A group of experienced musicians from the Villa Rica area with a love of playing rock and roll mixed with rhythm and blues has come together to become Axis with its debut show scheduled for Saturday at AmVets Post 99 in Carrollton.

Each of the four members have played in other bands that were well-known in the West Georgia area, but those bands have all disbanded or over the years. Still wanting to continue playing, Dennis Hall, Neil Howell, Danny Kirk and Ben Harber decided to form their own band last August.

“It’s a culmination of other groups that had previously existed,” Hall said.

Howell, who previously played in the band Soul Well, is a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He broke onto the blues scene through Donald Kinsey and Albert King, touring three years with Little Milton following the release of two hits on the blues charts — “Behind the Closed Doors” and “If You Talk In Your Sleep.” During these tours he also performed with B.B. King and Denise Lasalle.

With Soul Well, a newer, more cutting edge sound emerged that combined influences from iconic groups such as Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd and Jeff Beck with current influences like Alice In Chains, Audio Slave, Sound Garden and Jeff Buckley. These sounds are evident in the music of Axis.

Kirk, a keyboard player and singer, played previously with Watusi Rodeo and Divided by Six. He’s a songwriter/composer with more than 40 years of experience as a musician. He also plays harmonica, trumpet, saxophone and several other instruments.

“Both Neil and Danny have been playing basically their whole lives at one place or another,” Hall said.

Hall, a veteran of the band 40 Years Later, played trumpet and baritone in high school, but picked up a bass guitar six years ago and has been playing it ever since. He also plays in the praise band at First Baptist Church of Villa Rica.

Harber, the youngest of the group at 26 years old compared to his counterparts who are all over 50, still has more than 10 years experience as a percussionist and is known for his cut-beat style of rhythm.

Axis can be heard in its inaugural performance this Saturday at the AmVets Post located at 816 Old Bremen Road in Carrollton behind West Georgia Ambulance off of Columbia Drive near Highway 27. The show begins at 8 p.m. and there will be three one-hour sets that will end at midnight. Tickets are $5.

“People can expect a really good rock and roll and rhythm and blues show with tunes from people like Eric Clapton, Argent and we even play some Pink Floyd,” Hall said. “We play songs that people are familiar with, but they really haven’t heard bands play live. That’s our goal, to play stuff that people haven’t heard over and over again.”

For ticket or other information, call 770-830-9937.