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“When you start looking back at all the memories it all just seems like a dream,” Jeff added.

From the band’s launch to now, hundreds of major national acts have come and gone have come and gone. Rainbow Bridge, albeit with a few different faces through the years, has held together.

And the band has no plans to stop, they said.

“Everyone says, ‘When are you going to retire?’ Do I have to retire?” Cyndi said. “I have to retire when I’m standing up on stage and they’re going, ‘What is that old lady doing up there? She stinks. She’s terrible.’”

Cyndi’s on vocals and keyboard and Jeff is the lead guitarist. Bob Hamann is on drums, and Denny Wayne plays bass guitar. Jeff and Denny also provide vocals, and Hamann is the group’s sound technician.

The name, chosen by the original bassist, comes from a 1971 film on the counterculture movement of the late 1960s. Mostly improvised, the film brought in major musical acts to bolster its production value — and it features the last filmed concert by Jimi Hendrix before the guitar legend’s 1970 death.

Different faces came in and out of the band. In total, the band has had 20 different members.

Even Bob joined the band in 1994, left, and rejoined in 1999.

“There’s just something that keeps this band going. We get the crowd. The people like what we do. Even if you don’t like every song, we play such a big variety of music that just wait a song or two, you’re going to find something you like. It’s like the Wisconsin weather,” Bob said.

Denny has also has multiple stints with the group. He re-joined the band in 2020 after previously playing five years in the 2000s.

“There are no egos in the group. Everyone does their homework,” Denny said.

Rainbow Bridge had its busiest schedule on the road in 1984 and 1985. It didn’t just have gigs in Wisconsin and Illinois those years. The group also traveled to Iowa, Michigan, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky and Mississippi. In those days, the band played five or six nights a week.

After two years, Cyndi was ready to be off the road because she wanted to be home more, she said.

“It was crazy, crazy because we were young, and we had crazy people with us,” Cyndi said.

Rainbow Bridge’s schedule looks different now. Most of the live performances are local. Almost all of its performances this summer are in Rock and Walworth counties, aside from worldwide travels to the Rockford area and Stoughton.

In recent years, the band’s shows have shifted to earlier in the day, with gigs typically done at 6 or 7 p.m.

Rainbow Bridge plays a variety of music in classic rock and country, from Anne Murray to ZZ Top, with a bulk of the material pulled from the classic rock vaults of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The band has played so long together they no longer rehearse much. They may play occasionally outside of shows to learn a new song. But once they’re in front of an audience, they’re set to rock.

As prolific as they are as a live act, why haven’t they put out an album?

“We’ve always been kind of a working band,” Jeff said, adding that the band aims to keep songs danceable.

“People always used to say, ‘What are you doing in Janesville?’ And I go, ‘Janesville deserves great music too,” Cyndi said.

The band’s members have a treasure trove of memories. Cyndi and Jeff remember their very first road gig vividly. The show was in Elkhart, Ind. during winter. They hit the road in a Volkswagon bus that Jeff had recently bought. He put a gas heater in it, which caught on fire in South Beloit.

The band pulled into a rest area and took hauled their gear out of the bus. Someone flagged down a tow truck driver, who, luckily for the band and its flaming bus, had a fire extinguisher..

“Then we drove in with no heat,” Jeff said.

“How embarrassing,” Cyndi added.

One of Rainbow Bridge’s favorite places to play over the years was the former Slicks on Milton Ave., which the band played at the night it closed in 1999. It was “a divey place,” but drew people by the hundreds.

“That was a place where the dance floor bounced,” Jeff said.

“Even where you played was kind of at a slope because the floor wasn’t straight,” Bob said.

The old Slicks was full of memories for the band.

“I remember when we were playing, going on break and fixing the toilet because the chain was off, so I’d be lifting up the frame and fixing the toilet at Slicks. ‘I got it, girls. Go ahead,’” Cyndi said.

You can’t have a birthday without a party. On Sept. 12, The Janesville VFW Post 1621 will host a 50th anniversary celebration for Rainbow Bridge. The event (1015 Center Ave.) runs “12 noon ‘til ??” On tap: live music, food, drinks and of course, memories.

Weather permitting, the party will be outside. All former band members are invited, and current band members inviting former members to jump in and play.

Rainbow Bridge’s next show is from 3 to 7 p.m. June 7 at the Anchor Inn (718 Highway 59, Edgerton). The band also is booked to play from 6:30-8:30 p.m. August 4 at Music at the Marv in downtown Janesville.