It is not a rockabilly band. The band does not like to be included in the genre of rockabilly bands, they are not into Buddha or the philosophy of life and they are not originally from St. Louis.

Hudson Harkins, the Hoodoo Cats band leader and drummer, said the band’s music has a wide influence and the only reason people assume they are a rockabilly band is they play some rockabilly songs.

Part of (being in that genre) is that I stand up when I play drums and people sometimes refer that to the Stray Cats, Harkins said.

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A definition of the Hoodoo Cats:They are a band out of Austin, Texas, that has been adopted by the St. Louis music scene. Its self-described music is Texas Roadhouse a combination of blues, swing and rockabilly bar music. And the Buddha statue in the photo is an inside joke. Harkins believes that he and Buddha look alike.

We take old songs and Hoodoo’ them, he said. You always come back to the roots music.

Harkins said his influences were the combination of progressive country that eventually evolved into the blues and the creation of the Hoodoo Cats in 1989. John Logan, guitarist, has been with the group from the beginning and Robert Remos, bassist, has been with the band for over a year.

The first CD release, It’s Hoodoo Time, came out around the New Year. Harkins said the release is more creative and is intended to put a good time spell on the listener.

Harkins said they are a bar band but recently have been playing festivals around Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Festivals are always fun, he said. The basic of our music is not to have some kind of brilliant things to say, just to have a good time.

No one goes to a festival to have some kind of revelation, Harkins said.

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With Texas Roadhouse music, the band attracts a wide range of people.

The swing and blues stuff attracts the older people, he said. The rock, blues and funky stuff (attracts) the dancing younger college crowd.

With the saturation of the Austin music scene, Harkins moved the band to St. Louis, where he found a great agent.

Austin is a great place to put together a band, Harkins said. But it’s hard to make a living.

We started coming to St. Louis about four years ago. The door has always been open and we have been, in part, a local band.

The band has played Tres Hombres a couple of times and Harkins pointed out those performances have been some of his favorites.

If anyone is interested in seeing the band Hoodoo a song, Harkins said to come on out to the Sunset Concert tonight on Shryock steps at 7 p.m.