SP511 comes back to the Pub

When cover band SP511 returns to the Hazel River Pub this weekend, the group will have a new member.

Jai Robinson is the band’s new keyboardist; he also sings lead vocals on a few songs and plays guitar and a number of other instruments.

“It’s been pretty cool,” said Robinson, who joined the band in May. He has 25 years experience playing gospel music and has been playing hard rock for the past three.

Robinson describes SP511 as having a diverse sound featuring pop, hard rock, classic rock and R&B. The band hails from Harrisonburg and plays songs made popular by Heart, Pink, Linkin Park, AC/DC, Audio Slave, Alice in Chains, The Eagles, and Joe Walsh.

On Saturday, the five-member group will perform familiar tunes at the Hazel River Pub starting at 9:30 p.m. The cover is $5.

Veteran SP511 members include lead vocalist Cheryl Sule,

lead guitarist Josh Bailey, bassist Michael Polinko and drummer Scott Harlow.

The group formed about three years ago, playing clubs nearly every weekend.

How did the band come up with the name SP511?

“We get asked that all the time,” Harlow said during an interview last year with the Star-Exponent.

As the guys were jotting down names at a warehouse a few years ago where they work, they happened to look down at a piece of SP511 carpet.

And there you have it.

Want to go?
What: SP511 performance
Where: Hazel River Pub
When: Saturday at 9:30 p.m.
Cover: $5

Meet the band
Cheryl Sule, vocals
Jai Robinson, keys and vocals
Josh Bailey, lead guitar
Michael Polinko, bass and vocals
Scott Harlow, drums