Fir. June 25

 Members of blues-rock band Ernie and the Automatics,  who are celebrating the release of their debut CD “Low Expectations," have collectively sold more than 30 million albums. The man whose name is out front of Ernie and the Automatics has sold millions of cars.  He is Ernie Boch Jr. (center, in photo) who owns the auto empire his dad began in Norwood. Ernie Jr. is into selling cars, make no mistake – if you’ve watched any local TV news over the past few years you’ve seen the ubiquitous ads. But Ernie, a Berklee grad, is also a guitarist and a rock lover – especially rock of the ‘70s. He took his love and avocation a step further by forming Ernie and the Automatics with former Boston (the band) and RTZ guitarist Barry Goudreau and Boston drummer Sib Hashian. (That’s where the millions of albums sold come in.) Bassist Tim Archibald and singer/keyboardist Brian Maes have solid resumes too  – they played with RTZ and Peter Wolf’s House Party 5. Rounding out the sextet is saxophonist Michael Antunes, who still plays with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band (a few albums sold there, too.)
   So what’s this all about? A rich guy’s vanity project? The question must be asked and Ernie anticipates it. “There are bands around, there are bands around with CEOs [in them] and with all due respect, they suck. Tthey’re cover bands,” says Boch. “This is an original band and an original record. They’re compelling songs about life, love and the music industry. These songs tell a story." Those stories in song will be told during the first Rock and Blues Cruise of the season, Friday June 25.

   Now, before they turned pro, Ernie and the Automatics – un-named at the time – was a cover band. “A smokin’ cover band,” Boch notes. A four piece with Hashian, Goudreau, Archibald and Boch playing for fun. But Boch wanted to move beyond the cover world and says, “I just don’t like playing covers. I introduced one of my songs, ‘Hong Kong Shuffle,’ Barry introduced a song … “ By that time Maes was in the band and he said, “we should make an original record.” They entered Longview Farm studio in February 2007; a year later, they have an album out, sold exclusively at F.Y.E. and Newbury Comics. It’s on a label Boch created, Open E, an imprint of Vagrant. Giving advice was former Extreme drummer (and now Godsmack manager) Paul Geary. The first band signed to Open E was Extreme. Boch says they’ve sold 65,000 discs worldwide. Now comes Ernie and the Automatics’ “Low Expectations.”
     Why that title? “Geary said to me, ‘You know what you’ve got going for you? Low expectations.'” That is, everyone would expect the band to be mediocre and anything above that gets a nod of approval.
    Now, their choice of moniker would suggest the local “celebrity” angle of Ernie being Ernie coupled to the “automatic” transmission mode of cars makes people think of Boch's numerous auto dealerships. Ernie and the Automatics also wear car mechanic uniforms on stage – think Devo gone mechanic. Boch insists there's not an intentional rock-car dealer tie in. (He also is looking forward to the band being promoted outside New England without any overt connections made to his other life.)
   Here’s Boch’s story on how it happened: “We said we need a name for the band. I’m throwing out names. Sib said Ernie and something. He said it sounds cool. All right. We bandied names back and forth. Me and Sibby were on the phone talking, we each have bottle of wine, it’s 2:30 in the morning, and he says ‘I got it; Ernie and the Automatics.’ I thought that sounds cool. I wrote it down. Then I forgot about it and saw it on paper next to the bed the next day. I could barely remember it. … Automatics does not refer to the car business, and the uniforms don’t either. It’s not calculated. Barry Goudreau, before he got the call to go on the road with Boston [in the ‘70s], worked in his dad’s auto body shop. When he told me that story … the uniform’s a nod to Barry.”
     The album starts off with a song by Goudreau, “Good Times Never Last,” rather transparently about his turbulent days with Boston, his troubles with Boston’s Tom Scholtz and his affection for the late Brad Delp. It’s a melodic, rocking, layered song that does seem like it could have been plucked from the Boston catalog - except its attitude is about a 180 degree swing away from Boston's "Rock and Roll Band." “An amazing story, with incredible music behind it,” is how Boch sums it up and, as for any specific reference to Boston members past or present, he adds, “You can figure it out.”
    Maes wrote the bluesy title track, Boch “If I’da Let You,” about how a married chick tried to pick up the married Boch at a show. “It’s about if I got weak,” he says, “the destruction that would have happened after.” A lot of the songs – in classic rock form – depict hard times in the lyrics and give you uplift in the music. Boch considers it blues-based rock ‘n’ roll, music that works on AAA, active rock radio and Hot AC. He says a couple of songs have been played on radio stations outside New England, but he’s met some resistance at home.
   “I’m a double-edged sword in this area,” says Boch. That means, of course, that he’s a big guy in the auto world and a prominent advertiser on a variety of media formats, but people think twice when they consider him playing music. “We’re not taken completely seriously here,” he says. “It’s because of me; some people think it’s a vanity project. But if they come out to see the band …” Well, here’s where Boch is confident the proof is in the pudding. “We do it for the love of the music. We feel the sound is unique. We call it modern classic rock.”
      Boch, now 51, graduated Berklee College of Music in 1982 with a B.A. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I always liked music and when it came to college Berklee was the only college I applied to,” he says. “In the ‘70s it was a turbulent time. Nixon, Carter, the auto industry was in the crapper.” He did enter his dad’s auto empire – “morphed into it” in his words - but kept playing, too. He realized “I could not make a living doing this. I’m as talented as the people around me, but I was the guy hustling for gigs.”
   Ernie and the Automatics played about 90 gigs last year. (A portion of the proceeds always goes to Boch’s Music Drives Us charitable foundation.) He expects to play at least as many this year. Which begs the question: If this thing takes off, doesn’t that take away from his automotive duties?
    “I can balance that,” he says. “Everything’s at night. I work during the day. If I had to go on the road, we can out go out for 3-5 days. I have my business set up like I have the band set up: I surround myself with the best and brightest. If I’m the sharpest guy in my business or band, you don’t want to hear it. You surround yourself with the best.” Boch plays mostly rhythm guitar, some lead, and there are some dual leads, but is clear about the credit: “All the great leads are Barry’s.”
     Is there a career goal here? “Yes I have goals," says Boch. "I like to achieve little successes, we want to sell enough to make money, we’d love a Grammy. We have high expectations for ‘Low Expectations.’”
    Check 'em out on the water Friday June 25 for the inaugural Rock and Blues Cruise of 2010, leaving from Long Wharf at 7:30. My Silent Bravery opens. Tix: $27.

Long Wharf, Boston, www.rockandbluescruise.com   www.ernieandtheautomatics.com