(Submitted photo)

WARRENSBURG, Mo.--For many classic rock fans, “Keep on Chooglin’” by Creedence Clearwater Revival is a rock ‘n’ roll staple. To choogle, as defined by the CCR song, is “to ball and have a good time;” it’s an act to “keep on.”

A band based out of Minneapolis took the idea of chooglin’ a little more seriously by naming itself after the slogan.

A seven-man band, Chooglin’ visited Warrensburg Saturday to perform at Bottom Feeder Bay.

The band was formed in 2005 by guitarists/singers Brian Vanderwerf and Jesse Tomlinson. Over time, Vanderwerf and Tomlinson were joined by drummer Shawn Walker, bassist Paul Wells and the trombone trio of Zach Zins, and Hal Longley and trumpet Bob DeBoer.

Genre

Zins, who joined the Chooglin’ via a Craigslist advertisement, said the group is often asked about what type of music it plays.
“People ask us a lot, and we just answer ‘rock ‘n’ roll,’” Zins said. “There’s sort of a ‘70s classic rock vibe to it a little bit.”

Like many ‘70s rock bands, Chooglin’ is starting to incorporate some softer tracks into its performing arsenal.

“Some of our newer stuff has slowed down,” Zins said. “Some of our earlier stuff was a lot faster, so it was more like ‘70s rock, but with a punk kind of tempo and energy to it.”

One thing that definitely sets Chooglin’ apart from other rock groups is its three-piece horn section.

Horn element

“It’s kind of unique,” Zins said about the Chooglin’ horn section. “It gives us a little extra flavor.”

Trumpet player Bob DeBoer said he had taken some time off from playing and had picked it up only with the idea of maybe one day playing in a community band. Now, DeBoer spends nearly every night playing in a rock and roll band.

“We hooked up at a cover song contest and getting to play any kind of music like this is great,” DeBoer said. “And it happened to be where there are really good songs. We’ve been defining the horn element more and more, as time goes on, so it’s really interwoven into the composition; it’s just really fun.”

Bass trombonist Hal Longley said he has spent his whole life playing one instrument or another, and said the horn players in Chooglin’ have really been able to work together and mesh.

“It’s really fun to work with a good horn section,” Longley said. “We evolved as we were working on the covers-Rolling Stones-and we started working on some others. We realized we were listening to the songs and saying ‘Well, if there weren’t horns in the song, what could we do to make it better? And we got used to working together that way, and it really helped when we started doing Chooglin’ music.”

Influences

With seven guys making up one band, there are bound to be different musical tastes, but despite that ,the members say it all seems to come together.

Tomlinson said he doesn’t even listen to that much music, but what he does listen to varies.

“I like guitar rock and roll,” Tomlinson said. “I really like ‘The Dead Milkmen,’ and I love Weird Al; he’s like my favorite thing ever, forever.”

DeBoer grew up loving rock, but as a trumpet player, couldn’t help but love Miles Davis. Vanderwerf said for him it was about variety and quality.

“I like all styles,” Vanderwerf said. “I just think if it’s good, I guess, or if it’s sincere, or from the heart. Just that it seems like it’s real”

“Sweet Time”

Chooglin’ is traveling across the country, promoting its new album, “Sweet Time,” which is what brought it to Warrensburg. Zins said the story behind “Sweet Time” begins with a man in Minneapolis who was really into the blues scene and tried to create a blues festival.

“In the summer of 2008, the guy that put together the festival asked a couple of blues artists from the Fat Possum label to come up and play,” Zins said. “So a couple of those artists came up and the owner of the label, Bruce Watson, came along.

“We opened up one of the shows for a couple of these blues artists and Bruce said he was just kind of blown away by us and he asked Brian a few months later ‘Who’s making your next album?’ ”
Zins said he thinks it’s pretty rare for people to get signed like that anymore, but he was blown away.

“We looked at the show logs later and there were only like 50 people there,” Zins said. “We actually thought we played kind of crappy.”

Well, if Chooglin’ can get signed on a bad day, Zins said he can’t even imagine what would have happened on a good day.

Traveling

Chooglin’ has back-to-back live performance days all over the country. Saturday the band was in Warrensburg, Sunday in Jefferson City, Mo., Monday in Oxford, Miss., and Tuesday in Little Rock, Ark., and today in Memphis, Tenn.

“It’s a vacation, basically. We all work,” Tomlinson said of the time on the road. “We take up two weeks to go do this, you know, have a good time.”

Vanderwerf said he had to admit that being on the road and traveling to different locations is a good time.

“That’s what’s nice about it,” Vanderwerf said. “Every day is different, whereas at home, you know how it is; it starts to be the same every day.”

Wells said his favorite part of being on tour is what comes with the traveling.

“I like the drives in between, sleeping God knows where and the road food,” Wells said.

Zins said food is usually what drives the group when it arrives in a new town for a performance.

“Our stomachs usually lead us one way or another,” Zins said. “If we’re not hungry, we’ll probably load in and get the responsibility out of the way.”

Performing live

Chooglin’s live performances are the cornerstone of the cross-country trip, not to mention an exciting part of the trip as well.

“The adrenaline rush,” Zins said referring to his favorite part of performing live, “especially if people are getting into it. I mean there’s not a care in the world, when that’s happening.”
Drummer Shawn Walker said he likes the music they perform, but can’t quite narrow down a favorite.

“I like both of them (the rock songs and the ballads),” Walker said. “Otherwise, if you’re playing like rock through the whole thing, it gets kinda old, but then if you’re playing ballads the whole time, it gets really old, so it’s nice to have both of them.”

What’s next?

Chooglin’ will conclude its cross-country trip with a performance at the Crunchy Frog in Green Bay, Wis. Nov. 28.

Zins said he’s excited to get back into the studio and wants people to really enjoy their concerts because they’re testing new music.

“I just want them to be glad they paid the five bucks to get in,” Zins said. “I want them to feel satisfied and happy and I hope they just go tell their friends they just saw a kick-ass band.”