End Blues Band”