Godsmack members start local blues-rock band

• The Blue Cross Band plays at Dixie Roadhouse nightclub in Cape Coral Sunday
• The band will play during Bike Night on the roof of Two Brothers Homestyle Cooking in Punta Gorda Saturday

Drummer Shannon Larkin counts off the beat, and the band launches into a new song called "To Hell With You."

But wait a minute: This sounds nothing like Larkin's hugely popular hard rock band, Godsmack. There aren't any chugging metal chords, and that singer sounds more like Jim Morrison than Godsmack frontman Sully Erna.

This isn't hard rock.

This is the blues.

And Godsmack fans probably should get used to it.

Godsmack might not be around for many more years, Larkin says. And if he and lead guitarist Tony Rombola have their way, this is the sound they'll be making together for decades to come.

"I see myself doing The Blue Cross Band after Godsmack," says the tattooed, high-energy Larkin, sitting in the band's dimly lit Cape Coral rehearsal space decorated with rock-band posters, Godsmack gold records and a floor crowded with guitars and stacked drums.

Things to do in Southwest Florida June 27-July 6

"This is a style of music I can see myself playing well into my 60s."

Metal is a young man's game, he explains. And once you hit your 50s and 60s, it becomes too physically demanding to play — especially for the drummer.

"When I hit the drums in Godsmack, I'm trying to kill 'em," Larkin, 47, says and smiles. "In The Cross, I shut my eyes, and I'm into the lyrics and the song and Tony's guitar playing and Brian's bass.

"It's a band thing. Whereas in Godsmack, it's like a gang thing (laughs). We're out to pummel."

The new band debuted last month to a packed house at The Cigar Bar in downtown Fort Myers. Now they're back again for two more Southwest Florida concerts: Saturday at downtown Punta Gorda's Bike Night and Sunday at Cape Coral's Dixie Roadhouse nightclub.

The rest of the world hasn't heard much yet from The Blue Cross Band. But give it time.

After leaving to tour with Godsmack next month, Larkin and Rombola plan to return to their Cape Coral home next year and devote much of their time to The Blue Cross Band. That means recording their first album, finding a record label and playing more shows in Southwest Florida and beyond.

Singer Ray Cerbone — who goes by "Sir Rafer John" in The Blue Cross Band to distinguish himself from his acoustic singer-songwriter solo material – likes to call their music "the blues and then some."

"We've got one foot in the blues, and some of our stuff is rock," Cerbone says. "Some of it edges on metal, almost. ... But it always has a blues edge."

Rombola says it's refreshing to play something different from the chugging, down-tuned, super-heavy music he makes with Godsmack. These new songs reminds him of the music that got him into playing guitar in the first place — blues-inspired acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

"I've spent my life playing different styles," Rombola says. "With Godsmack, it's one part of what I do. Which is cool, and I try to get better at that, especially in the songwriting department.

"But (with The Blue Cross Band) I get to play all the stuff I've learned with the blues and apply it to these songs. It's a lot of fun!"

The Blue Cross Band came to life about two years ago in Larkin's storefront rehearsal space/recording studio in Cape Coral. Larkin moved to The Cape in about 2005 after Godsmack singer Erna bought a house there. Erna eventually left, but Larkin liked the small-town vibe and stayed. And bandmate Rombola soon followed him there.

After jamming and writing Godsmack songs in their rehearsal space, the two started playing around with other styles of music just to see what happened. And that's when Larkin heard a side of Rombola he didn't know existed: the bluesy, funky side given to long, intense guitar solos.

"He's a bad-ass guitar player!" Larkin says. "We started jamming. And I said, 'Dude, the world has to hear you play guitar like this!'"

Once they realized they were onto something special, Larkin called up local biker buddy Cerbone and asked him to sing on one of their new blues songs. Cerbone's voice fit the music perfectly, Rombola says. "I heard some Jim Morrison in his voice. I'd never heard anybody sound like Jim Morrison! So right away, I made a connection with that."

The new band still needed a bassist, though. They tried out Godsmack's Robbie Merrill, but he still lives in Boston and they wanted someone local so they can play more gigs. Then they called Brian Carpenter, who plays in a new version of the Southern rock band Blackfoot being organized by former member (and current Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist) Rickey Medlocke.

"We jammed, just the four of us," Larkin says. "and the magic was there right away. There wasn't even a question. So I called up Robbie right away and fired him (laughs)."

The band's name has nothing to do with the insurance company, by the way. It originated in Godsmack's Boston rehearsal room while they were working on the 2006 album "IV." They'd write down song titles on a dry-erase board: Erna songs would be marked with a red star, and Larkin/Rombola songs would be marked with a blue cross.

"We would write a song, and we happen to just pick up the blue pen, and we put a blue cross," Larkin says. "And so they became 'blue cross songs.'"

So far, those "blue cross songs" range from the slow blues jam of "Crossover" to the funky, near-metal blast of "Work in Progress." They've written about 15 songs with titles such as "Junkie Hell," "To Hell With You" (actually a love song), "Two Faces of Evil" and "The Devil Plays a Stratocaster."

Larkin says he wants The Blue Cross Band to have a dark vibe — one of the few things this music has in common with Godsmack's. He loves the legend about bluesman Robert Johnson selling his soul to be a great guitar player, and he wants to carry that theme into this new band.

"I wanted the band to be evil!" Larkin says. "And I want to keep the music evil. But I want to do it subtly. Because I don't worship Old Scratch or nothin' crazy, you know. I'm a normal dude."

After years of playing arenas, Larkin and Rombola say it's fun to go back to clubs and bars. Their Cigar Bar show was a far cry from Godsmack gigs: No road crew, a tiny stage, iffy sound quality, and Larkin crammed against the wall with little room for his signature drumstick tricks.

"It was packed!" Larkin says. "And it was hot and smoky!"

Still, it was more raw and intimate than what they're used to with Godsmack.

"It's fun after all we've done to go back and play a club," Rombola says. "It's all different and new to me."

But metal fans be warned: You won't hear Godsmack hits such as "I Stand Alone," "Voodoo" or new single "1000hp."

These local shows are all about the blues.

"We're so different from Godsmack," Larkin says and grins. "If you're there to hear Godsmack, you're at the wrong gig!"

CHECK THEM OUT

The Blue Cross Band plays two shows in Southwest Florida this weekend. This will be the band's last local concert before Godsmack goes on tour.

Saturday: The band will play during Bike Night on the roof of Two Brothers Homestyle Cooking, 307 E. Marion Ave., downtown Punta Gorda. Show starts at 8 p.m. with opening act Breaking Blues. Free admission. 941-347-8483 or 2brotherspg.com

Sunday: The Blue Cross Band plays at Dixie Roadhouse nightclub, 1023 S.E. 47th Terrace, downtown Cape Coral. Show starts at 7 p.m. with opening acts Sheena Brook and Breaking Blues. $5 cover charge. 541-7900 or thedixie.com