If you've

ventured by the Cruse Coffee Co. in Peachtree City on a

Friday night, chances are you probably saw the local

blues act, Vida Blue.

The band is

a three-piece made up of Fayette County residents Stacie

Hatcher, Tom Watts and Thor Hanes, and they are building

a sizable following.

The band

was formed almost four years ago by Hanes, who was a

drama teacher at Sandy Creek High School for several

years before deciding to just teach classes that help

students prepare for the SAT. He met Hatcher almost seven

years ago, when as a substitute he gave her a detention

for making fun of his name. Watts has been playing with

the band for over a year and has a daughter that was a

student under Hanes.

Playing a

variety of classic rock and blues, Vida Blue keeps the

mood light and clearly has fun.

Hanes first

got into blues when he attended Northwestern University

in Illinois. He was a member of several different heavy

metal bands for a few years, before deciding to rest his

weather-destroyed voice for nearly a decade.

Four years

ago, Hanes made an important random purchase that led to

the birth of Vida Blue. He purchased a book and a

harmonica and began to learn to play. Soon he was playing

extremely well and in April of last year he won a

regional harmonica competition at Blind Willie's in

Atlanta.

The band

has played all over the Southeast in bars, coffeehouses

and festivals. Recently, while performing at a Starbucks

in Atlanta, the band enjoyed having Governor Roy Barnes

in the audience.

The trio

like playing at Cruse Coffee a lot more than playing at

bars, where the crowd can be very noisy, disintersted and

surly. Their set list covers everything from the Rolling

Stones and The Beatles to Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters.

"We

really appreciate classic rock," said Hanes.

"It's a real crowd pleaser and we like the Rolling

Stones, who have been heavily influenced by the blues, as

well as songs by David Bowie or Simon and

Garfunkel."

Vida Blue

gives its audiences a good appreciation of the blues,

though, debunking many myths a long the way.

"A lot

of people say they don"t know a blues song,"

explains Hanes, "but the theme from `Batman' is a

blues song. Other people think that the blues are sad. `I

Feel Good' by James Brown is a blues song and that's not

sad."

Though the

band has recorded before, it does not currently have a

CD. The performers hope to go into a studio and record

this spring. There a few originals that they sprinkle in

with their voluminous number of covers, but for the most

part they do not have enough time to write original

material. Hanes works seven days a week on the SAT

classes and Hatcher is currently attending Georgia State

University.

Vida Blue

should enjoy a long run in Fayette County. It is a

talented group of musicians that get along incredibly

well with each other.

There is no

designated leader in the group and members' tastes are

similar enough that few disagreements ever arise.

They will

appear at Cruse Coffee Co. on the next two Fridays from

8:30-11:30 p.m. There is a $2 cover charge.

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