For nearly 25 years, the Blooze Brothers have been performing at major corporations such as Microsoft and Kraft, plus thousands of festivals, theaters, weddings and backyard barbecues. At Barack Obama’s second inauguration, they took the stage and represented Illinois.

Now, the Blues Brothers tribute band will come to Charleston as they are set to perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26 in the Doudna Fine Arts Center’s Dvorak Concert Hall.

Chuck Little, who plays Elwood Blooze, said inspiring kids to get involved in music is important to him as a musician.

“It’s so important that these schools continue the music department, that kids learn how to play an instrument, not just (to) hit a button on a computer and try to sample something,” Little said. “Let’s face it¾unless a real musician lays down that track at some point in time, there is nothing to sample.”

Little said his goal is to give the fans a genuine concert experience that they can get nowhere else.

“We want people to feel the live experience,” he said. “I take pride knowing that the band behind me (is) producing that kind of a sound with no supplements or samples.”

Behind the scenes at the Blooze Brothers’ shows, laughter ties everything together, Little said.

“You are going to see amazing camaraderie. We are a family,” Little said. “You would think it was a comedy show going on backstage.”

Little said the next big step for the Blooze Brothers is partnering with some of the original Blooze Brothers’ cast.

“The Belushi estate and Dan Aykroyd’s are in the process of officially licensing and sanctioning our act,” Little said.

Dan Crews, interim director of programming, publicity and promotions for Doudna, said he hopes students will enjoy the concert and look at it as a fun way to launch the new school year.

Because of prior connections he has made, Crews said getting the Blooze Brothers to Eastern was relatively easy.

“I just went to their website and called the number listed. Once I spoke to Chuck, he said the band originally scheduled that weekend off, but they were definitely on board with performing here at Eastern,” Crews said.

Crews said the Blooze Brothers meant something special to him growing up.

“I am originally from Calumet City, Illinois where the Blues Brothers were supposed to be from,” Crews said. “My friends and I thought the movie ‘Blues Brothers’ was great because that was our hometown.”

Years after the film, Crews said the creation of various music genres has had both a positive and negative impact on millennials.

“Sometimes I think that maybe you have not had an opportunity to explore the roots of that music,” Crews said. “Maybe that’s one of the things subconsciously that I wanted to do — is bring a group like the Blooze Brothers that features that iconic music.One of the things that the movie did was get a lot people interested in blues music and soul music.”

Concert space is limited to 568 people because of the venue and tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets can be purchased at the Doudna Fine Arts Center Box Office by calling 217- 581- 3110 or emailing doudnatix@eiu.edu.

Domonique Hill can be reached at 581-2812 or ddhill@eiu.edu.