​Bob, aka Dr. G, has been hooked on the blues since high school and he’s been playing  blues harmonica and keys since then. He, along with Bob Young, are founding members of the Boathouse Blues Band, which hails from Niantic, CT, and he has also played with several bands in the DC area.  He started this new project to focus on high energy, upbeat blues tunes and he has recruited four experienced area musicians that share his enthusiasm for this music. He has dug deep to find blues and ‘blues-infused’ songs that will make you want to get up and shake it. The Blues Doctor is in and this is blues to cure what ails you!

​Shawn started playing music at an early age. Growing up in Hawaii his first instrument was the ukulele. He moved to Westerly in 1975 and purchased his first electric guitar with paper route money at Charlie Bean Music in downtown Westerly. After being unable to secure a bass player for his fledgling rock band, he took his guitar to Caruso music and traded it for a bass. The rest is history. Over the years he’s played in local bands Out of the Bleu, Euphoria, Dirty Tricks, In the Woods, and others. He started Redbone recording studio in the early 90’s, recording over a 1000 local band demos and albums. Shawn is well known in the area for his role as the live sound engineer at the Knickerbocker in Westerly, spending 17 years working with the best local and national talent. This past year, he retired from the Knick, and joined Dr. G and the Believers, providing the driving bass rhythm that gets you up and out of your seat at a Dr. G and the Believers’ show!  

Ray is a self-taught blues guitar player that has played with or started some of the best-known blues bands in New England. He formed the Wildcats, Rock Bottom and the House Rockers before joining the Mike Crandall Band, with whom he won the Connecticut Blues Challenge three times, and represented Connecticut in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Ray has opened for great acts such as Roomful of Blues, James Montgomery, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, James Cotton, NRBQ, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, Jerry Portnoy, Clarence Clemmons and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. He brings this rich blues experience to Dr. G and the Believers!

Steve Smigiel began a lifelong journey playing drums at age 10 and studied under local legend Ernest Centoscudi. He   also has performed locally as an acoustic guitar “Band of One”.  After retiring from a career in non-profit accounting, Steve has been a regular jammer and drum host on the local  jam scene and has played with a number of  local bands including most recently the Night Shakers blues band. “I grew up playing “classic rock” when it was just ‘rock’  but love the history, feel and joy of performing the up tempo blues of Dr. G and the Believers.”

Joel Caputo is a saxophonist and music educator from Hopkinton, RI. As a student at the University of Rhode Island, he has earned a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in music performance. Joel has had the privilege of performing in a variety of settings across the New England area, including the Newport Jazz Festival, regional conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance, and the International Saxophone Symposium. Currently, he is playing in multiple local groups in addition to Dr. G and the Believers, and is also teaching students in private lessons.