"I'll bet that there isn't a single black guy in the Old Black Joe Band," one guy quipped to his friend several hours before the Old Black Joe and Friends Band took the stage at the Dam Bar in downtown Belleville. The day full of music kicked off in early afternoon when the Belleville area band, Ghosts in the Room, fired up the guitars at Dot's Tavern in Basco. Each of the five area venues had their band scheduled for three-hour gigs.

Dot's Bar, one of those funky basement bars that have become so rare today, had a fully packed house to listen and dance to the music of Ghosts in the Room, a darn good homegrown band of Bellevillle area musicians, including Doug Sias, who has been playing for many decades.

The band broke into the 1971 song written by Jackson Browne and given to his neighbor and friend to finish writing:

"I'm running down the road

Trying to loosen my load

Got seven women on my mind

Four that want to own me

Two that want to stone

One who says she's a friend of mine."

As the band finished the Eagle's song, Take it Easy, one of the guitar players quietly spoke, "Thanks Glenn Frey." Frey was one of the founders of the Eagles, and the neighbor and friend of Jackson Brown. Frey passed away last week.

At the J&M Bar the sounds, Squirrel Gravy, held their very loyal audience for three hours of excellent downhome bluegrass. Dale Ward, who has been involved in the music scene in this area for the past 50 years, put this band together about two years ago. Their soothing and gentle music brings back memories of the late 50s and early 60s black and white television music programs that often featured area bands in the days when television stations were truly local in nature.

Down the street at The Nest, a truly intimate basement bar, the crowd was entertained by Acoustic Alloy, an acoustic pop and country band that kept their followers smiling for three hours of good music.

Holding down the 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. spot at the Dam Bar was Old Black Joe Blues, a kick-butt blues group from Madison. You walk into the Dam Bar and the immediate feeling that comes over you is you've been planted firmly in the Queen Bee, Smitty's Corner or Silvios blues clubs in Chicago in the 1960's, or in a blues juke joint in Memphis.

The band leader is Guy Fields, a retired history teacher in Madison Public School System. The minute you lay eyes on Field, you realize he must be a rather fascinating person. And he didn't disappoint. When you hear the name, Old Black Joe, the first dusty memory that hits you is the 1853 Stephen Foster song, Old Black Joe, a song you learned so many long years ago in school. Old Black Joe was inspired by a servant in Foster's father-in-law's home in Pittsburgh.

But in real life, as band leader Guy Fields explains, "an Old Black Joe is an elderly black male who is wise of council, an individual of good character, the last of his tribe. The term Old Black Joe isn't a derogatory term, but one of showing respect and honor to those who have come before us."

As Fields talks, his love of music comes out loud and clear. "It's a part of me, of my being; my Grandma sang Boogie Woogie and my Grandpa played the blues." Fields grew up in Chicago, but his family roots are Arkansas and Tennessee.

"My parents were raised in Tennessee but moved to Chicago and that is where I learned the traditional blues and how to play them," he reflected on his past. "My grandparents still lived in Memphis and I would get to take the train to visit them. Mother and Dad would take me to Chicago Union Station to catch the train to Memphis. I was six years old at the time. They pinned a note on me with my name and my grandparent's name. The car steward would keep an eye on me and ensure that I got off the train and to my grandparents." The memories of Field's innocent past run deep.

The guys who were willing to bet that Old Black Joe band had no black people in the band would be surprised at the ethnic makeup of the band. Fields and his drummer, who lives in Janesville, are black, two of the guitar players are white and two other musicians are Cambodian. Indeed a strange combination to be playing kick-butt blues, but their music is just great.

Fields closed by telling a story of playing one night and couple of guys in the front row were really paying attention to the music, one looked at Fields and told his friend, "that guy is playing only two cords, but he plays the hell out of them."

For those who want to hear Old Black Joe Blues, the group plays each Friday night from 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., on the second floor of the Hop Garden in Paoli.

The 2016 Belleville Music Crawl ended at Sugar River Lanes with the Eric Nofsinger & Midnight Rodeo. If you seek out the older country music, this band is the one to listen and dance to.