On paper, the last thing Matt and Gregg Bissonette would seem to need is another band to play in. The brothers, both graduates of Warren Mott High School, have never suffered a shortage of musical opportunities since they were youths playing in their father’s jazz band.

The two played together in Maynard Ferguson’s, David Lee Roth’s and Joe Satriani’s bands, and in Ringo Starr and the Roundheads and Electric Light Orchestra.

Matt, 62, has played bass with Elton John since 2012 and is currently touring with REO Speedwagon, adding to a resume that also includes Boz Scaggs, Leon Russell and Rick Springfield.

Gregg, 64, has been drumming in Starr’s All-Starr Band since 2008 and has a list of recording credits long enough to stretch from Warren to his current home near Los Angeles.

But during the past five years, the two have found time to also operate the Reddcoats, a genre-hopping sextet that’s just released its second album, “The Reddcoats 2,” to follow up its 2020 debut. Most of the musicians — the Bissonettes, keyboardist Ron Pedley and percussionist Mike Mediana — studied in the North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) jazz program near Dallas. Guitarist Andy Timmons hails from that area, while keyboardist Wally Minko works in both Texas and California. As on their debut, they spend the “2” albums hopping between styles, whether it’s the Funkadelic-styled “Tilt-a-Whirl” or the virtuosic jazz fusion of “Reddcoat Stew” and “Mask On Mask Off,” or the Beatlesque melody of “All I Wanna Do.”

“There are a lot of connections between us,” Matt, who’s also the Reddcoats’ occasional vocalist, said. “It’s kind of fun to play stuff we’ve really wanted to play, ’cause we’ve all played in other people’s bands for so long it’s great to just jam out and honor the music we’ve grown up listening to.”

Gregg adds: “We love all styles of music. People asked us all the time, ‘What were your influences?’ First and foremost, the Beatles. Second, we lived in the city that had Motown … and great Michigan bands like Grand Funk. And we loved Chicago, Weather Report, Yellowjackets, Earth, Wind & Fire, all the horn bands. The band Yes. Just so many different kinds of music … and that’s allowed us to play with all the people we have.”

Music has been a lifelong pursuit for both Bissonettes — and for their younger sister, Kathy, who works for the promotion firm Goldenvoice/AEG Live. Encouraged by their father, Bud, and mother, Phyllis — who played vibes in Bud’s band — they grew up on a diet of Motown, Detroit rock, the eclectic playlist of Windsor’s CKLW-AM and WJZZ-FM. Their father took the boys to see the Beatles at Detroit’s Olympia stadium when Gregg was 7 and Matt was 5.

They had their own band, Grand Circus Park as teenagers — Matt remembers their father letting them use his Cadillac to haul gear to gigs — before heading off to Texas, after which Ferguson’s big band became the jumping-off points for the rest of their busy careers.

Throughout all that, says Gregg — who also co-hosts “The Song in a Day” show on YouTube with Matt and Paul Dexter — “My brother is my favorite songwriter, bass player, pal, best friend. We’ve been playing music together forever. I never miss a chance to do that.” The Reddcoats opportunity presented itself again during the pandemic standstill, shortly after the Reddcoats had started working together.

“We were all like everyone else in the world, sitting around, ‘What are we gonna do with our lives?’” remembers Matt. “I would write some songs at home, basic ideas. Gregg and I would do the drums and bass in the same room, then hand (the recordings) off to the other guys to listen to what I did on the demos, but of course, they made them a million times better with their interpretations of it. They’re just doing what they want to do; I’m not telling them what to play.

“And these guys are so good they get ahead of all that distance. For some reason with this band, it’s easy to come together like we’re in the same room. I honestly don’t know what we would do differently if we were in the same room.”

Both Bissonettes agree that making “The Reddcoats 2” was “easier” than its predecessor, simply because they’d done it already.

“We learned a lot making the first record,” Matt explains. “I learned a lot about not being a control freak; it was always better when the guys just play. I’m just happy they put up with all my bad demos. (laughs) But on this record, it was a little more free, just whatever came out and not putting it in a box or anything.”

All six musicians consider the Reddcoats (two d’s because the traditional spelling was already trademarked) a going concern, albeit one with the challenges of other commitments — even busier since the live music world reopened in 2021. That’s limited the band to only one live performance so far, in Dallas. “Hopefully we can get a chance to play (live) more,” Matt says. “Getting a bunch of old guys in a van is challenging, but when we did play, it was a blast. The songs are hard and they’re challenging. It takes a lot of brain work, but that’s what makes them fun.”

Gregg adds: “It’s something we’ve got to do. It’s just hard to say when. This is something we want to keep alive, though. It’s too good not to just do it whenever we can.”