The music of Tower of Power; Chicago; Blood, Sweat & Tears; and other outfits with horn sections come alive every time Peaceable Lane takes the stage. Â

The band consists of Tracy Hooker and Judson Scott on trumpet, Tom Harmon on saxophone, Jim Stevens on trombone, Mike Meyerdirk on drums, Rick Thompson and Mark Swanberg on guitar, Terry Toporke on bass, Rob Floberg on keyboards and Bobby Hoffman on vocals. Harmon, Stevens, Meyerdirk, Thompson, Toporke, Floberg and Swanberg all played in the group at various times in the early 1970s.

Their manager, Dan Ruffo, said the band was formed in 1969. He managed them for most of the time until their breakup in 1973. They were quite popular, touring the Uni-ted States and Canada. â??Back in 1970, you would swear you were listening to Chicago,â?? he recalled. Gale Long was the original singer. â??There was a time he couldnâ??t walk through Tacoma Mall without getting mobbed,â?? Ruffo recalled.

In 2005, he saw Floberg at Western Washington Fair and they talked about reforming the band. Ruffo found seven members were still in the Tacoma area. Some hadnâ??t played an instrument in years, Ruffo said.

Long had moved to Florida, and couldnâ??t be enticed to return. Hoffman, who sang for local legend Strypes in the 1980s, was recruited to replace him. Interestingly, he tried out for the group on drums in 1970.

â??The first few practices were pretty rough,â?? Ruffo admitted, â??but they have a lot of energy for a bunch of old guys.â??

Harmon said the band broke for a while in the early 1970s and reformed as Hot â??n Nasty before switching back to the original name. He played with them in Hot â??n Nasty.

He and Swanberg have played music together for over 30 years, he noted.

Harmon was not a member when it reformed in 2005.

His son died in a traffic accident, leaving behind a wife and young children. Harmon organized a benefit show at the Swiss, and Peaceable Lane performed at it. About five months ago, they asked him to join.

â??What we play is what I played back then when this music first came out,â?? Harmon noted. â??Back then I loved it. I grew up on it. In your teenage years certain things are magnetically imprinted in you.â??

On song selection, Harmon said the litmus test is a song must have horn parts. â??Other-wise, they are just paying us to stand around.â??

Scott is on the faculty at the University of Puget Sound. When the band reformed they had one of his students in the band. When he left to attend college out of state he suggested the band replace him with Scott.

He was a big fan of Blood, Sweat & Tears and Tower of Power in high school, and even tried to put together a Chicago tribute band.

Horn sections in rock fell out of favor by the late 1970s. â??Once punk happened it shoved the horn thing down,â?? Scott observed. He noted some rappers use horn samples, likely because of the connection between rap and R&B.

â??These are great tunes and the band is a lot of fun,â?? Scott remarked.

Among the challenges is coordinating gigs with the work and family schedules of 10 people, and fitting 10 guys on some of the smaller stages in certain bars.

Since all of them read and write music, when they select a song, â??they all want to do different arrangements,â?? Ruffo said.

The group is currently working on some original material. Stylistically, Ruffo described it as country/rock with a horn section.

Peaceable Lane plays Taste of Tacoma at Point Defiance Park at 6 p.m. June 30, and Dawsonâ??s July 27-28.