What do a municipal councillor, an insurance broker, a downtown merchant and a high school teacher have in common, other than the fact they are all in their late 30s?

Well, if you take these four professionals out of their suits and put them together in front of an audience, the answer is Big Sweet Lou.

The four piece band – Sean McIlroy (insurance) on drums, Lewis Hodgson (councillor) on guitar and lead vocals, Mike Taylor (owns The Finds) on bass and Jordan Riley (music teacher) on keyboards – have been together about 18 months, and as anyone who knows the local music scene can attest, they make very sweet music.

The band originally started out as a trio, said McIlroy, who founded the group along with Hodgson. “That was about eight years ago. We had another bass player, Wade Wettlaufer, but he had other obligations and had to quit.”

At that time the trio  rehearsed once a week at McIlroy’s home and performed about once a month. Not much has changed with the schedule since then.

“It’s a good combination for us. At one point we started doing more, but it was too much. We still have our own lives, and let’s face it: we don’t want to be rock stars. It’s a great hobby to have and we just want to have fun.”

McIlroy began his drumming career at Huntsville High School under teacher John Hall. Hodgson was born, raised and still lives in Burk’s Falls, where he sits on council. “He has been involved with bands and productions over the years,” said McIlroy.

Riley is a music teacher at Huntsville High School and Taylor once played professionally, touring with a rock band across Canada. “He got tired of living the rock-star life and put away his bass until we struck up a friendship when he came to town. He dusted off his bass and joined us,” said McIlroy.

Big Sweet Lou plays at resorts, weddings, corporate events, private functions and occasionally bars, although the latter keeps them up too late, McIlroy said.

Their next gig is this Saturday, Aug. 30 when they open for Judge Jackson at the Algonquin Theatre. McIlroy and Judge Jackson’s lead singer, Todd McTavish, are old friends.

“Todd came to Huntsville High School late, but we soon became friends as we had a common interest in music,” said McIlroy.

“Todd’s dad (Huntsville’s John McTavish) met Jordan on the street one day and they got talking and he invited our band to be the opening act for Judge Jackson.”

While most of the music the band plays are cover songs, a mix of rock, pop and funk, the invitation to open for one of Los Angeles’ top bands has inspired the four to write some original music.

“We all contributed and it came together pretty quickly. We’ll be playing for about half an hour and we’ll be premiering our own stuff at the show,” said McIlroy.

As to the band’s name, well,   there hangs a tale. “I always liked the idea of a band name being a fictitious person. When I was younger I was a great fan of Sweet Lou Dunbar, who played with the Harlem Globetrotters. I thought it was the coolest name. (In our band) Wade is a big guy, Lou is for Lewis and the others always called me the sweet boy of the band, so we became Big Sweet Lou.”

Big Sweet Lou is a familiar name locally, and that’s how the band likes it. “We don’t want or have to travel too far,” McIlroy concluded.

Catch the band at the Algonquin this Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $24 and available at the Algonquin Theatre box office, 789-4975, or online at www.algonquintheatre.ca.