This Des Moines band formed more than 30 years ago. They reunited to play a sold-out show.

If you were frequenting Cantina Off Court or Safari Club in the 1990s, you might have encountered the Des Moines band The Rathbones.

The alternative band blending covers and original music into their sets not only performed locally, but traveled across the Midwest for shows over the course of seven years.

Delivering high-energy sets and introducing audiences to music they wouldn’t hear elsewhere defined The Rathbones.

Now, they have another descriptor: Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famers.

The band was inducted in 2023 alongside bands House of Large Sizes out of Cedar Falls, Mercurys, Renegade from Dubuque, Rushmore from Moravia, and The Tracterz from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

To celebrate, the band announced a show at xBk Live on Oct. 27.

That sold out.

Then, they added another show at the live entertainment venue for Nov. 17.

That also sold out.

Before The Rathbones kick off celebrations round two, bassist and vocalist Brian Hulten — a founding member — spoke to the Des Moines Register about The Rathbones’ start, and what it means to perform with the band decades later.

The Rathbones pursue their own sound

Brian Hulten, Thomas Wright, Kyle Warden, Barry Jones and Curtis Taylor formed the band in 1989 despite none of them having prior experience in one.

“So it's just this random like, ‘Oh, you play something? Let’s jam,’ and just with the intent of just having fun, possibly meeting some girls… It's incredible how the chemistry worked right off the bat,” Hulten said.

With a taste for new wave, funk and alternative music, the five-piece act got their name from actor Basil Rathbone, who starred as Sherlock Holmes in a series of films spanning the early 1940s — one of which was playing on Hulten’s television. Any concerns Hulten had that people would hear The Rathbones and assume they were a heavy metal band was ultimately a non-issue.

The Rathbones began covering songs from the bands they loved, the bands they weren’t hearing others perform in the local music scene, such as The Cure, The Clash, U2 and more.

As lead vocalist Wright put it in a Register article from 1991, “No one else in Des Moines is playing what we’re playing — the overall sound.”

Three decades later, Hulten echoed his band mate’s sentiment.

“It was unique that we were playing them,” Hulten said. “So it really wasn't in the beginning about how well we played or we weren't wowing anybody with our musicianship because we were just getting started. We were able to play in front of crowds right away because we were playing music that nobody else is really doing.”

If The Rathbones covered a song from a popular band, it was the “obscure” one, Hulten said.

By the early 1990s, The Rathbones recorded a six-song cassette and their first full-length CD.

They’d incorporate their original music into their act but were mindful that they built their audience doing covers, Hulten said.

Their goal was for audiences to be unable to differentiate between an original and a lesser-known song from another act that fit the band’s show, he said.

“After a while, it's not about the actual songs or how well you're playing it,” Hulten said. “It's about the energy and the vibe and anything you bring that has that vibe, they’re going to love.”

More: The Nadas' 30-year milestone at Hoyt Sherman Place may feel like the end. They say it's not.

Still friends, and better musicians than ever

The Rathbones weren’t aiming for a major record deal when they formed. Instead, they leaned into doing this for themselves.

“I think that really enhanced our longevity, doing it that way,” Hulten said.

For Hulten, memorable performances include during the now-defunct Iowa State University celebration Veisha.

Several thousand people were at that show where Hulten was struck in the face by a beer can during their set.

“Never ask 3,000 people for a beer,” he said.

Another memorable show was in 1993, the same year that floods left thousands of people without water, electricity and caused millions in damage in central Iowa.

The Rathbones were to play on July 10 for Cantina Off Court’s fourth anniversary party, the same day Court Avenue district in downtown Des Moines was flooded, the Register reported. That location is now Hessen Haus.

Police interrupted The Rathbones’ set at Cantina Off Court, evacuated people due to impending flooding. Hulten recalled that people helped them haul out their equipment as this happened.

The band, which experienced lineup changes that led to Mark Timm and Geoff Schodde joining the band, naturally came to its end in the late 1990s as band members, and their fans, all found themselves moving into different stages in their lives, Hulten said.

The Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association receives more than 450 nominations for the Hall of Fame, said Ralph Kluseman, president of the association’s board of directors, in an email to the Register.

The majority of those nominations are for bands in Iowa, he said.

"We believe that those who are honored in the Hall of Fame have a story that needs to be told,” Kluseman said. “Those stories are then captured as part of our Save Iowa Stories database project, so that future generations will know the contributions that were made by these inductees.”

The nomination was unexpected for the band, Hulten said. The Rathbones performed all original music for their Hall of Fame induction earlier this year. It’s that body of music Hulten and bandmates are proud of.

Any riffs the band faced during the years they were active — Hulten said there were different perspectives on if the band should play any covers — have gone by the wayside with time.

“Time has given a perspective for everybody to really go, ‘How did that happen when all these guys that didn’t really know how to play their instruments randomly met?’… That core really stayed together,” Hulten said. “After 30 plus years, we’re still friends and we’re still playing. We’re better musicians than we ever were. “

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 1990s Des Moines band The Rathbones to perform at xBk Live