by Elisa Zuckerberg, founder of HearItThere

Thursday, January 4, 2024

The 3Bs are a high-energy, smokin’ hot Blues band based in the Hudson Valley. A real crowd-pleaser, they perform Classic and Contemporary Blues covers and originals. Lead Vocalist Elle Randall fronts the band with her outstanding voice working in harmony with vocalist Tara Weiss and paired with the guitar style of Blues virtuoso “Diamond” Dave Rinaldi and Keyboard master Erin Weisenfeld. Bassist Kevin Brail and Kit Drummer Bill Votava provide the rhythm section that rounds out the band. Their shows cover a wide spectrum of Blues genres, from Etta James, Buddy Guy and BB King to today’s hit-makers, like Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer and Samantha Fish. The 3Bs also compose original music in a variety of Blues styles, which can be found streaming worldwide!

The 3Bs drummer and founder of the band Bill Votava and I recently sat down to talk about the origins of the band and his vision, bringing Blues music to the Hudson Valley and worldwide.

Elisa Zuckerberg: I’ve been enjoying watching your videos and listening to your music, getting familiarized with your Blues style.

Bill Votava: We have a lot of material out there and copious amounts of posts all over social media so people can hear it. We’re on all listening platforms, just out there trying to make people happy and finding our audience.

EZ: How long have you guys been together?

BV: I’ve been working on putting together the 3Bs since before Covid, like 2019, but it wasn’t ‘till the end of 2021 that I found all the musicians I wanted. We started rehearsing in early 2022 and our first show in April 2022.

EZ: You’re the one who formed the band?

BV: Yeah. This, this was my concept and I’m currently drummer and manager.

EZ:  You describe different types of Blues on your website: Chicago, Country, Detroit, Delta, How would you describe the 3Bs?

BV: Well, that’s a little difficult since there is something like 30 recognized styles of Blues, When I started the concept for the band, I asked the musicians to come into the project centering on the BB King and Etta James type sounds, but you can’t play three solid hours of that at the show, so we moved around to other genres. I come from a background of rock, New Wave, and disco. Our bass player is more of a Grateful Dead kind of guy. And the guitarist, “Diamond Dave” is sort of a rock and early punk kind of guy, but we all like to play the Blues.

When we get together, someone will come in with a concept, either a lyric or a riff, and the six of us will sort of work on it, tweak it and make suggestions until we come up with something we think is great. Because of that composition process, you get music that’s not quite definable. Sometimes it sounds a little more like rock sometimes it sounds a lot like the Blues.

EZ:  You mentioned that what all Blues music has in common is how it makes you feel. Ultimately that’s what music’s all about.

BV:  Yeah. There, you go. That’s sort of the point of it.

EZ:  How’d you find the band members?

BV:  When I decided to try to find a group of people to play with, I went to Kevin Brail, my neighbor, and told him I was going to put together a Blues band. He said, “sign me up!”

On Make Music Day one year, I was playing percussion at Mike Risko’s store. A woman went up and sang a Beatles tune and killed it. I needed to talk to her about being in my band but lost her in the crowd. Five months later, I was doing an adult band camp kind-of-thing for them (Mike Risko School), where they put together groups of musicians and play, and in walks the vocalist for that earlier session. We played together and then I asked her if she’d come and play in the new Blues band I was forming. She loved the idea. This was Elle (Randall)

EZ: I really love the song and her vocals on “Like Etta Said.”

BV:  Elle (Randall) came up with the lyrics and we said “oh my God,” that’s really good.” We built the song around her concept. It has a lot of great elements and great feel. She makes it easy to feel the emotion of the song with her voice.

EZ:  What I’m impressed with is your passion. You’re not just going out there and playing covers, you’re writing original music.

BV:  Well, we have five songs that are out there in the wild now and they’re on streaming platforms and internet radio stations. Our fan base is growing. The 3Bs now have fans in almost every state, as well as around the world. Fingers crossed, our complete debut album will be released in late 2024.

EZ:  A lot of blues bands just do it for fun. They go out and they play their gigs. You’re very serious about what you do.

BV:  Well, we try. Part of the fun for us is writing these pieces and the collaboration process. It gives us a chance to exercise our creativity. Sometimes some things may preclude that, but on the whole, we want to be in the studio, playing out there, and making music. I don’t remember who, but somebody said, “live performance is 10 times better than opium.” It’s just that addictive.

When you’re out there on the stage and you’re playing, there’s a magic to it. You hope you’re giving that magic to the audience – that they get energized, have a good time, and give it back to you. That’s really what music is all about. – Bill Votava, drummer, The 3Bs

EZ:  Are you involved in the Hudson Valley Blue Society?

BV:  Absolutely, we’re members. They, they do a lot to promote the blues locally and they’re part of the Blues Foundation, an international organization. Their main mission is to ensure that that blues, both the original roots style blues, and all the blues that’s been generated in all the genres gets heard and, and is maintained. They take a very deep pride in the history of the Blues. They helped us get more familiar in the Blues community. We competed in the HVBS “Road to Memphis Challenge” in June 2023. We came in second, but we’re going to take first place next year. It’s a wonderful competition for Blues solo acts and bands. The winner of the competition goes to Memphis the following year and competes in a battle of the bands, held by The Blues Foundation, and competes with bands from all over the world.

EZ:  Where could people find your music?

BV:  We’re streaming all over the place, Spotify, Apple iTunes, Amazon, but our website is a good place to start, then readers can follow through to our ReverbNation links and all our socials. We also have a calendar on our website listing upcoming shows.

There’s nothing we like better than people coming to see The 3Bs live! – Bill Votava

Fans of the BLUES can find out links to all The 3Bs socials, music and upcoming gigs HERE

 

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