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But Stratus will play Saturday night at the Beni Kedem Shrine Center in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä. It’s a big party — and the band’s official 50th anniversary celebration, which is a very long time for a band to be together.

A lot of that has to do with family. For much of its life, the core of the band has been brothers Lamont and Stanley Bolland, keyboards and guitar; David and Joe (JoLoyd) Lloyd on keyboard and drums; and trumpet/keyboard player Michael Burkes and bassist Darrell Edgerton.

Others may have come and gone, but the R&B and funk band has become a ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä institution — although it did, yet didn’t exactly, start in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä.

The band itself began as a project in Michigan, a collection of different bands pieced together by the Bollands, who’d been living in Michigan for a few years.

But the brothers, who grew up around ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä and began playing music together in local churches, moved back to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä and made the city the home base for the band in 1974.

Joe Lloyd eventually followed from Michigan. He joined Stratus in 1976.

Coming to West Virginia made sense to him. At the very least, he thought it would get him away from the harsh Michigan winters.

It didn’t.

“The first three winters were as cold as any in Detroit,� he said.

The bad weather didn’t send him packing.

“I stayed anyway,� he said. “I was supposed to be here. It’s been a blessing.�

Stratus had a good thing from almost the beginning. Making a living as a musician was easier in the mid-1970s. West Virginia had a very active club scene. There were bars all over town where a band that played R&B, jazz, funk and a little of whatever else was needed could find steady work.

They were versatile, even if the group’s membership fluctuated.

Lloyd’s brother David joined the band in 1989, which seems like a long time ago.

“I’ll be 62 this week,� he said. “It’s right before the show Saturday.�

David Lloyd said he’s been thinking about that show, but also about his time with the band.

“Stratus is beautiful,� he said. “It’s all about the audience. Without that Stratus audience, where would we be?�

David joined when Stratus was going overseas and playing at different U.S. military bases in Europe and in the Middle East. They went all over the Mediterranean, saw Israel and Egypt.

Stratus played Saudi Arabia following the invasion of Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

Joe Lloyd said they were the first American band to play there after the fighting ended.

“Bob Hope was there, but he didn’t get off the boat,� Lloyd said in 2014.

The band performed in Germany shortly before the Berlin Wall came down and the eastern and western parts were reunited.

They saw Haiti during the early days of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The poverty was breathtaking, and Stanley Bolland said it made him feel lucky to be an American.

From the 1970s to now, the members of the band have watched the world change, and they’ve changed along with it. The group’s membership has fluctuated.

Todd White, who joined the band in 2018, played all over the country before coming home to West Virginia.

“I tried to get famous or something,� he said. “Then, I just came back to see what I could do here.�

White got his start carrying the band’s gear.

“I started off just lugging equipment around and helping them move from show to show,� he said.

White could play guitar and drums, but David Lloyd told the band, “Y’all know, he can sing?�

“So, they had me sing a song,� White said.

They let him pick. He chose “24 Karat Magic� by Bruno Mars.

It was a hit, and White eventually became the band’s lead male vocalist.

“David has been like my godfather to me,� White said. “He’s really taught me a lot. The whole band has been like that. I was a musician before, but being in Stratus was a real education.�

Laci Webb is the most recent addition. She joined the band several months ago.

“I’m in another band called For Your Listening Pleasure,� the 25-year-old singer said.

Webb described it as a versatile band playing everything from pop to jazz to modern soul and funk.

She said, “I met Stratus through my friend Sean Fitzpatrick. We had the band, but we needed a drummer. So, Sean called Joe Lloyd to fill in.�

Lloyd told him, “Of course.�

So, Lloyd filled in with For Your Listening Pleasure, but a few months later Stratus found itself in-between female vocalists with a couple of shows coming up. Lloyd asked Webb if she’d return the favor and fill in with them.

She’s been performing with them ever since.

“There wasn’t any kind of formal invitation or anything,� Webb said. “It just kind of happened.�

But she likes the band. They’ve been good to her. She’s had fun, and just being around the veteran musicians has been an ongoing education.

The musical stylings of For Your Listening Pleasure and Stratus are in the same ballpark. Both bands do a lot of pop, funk and R&B. They are mostly divided by generational styles.

Webb said she’s had to pick up a lot of new-to-her tunes on the fly.

“Joe will text me videos,� she said. “He’ll send me YouTube links, sometimes — and I’m not kidding — 20 or 30 at a time.�

Most of them are for songs she’s never heard, but not all of them. Some of the old songs come around again or they’re reinvented as parts of other songs. She heard it on the radio.

“But I’ll tell you, what I think makes Stratus work is the respect they have for each other,� Webb said. “That’s why I think they’ve been able to stay a band for so long.�

Lamont Bolland said being in the band is still fun.

“We don’t play as much as we used to,� he said. “But every time we play, it’s a real good time.�

Bolland said they’ve stuck together for no more reason than that. They’ve always liked playing together.

“We’ll keep going as long as we keep breathing,� he said.

David Lloyd said Stratus has hung in there for so long because it hasn’t been afraid to change. Yes, the band plays a lot of songs from the 1970s and 1980s. A lot of their fans grew up with those songs and love them, but the band has adapted as they’ve played through the decades.

Newer members brought new tunes. Stratus kept some of them.

“Besides,� Lloyd said. “The new music isn’t all that different than what it was in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s the same stuff they were doing in the 1940s, but with a little twist.�

Approaching their fifth decade, the keyboardist said Stratus is still growing. Lately, they’ve been exploring not only new music, but also writing their own songs. White has been encouraging the band to record.

The band might not be playing quite as much as it did, but they’re still out there, still making music and still moving forward.

“I mean, while you’re here, look alive and don’t get set,� Lloyd said.

He explained, adding, “Don’t get set in your ways.�

Stratus hasn’t.