Walk into the Fat Fish Pub at 158 N. Broad  St. and it's a music venue for some blues, classic rock and a little jazz. 

The Sally Wesenburg Trio band, performing for the second time at the Fat Fish Pub, is sure to add to that type of environment on Saturday night. Sally's been singing professionally for the past 33 years and her band will feature primarily rhythm and blues. The local band from Rushville will be performing from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. There's no charge to get in, there's free popcorn and two CDs will be thisavailable to purchase.

'It's all I've ever done,' said Sally, about her singing career. 'There are so many songs and so little time.'

She added, 'As musicians, you know  you'll have  really wonderful nights (performing) and something happens like a snowstorm and  you're playing to the tables and the chairs. You can't take it personal.'

Sally said that the late Ruth Brown has been one of her biggest influences  in the  singing pofession. 'She (Brown) was a blues singer, but her stuff had a real sense of humor and a positive take on things,' said Weisenburg. 

Sally and her band have  played in several blues and jazz festivals, along with a variety of places: wineries, a town gazebo, birthday parties, rehearsal dinners for weddings, in the mountains of Denver (Colorado), a barn dance, on top of a boat in Chicago on July 4th and even in a prison. The Mississippi Blues Festival – back in the late 1990s – is the biggest crowd they have ever played in front of (close to 800).  

Sally is married to a band member, Don, who plays the guitar, harmonica and sings. Don grew up in the Chicago area and graduated from Bradley University in 1968. They often play in towns nearby: Peoria, Springfield, Normal, Pekin, Des Moines, St. Louis and Chicago.

Don didn't hesitate when asked about what makes this band go. 'Sally,' he said. 'She's a great singer, a great show person and she has a good work ethic.'

About being married to a band member, Sally added, 'A lot of times, people say it's a recipe for disaster but it's worked out great.'

The Fat Fish Pub opened Jan. 8, 2009, with Burl Varner and Jeff Moore the co-owners.

'We are getting the clientele for the place we built this for,' said Varner, recently, during a short break from bartending. 'That's what makes it … is the people.'