The Rogue Suspects rehearse in Medford on Tuesday.

Tucked away in a practice space stocked wall to ceiling with instruments and equipment, the Rogue Suspects warmed up for rehearsal on a cold February evening.

As the members of one of the region’s best-known bands tuned their instruments, the atmosphere in the room slid from giddy anticipation to passionate focus. Most members closed their eyes as they began their first song of the night — “Boys of Summer.”

As the familiar sound of the big keyboard rose with the bass behind it, the group stopped — not good enough. They tuned again and started over, and then again.

The Rogue Suspects are already booked out for this year. Founding member and bassist Greg Frederick called the bookings a return to “the before days” — the music scene before the pandemic.

Venues large enough to accommodate a band the size of the Suspects are few in the Rogue Valley, Frederick said, such as wineries and other outdoors spots — places that wait for warm weather to go full steam. The band has eight members at present. In autumn, the cold closes out their playing season, and the group starts dreaming up themes for next year’s shows — 2023 will include Eagles and Tina Turner shows. Then through winter, everyone rests, works, takes vacations and works on personal projects, Frederick said.

Now, as winter gives way to spring, the band is preparing for its busy season, when members will swing from one show to the next — at Roxy Ann Winery March 10 and at EdenVale Winery March 24, with various iterations of the band playing venues throughout the valley.

Guitarist Dirk Price and Frederick formed the Rogue Suspects 25 years ago after meeting on stage. During that time, Frederick estimated, the band has had close to 30 members.

Current members are Anthony Cusenza and Nick Garrett-Powell on guitar, Frederick on bass, Dennis Johnson on keyboard and Christo Pellani on drums. The three vocalists — Shae Céline, Jennifer Davis and Jade Chavis — often perform independently as a group called The Girls.

“Once a Suspect, always a Suspect,” Frederick said. “People move on to other things, but they drop in and play sometimes. We have had Suspects reunions over the years. We have a Christmas party, where we don’t play music … until nighttime, then it tends to go that way.”

Members of the band take turns acting as musical director. When they play shows for fundraisers, they choose the causes together.

“We’re a family. We’ve never had any drama. Whenever someone in the family needs something, we’re right there.”

When Frederick and Price met, both had just moved to the Rogue Valley from Southern California expecting to retire.

“We said, ‘Well, this is really wonderful. Since we are retired, let’s do this for fun,’” Frederick said.

The band has changed in shape and size. In recent years, members have formed duets and trios, but they’ve never lost the spirit of playing for the love of music, Frederick said, pointing to The Girls as an example.

“It’s really funny; they fight over the back-up vocals, not the lead, because the back-up vocals are more fun to sing. They trade off,” he said.

The band gained its first female voice — Céline — when she was celebrating her 21st birthday at Alex’s in downtown Ashland, Frederick remembered. The Suspects were without a singer that night and asked the crowd “is there anyone here who can sing?” Céline raised her hand.

“She gets up on stage, and we ask her what she wants to sing, and she says, ‘Aretha Franklin.’” Frederick said he raised his eyebrows in surprise. “So we say OK, and she just absolutely knocked down the walls. We hired her on the spot.”

Céline now helps Frederick manage the band, especially the social media and marketing. She appreciates this work not only because it helps the band, but because her online presence makes her accessible to new musicians who often contact her for advice she’s happy to give.

“I’m the least competitive person in the world,” she said. “I don’t want to win. I want everyone to win. When I don’t have a show, I go out and support other bands. Every year, there’s more new musicians coming up and moving in from out of town.”

Céline and Frederick said the valley’s music scene is growing faster than local venues can accommodate. A compelling reason for the Rogue Suspects to break into smaller performance sets like The Girls is to fit into smaller venues, Céline said.

“With the new female members, we added new music. And for years, I was the only female member of the band,” she said.

Last year, Price retired. Anthony Cusenza became the newest Suspect at Price’s recommendation.

“It’s an honor,” Cusenza said. “I have to play at a certain level. I like rising to that challenge musically. Christo (Pellani, on drums) and Greg, they’re both older guys I really admire, and they’re really encouraging.”

Cusenza, who has been performing for 35 years, said being a Suspect gives him an opportunity to improve and grow as a musician.

Cusenza comes from Reggae roots.

“I was devoted to that for 25 years. I’ve always had blues, jazz and rock in the back pocket. But now I get to play Whitney Houston and things like that, that I’ve never played before,” he said.

Looking back on the Suspect’s work over the years, Frederick said the band has covered everything from the Beatles to new music introduced by younger band mates.

“To me, Doja Cat is freaking cool,” he said. “What’s exciting is what’s new, what we’re playing next. We try to play as close as possible to the originals with each show, and there’s always something new to learn. For the Eagles show, what’s exciting for me is learning to play Don Henley. He played a fretless bass. I’ve never played one before.”

Even after more than 50 years of performing, there’s always more to learn, Frederick said.

“Maybe if I keep at it, I’ll get a little better.”

For more information about the band, including a show calendar, see roguesuspects.com.