Duo spends 20 years traversing the South Coast through song

Twenty years ago, friends Gene Beaudoin and Bob Blais were part of a band based in Marshfield, but after the group broke up, the pair formed a two-man group.

Their first gig as a duo was at a Texas Instruments retirement organization, and ever since then Beaudoin, who lives in Dartmouth, and Blais, who lives in Attleboro, have been traveling across the South Coast and Rhode Island to perform at a variety of venues.

Beaudoin and Blais perform around 50 to 60 times a year, though Beaudoin noted that “it’s not easy getting gigs.”

“They have a lot of choices out there, and a lot of times they’re looking for younger people, so that’s a disadvantage for us right now,” he said.

Blais added, “In this business they look to see how much there’s in the cash register at the end of the day.”

He said that they’ve been performing for the past 20 years simply because “we just both really like it.”

“You’re not going to get rich on it, not at our level anymore,” Beaudoin said.

The duo plays a variety of music, ranging from jazz and 70s rock to current day pop songs. 

They also try to make their music sound fuller than how a two-man group can often be. This includes playing songs by artists such as Steely Dan and adding a fourth chord rather than sticking with three.

“We like a lot of variety and different kinds of things to go on, more technique,” Blais said.

Beaudoin and Blais also recently brought on Dartmouth resident Leah Chesney as an additional vocalist to provide backup vocals.

“It’s much better, because Gene has a pedal that put all background voices in, but it’s not the same,” Blais said.

Beaudoin noted that this is because “she’s a human.”

Beaudoin and Chesney first met years ago when he was part of a group that her mom was the choral director of.

“Thirty years later, we met again here,” he said.

Prior to each performance, Beaudoin creates a set list as a template but often changes it up based on how audience members are reacting.

“We kind of change it on the fly to accommodate the people that are here,” he said.

Blais joked, “Especially if tomatoes are thrown here.”

He said that when the audience is into the music it “kind of excels you to play better," noting, “It’s not like, ‘Oh God, am I making these people not be too happy with what I’m playing?’”

The trio recently performed at Running Brook Vineyard as part of the vineyard’s live music weekend series.

“It’s fun playing it at breweries and wineries as well, because breweries are fun,” Beaudoin said. “It’s kind of a relaxed atmosphere, not as restrictive as eateries where you’re in tight spaces and they don’t want you to turn up.”

While Blais and Beaudoin don’t currently write their own music, Blais called songwriting their “next phase.”

“I wake up with ideas a lot,” Beaudoin said.