The Shadow Cats, a band dedicated to bringing favorite songs from the ‘60s era to the present day, are available for booking for parties and events across southwestern Pennsylvania. The band travels from Connellsville, Pennsylvania to Fairmont, West Virginia and sometimes beyond.

The band officially came together in 2017, but the concept of starting the band came much earlier, as well as the idea that the band wanted to stand out from other local musicians.

“I put the Shadow Cats together along with my guitar player, Mike Dohanich,” Timm Reeves, bass guitarist and vocalist for the band, said. “We started playing together in 1978, in our parents’ basements.” 

Wanting to stand out, Reeves searched for musicians to play saxophone and keyboard, allowing  no limit to the songs they could play on stage. Through mutual experiences and friends, the band is composed of Reeves, lead and backing vocals, Dohanich, guitar and backing vocals, Joe Bogucki, lead and backing vocals, Bob Maxon, sax and backing vocals, Butch Tavoletti, keyboards and Jim Miller, drums and digital programming. With their unique arrangement of instruments, the band can play any song.

The name for the music group came from Reeves’ brother, who threw out the idea in 2015.

“I thought it was different and catchy, so I decided to just go with it,” Reeves said. “You can spend weeks throwing names back and forth. This was the name from day one.”

Reeves’ brother passed away in August, so the name has even more significance to the members now.

The Shadow Cats band members all have plenty of experience playing music, ranging from 10 to more than 30 years of musical background.

“Our goal from day one was to put a band together that was different from the other area bands, which we believe will lead us to better gigs. It’s working out the way we thought it would,” Reeves said. 

The band has played hundreds of bars throughout the year, and they like the idea of better hours, better crowds and better gigs all around.

Recently, the Shadow Cats have played locations such as Frankie I’s in Washington, as well as, Pennsylvania and Sabraton’s Station in Morgantown, West Virginia. The band is hoping to play the Rain Day Festival in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania this year, and is headlining the Rices Landing RiverFest in June. The Shadow Cats will also be the main attraction for the last night of the Carmichaels Coal Show in August.

“The 2020 schedule is filling up fast,” Reeves said. “We’re booked for almost every Saturday night for the entire year already.”

While holding down regular jobs and supporting their families, the band’s goal is to just keep on with what they’ve got going.

“Lots of guys our age have hobbies that cost them a pile of money. Our hobby actually pays us. That’s pretty cool,” Reeves said. “I have a group of musicians that love playing together and thrive on being the best. That’s always the drive.”