"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,...