Aurora-based Empty Can Band to perform one last time this weekend

After performing for 22 years and opening for such legendary musicians as Koko Taylor and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees along the way, the Aurora-based Empty Can Band will play for the last time Saturday at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora.

“It is sweet sorrow for sure,” said band leader, singer and guitarist Dave Glynn.

He attributed the band’s decision to break up to several factors, including family, relocation and other personal reasons.

“Everybody is getting stretched out, that’s really what’s happening,” Glynn said. “Families are getting more extended and there’s some relocation stuff going on. One of the guys is living 50% of the time in Florida.”

The Empty Can Band will perform at 8 p.m. in the beer garden at Two Brothers Roundhouse, 205 N. Broadway Ave., Aurora. There is no cover charge.

The band has a long history with Two Brothers Roundhouse as it has been playing there since the early 2000s.

Glynn is also part of the nonprofit organization Fox Valley Music Foundation, which operates The Venue in downtown Aurora. The original band was formed by members of the Fox Valley Blues Society who were responsible for producing and presenting the Blues on the Fox festival in the festival’s early years.

Core members include Glynn, lead guitarist Johnny Mack and harmonica-player/frontman Rich Van Ham have been with the band since it first formed. The band’s original drummer and founding member Paul Wegman passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2010.

“That was a great loss the band,” Glynn said. “He was such a close friend.”

Todd Moffett took over for Paul Wegman on drums in 2010. Original bass player JD Klatt moved onto other projects in 2009, but has sat in with the band over the years.

Jim ‘Chevy’ Chevalier took over on bass in 2009. Ray Rehberg played rhythm guitar and mandolin from 2010 to 2018.

Keyboardist Jorge Orendain Madrigal and the Empty Can Horns featuring Lori Klatt on saxophone, Theresa Muir on flute and Dale Muir on trumpet have also supported the band over the years.

“It’s been a great run,” Glynn said. “Twenty-two years. It’s incredible. The first time the four of us got together to play was on Halloween in 1999. And then we just started playing together frequently. In May of 2000, we were asked to play at a benefit for a friend whose wife passed away from breast cancer. That was our first official gig. And then our first professional gig was in October 2000 at Mike & Denise’s in Aurora.”

The members of the band were honored to open for blues legend Koko Taylor.

“We’re huge blues fans, so the fact that we got to open up for Koko Taylor was killer,” Glynn said. “We were so pleased to do that.”

Being on the production team for the Blues on the Fox festival, the members learned a lot by watching and listening to the performers at the festival.

“I learned a lot about guitar tone and I learned a lot about stage presence and how to keep the crowd interested,” Glynn said.

Glynn and the other band members strive to create a fun atmosphere.

“Our slogan was ‘Environmentally safe and all about fun,’ " Glynn said.

He has great memories of playing with his fellow bandmates over the years.

“My best memories are of all of us playing on stage and laughing and smiling and just feeling the love playing together, especially when we get the audience going,” Glynn said. “It was all about the enjoyment of playing music. That’s something I’m going to miss a lot, the camaraderie that we’ve had. We’ve had a lot of laughs.”

Fortunately, Glynn will still have the chance to perform with Chevalier and Van Ham as part of another band that he formed, The Irish Mystics. Fiddler Andy Masters is also part of the band.

Glynn also plans to spend his time finishing a solo album.

At Saturday’s show, the Empty Can Band will be playing songs from throughout its career. The band released two albums over the years, “Still Alive,” comprised of both live performances and studio recordings and “Beautiful Man,” which is a tribute to the band’s late drummer.

“We’re definitely going to be playing a lot of originals,” Glynn said. “And we’re going to have some special guests.”