Doug Bell Concerts to Take Place Tonight and 12/16, 12/17

It wasn't until singer-songwriter Doug Bell, founder of the neoswing big band Bellevue Cadillac, was interviewed by online magazine Dieselpunks.org, that he realized some consider him part of the ‘Steampunk' movement.

"Steampunk is growing worldwide," Bell says. "On the internet you'll find a forum that discusses Target Stores' selection of jewelry and clothing that fits the genre. There's a company called Steampunk Emporium, and a site called steampunklab.com where followers write about the genre." A couple in Sharon, Mass., has designed their home in Steampunk style.

Bell, whose music over the past four decades combines jazz, blues and gospel that results in a modern sound, nicely fits the Steampunk mold: Living a life - and performing - in a way that looks old-fashioned, yet speaks to the future. It's been called "aesthetically pleasing in a punkish way." The term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk, inspired by the inventive and adventurous spirit of the Age of Steam. A goal is to create a better future by merging the zeitgeist of the past with the technology and attitude of today.

So, are Bell and Bellevue Cadillac (www.bellevuecadillac.com) Steampunk pioneers? Bell told Diselpunks.org, "In some ways we're traveling on parallel paths. I love the concept of these rich design periods, the steam age, and diesel age, the chrome, steel, curves, lines, stabs of vibrant color on black and gray, like the TV show The Wild, Wild West, or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Time Machine, even Planet of the Apes. I see it as King Kong Meets Aliens. "I actually like the steampunk/dieselpunk vibe better than the neoswing thing in that it pushes forward, not entrenched in the past. Neoswing grew out of the punk movement. I guess that's why I like Royal Crown best of all the bands; they embody that swagger, they've got that tough neighborhood, West Side Story thing going on," Bell says.

"I try to take modern life, issues, characters, ideas and put them in a context that might be 20s, 30s, 40s. Even though we're playing with vintage instruments, there's a next year's model feel to it. It's difficult to explain, but like Sgt. Pepper was modern meets classical in a sense and a bit of psychedelic, I try to do that with American music -- all American music, not just genre specific, which makes it kind of a hybrid."

So Bellevue Cadillac does have hints of Steampunk. Bell says, "Our shows offer high intensity dynamics and a lot of motion, like taking a road trip with some whacko at the wheel in a big caddie convertible, traveling all over America, punching the radio buttons without knowing what kind of station you tuned in to. With each song you get transported to another completely different song and genre: cha cha, surf, Tex-Mex, Caribbean, Havana, hot mambo. Suddenly you're in Memphis, then Detroit - Then ukulele, trombones, bari saxes, flugelhorn, clarinet, melodica, flute, jug, washboard, then I'll rap a Starbucks menu. It's like New England weather: Wait a minute, it will change."

Last spring, Doug Bell was invited to jointhe Boston Legends All-Star Concert Tour that included J. Geils, Danny Klein and Magic Dick; Barry Goudreau, formerly of the band Boston; Joe Pet of the Joe Perry Project; Jon Butcher of the Jon Butcher Axis; Charlie Farren of The Joe Perry Project and Farrenheit; and David Hull, who has performed with Aerosmith and The Joe Perry Project; The Uptown Horns, who have backed The Rolling Stones and The J. Geils Band.

Bell also does his part for worthy causes. In April at an American Cancer Society fundraiser in Palm Beach, auctioneer Donald Trump raised $20,000 for the services of culinary rocker Johnny Ciao and Doug Bell. They'll be the featured guests at a private event on November 12 in Florida. Bell is a cancer survivor and his wife is a physician at Boston's renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

On Friday, October 28 at 8 p.m., Bell will perform at the J Geils All-Star Jazz and Blues Review at the new Shalin Liu Performance Center for the Arts in Rockport, Mass. A solo performance by Bell at the Sarasota Chalk Festival is set for Nov. 6. The full band will play at Chan's Eggrolls & Jazz in Woonsocket, RI, on Dec. 16 and headline at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, NH on Dec. 17.

For a taste of Doug Bell's solo sound, visit www.bellevuecadillac.com and click on ‘Doug Bell and Friends' soon to be released CD, or go to Vimeo / ‘Doug Bell Unplugged.' For other Doug Bell music, type the name at YouTube and Songza (Bellevue Cadillac Radio), and www.reverbnation.com/dougbellandbellevuecadillac .