Meet the band
Jeanne Blessing - Vocals & Percussion
Jeanne Blessing is a founding member and lead vocalist with the Cincy Rockers. Her “rock star persona” was ignited with a history of great musicians and bands. ROK, The EcHos, the Gamut, Signs of Life, Vocal Palooza and Smooth. Jeanne’s BFA theatrical degree from CCM strengthens her talent to bring every song to life from a wide range of styles and genre. She feels blessed to be sharing the universal language of music with every audience. Her dynamic stage presence, personality and all-around beauty make her a fan favorite!
In the 70s, Jeff performed folk music as a solo act with the Queen City Balladeers, then in the early 80s, he and Dan Smith had an acoustic duo, called Smith & Wilson. The duo recorded an album named “Mine Is Bigger Than Yours” that received some local airplay on WUBE. As the 90s rolled in, Jeff and Dan formed a 5-piece rock band, The Spectacles, with Mark O’Keefe. After The Spectacles, Jeff wrote or co-wrote a number of country songs, with one, “Give Me A Ring”, picked up by a Nashville publisher. He also performed an original song, “Free To Love Again” on TNN’s Be A Star show in 1992. In 2006, Jeff, Dan, and Mark, along with Jeanne Blessing, Terry Truhart, and Pat Semancik, put together The Cincy Rockers.
Mark O'Keefe - Lead Guitar & Vocals
Mark’s musical interests have varied over his 57 years as a guitarist. As well as doing commercial recording projects for Cincinnati Bell, he has been a featured guitarist on several artists CD projects. He also performs as a guitarist at a variety of worship services around Cincinnati. In 1995, Mark won an area-wide guitar competition sponsored by Q102 radio and Jimmy Buffett. The prize for this was to perform live on stage with “Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band” at Riverbend Music Center and a Gibson Les Paul autographed to him by Jimmy Buffett after the performance. Mark has recently become a member of the Faculty at the Cincinnati School of Rock as a guitar instructor. Mark and Jeanne Blessing are available to perform as “duO’Blessing” for weddings and events
Dan Smith - Drums & Vocals
Dan has performed with numerous Cincinnati based bands. Some include: the New Coventry, Big Red and the Comancheros,The Bentwood Rockers and the Spectacles. While playing with those groups, Dan opened for Lenny Welch, the Grass Roots., the Buckinghams, the Turtles, Johnny Rivers, Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad), Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) and Phil Dirt and the Dozers. Dan also plays guitar, bass, keyboard, harmonica, mandolin, and dobro.
Pat started out playing trumpet in the St. Ignatius band in 1969. He went on to LaSalle High School and played trumpet in the LaSalle marching and concert bands. While at a LaSalle sock hop, Pat started watching the bass player in a band, and said to himself, “Gee, I could do that”. With his brother Tom’s help, he purchased a Vox Panther Bass for $80, and within three weeks was in a band. Over the years, Pat played with many bands, before finally ending up playing gigs with Mark O’Keefe and Jeanne Blessing, and the rest is history.
Tom Slager - Keyboards Tom began his Rock and Roll music career in the late 1960’s, playing with several bands in Wisconsin. His first band, The Satellites, won the Battle of the Bands in his hometown, when Tom was a sophomore in high school. The band was then invited to compete in the Wisconsin Statewide Battle of the Bands at the Milwaukee Arena and placed seventh. Tom also played in several other bands throughout high school and college, before moving to Cincinnati to pursue a business career and raise a family. In 2019, Tom got back into the rock and roll scene in Cincinnati, playing in three local Cincinnati bands. Tom joined The Cincy Rockers in 2022 as the newest member of the band.