Ernie Small (front), shown singing with the Ernie Small Blues Band during a 2018 concert, will bring the band together again on May 20 for a 40th anniversary concert benefiting the Capitol Arts Center. 

Ernie is getting the band back together – and for a good cause.

The Bowling Green-based Ernie Small Blues Band, a staple at local music festivals and concerts for decades, will perform a 40th anniversary celebration concert at the Capitol Arts Center on May 20 at 7 p.m.

Held as a benefit for the Capitol, the concert will feature two original members of the band – Small and bass player Eddie Mills – and a host of other musicians and singers who have played with the band over the years.

“I don’t think Eddie and I ever intended to have a band for 40 years,” Small said of the friend and fellow musician he met while both were students at Western Kentucky University in the 1970s. “We did our first gig at Michael’s Pub, which used to be on Fairview Avenue.”

From that April 1982 beginning, the band developed a following as it played at weddings and at local venues such as Beech Bend Park and the Kona Kai Lounge located in the Holiday Inn that was on U.S. 31-W By-Pass.

Musicians have come and gone over those four decades, and Small and Mills have both gravitated more to the Mount Victor Revue bluegrass band in recent years, but the Ernie Small Blues Band has been a regular at downtown Bowling Green’s Concerts in the Park series and WKU’s Lost River Sessions.

“We’ve played hundreds of gigs over the years,” Small said. “Some years we might do 20 or more, other years maybe none.

“The sound we have and the success we’ve had is from the musicians we’ve been able to bring on board.”

Some of those musicians will be on display at the Capitol on May 20, when Small said the number of band members on stage could reach as high as 10, depending on the song being played.

Two other veteran members of the band will be on hand: Ernie Raymer, a keyboardist and guitarist who also plays with Orchestra Kentucky as part of The Rewinders group, and vocalist Jane Pearl.

Small also expects an appearance from Warren Circuit Judge Steve Wilson, the front man for the DiZZorderly Conduct band.

“We’ve done some gigs with him (Wilson),” Small said. “We did a Blues Brothers concert with him.”

Small’s band has some history with Pearl, who he expects will be a big draw for the 40th anniversary show. The vocalist lived in England for a number of years and recorded with the group Jane Pearl and the Odd Fellows.

Back in Bowling Green now, Pearl said: “It feels good when we all get together.”

That good feeling extends to management of the Warren County Public Library, which manages the county-owned Capitol and will benefit from the $10-apiece tickets.

“This is the type of event we imagined having when we took over the Capitol (last year),” said Lisa Rice, the library’s director. “Ernie and his band have always been supportive of the Capitol.”

That support should help Rice and her staff continue the rejuvenation of the historic venue that started when the library began leasing it from Arts of Southern Kentucky. “We appreciate that they’re benefiting the Capitol,” Rice said. “It needs some work, including fixing the marquee. Every little bit helps.”

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