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Carol Anne Chouteau, Jim Van Aker, Bob Maddelein, and Rick Maddelein.

If you go to see a concert by a band with this name, you'll expect it to work hard for your attention.

So it is with the Blue Collar Band, which has been earning fans' applause around the Quad-Cities for more than a decade.

The group will perform the latest of its countless gigs this weekend, when it hits the stage at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Greenbriar in Moline .

For more info on the BCB, keep readin'...

-- After a breakup in 2002, drummer Jim Van Acker resurrected the band by convincing lead singer Carol Anne Chouteau to stay on board and joining forces with his cousins, guitarist Rick Maddelein and bassist/keyboardist Bob Maddelein. The lineup remains the same today.

-- Beginning her singing career in high school, Ms. Chouteau sang many solos in musicals and variety shows, and she won a slot in the state choir competition. She went on to sing lead with several local bands before beginning to belt out lead vocals with the Blue Collar Band in 1999.

-- Bassist Bob Maddelein began his musical career with formal training on pedal keyboards. He went on to play the keys with several bands during the 1970s, never really intending to be a bass player. It's when he was called upon to join the Blue Collar band that Bob applied his keyboard bass pedal expertise to the bass guitar, laying down a solid bottom to the band's rhythm section.

-- Influenced by the likes of the Ventures, Elvis and Ricky Nelson, Rick Maddelein already was an accomplished guitarist by the time of the British invasion of 1964. Showing no interest in sports or other school activities, he spent all his time mastering his guitar. His love of rock music is very evident in his performances today, from screaming leads to melancholy chord structures.

-- Drummer Jim Van Acker also started at a very young age, studying the methods of Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. He began performing with Rick as a youngster in the early 1960s, eventually traveling to a Chicago studio where they recorded a single, "I Could Love You," written by Rick, which became a hit on local radio station KSTT. Jim continued through the years perfecting his craft, as his aggression on the drums provides a rock solid beat to the band's overall sound.