Local jam-band rebels Bad Mamma Jamma use twangy guitar, a dominating bass and a bluesy keyboard to knock the Heinies out of the hands of mellowed-out listeners at O'Hooley's Pub and Brewery every Thursday night.
The lights fade to a misty blue and derby hats cover the eyes of Brett Lawson, John Corliss, Buck Nemecek and Kent Lankas as the quartet blends together Caribbean reggae, '70s rock, jazz and funk songs for three hours in front of a laid-back audience.
Bassist and vocalist Corliss said Bad Mamma Jamma's motto is: Forget your troubles and dance.
When you see everybody glowing after the show - the band and the fans - it's like
'Everybody in this room just got laid ' Nemecek said.
The guys are not the average Phish-loving Deadheads that most jammers are. In fact, they said they banned the two musical acts from their sets in order to stand out and cover all aspects of the rockin' blues.
I've avoided playing in bands since high school because most bands tend to stick to one genre or one style and that's kind of like only writing one kind of poem your entire life
said Lankas, keyboardist and vocalist.
Bad Mamma Jamma strives to make every show it plays one of a kind. The band improvises during sets by blending songs together, switching chords or the key of a song and performing unexpected covers, such as Young MC's Bust a Move.
We write songs
and we have a strict setup for a song
but when we play it live
we want to rock out
said Nemecek, guitarist and vocalist.
As a collective writing force, Bad Mamma Jamma focuses on social commentary songs, with topics ranging from the shortcomings of the Athens Police Department and local girls getting their high heels caught in the bricks of Uptown streets, to more universal yet off-the-wall topics like Rambo, pirates, sugar and salt.
The band said people of all ages and races come out to bop to the group's grooves. They have played for 70-year-olds, bachelorette parties and kids who don't know much about the classic songs BMJ plays, they said.
There's nothing better than watching somebody boogie their ass off to a tune you wrote
Lankas said.
Bad Mamma Jamma began with Corliss and Nemecek, who played together in the band Joe Brown's Wayward Sons for two years. The two met Lankas, an Athens native, but said they didn't have that something special until they met Lawson, a drummer and kazooist, through the band Crackers and Jam.
In August, they were offered a permanent spot on O'Hooley's Thursday bill, and the cozy venue became BMJ's second home - only surpassed by World's Best Bagels, 31 N. Court St.
Today marks the six-month anniversary of the band's formation, and while most bands would be searching for new, innovative ways to liven up their acts, Bad Mamma Jamma counts on its crowd interaction and fun-loving live atmosphere to continue to entertain.
It's not something you can get off of a CD because if it was something you could get off of a CD
people would just be sitting in their rooms listening to CDs. There's a certain magic at a live show that you experience
Lawson said.
The band has a three-track demo, a dual-disc album called Elephant in the Room of live recordings from two shows, one at The Big One music festival and the other at the Blue Gator, 63 N. Court St.
Bad Mamma Jamma plays at about 11 p.m. every Thursday at O'Hooley's. Admission is $2. BMJ will perform at about 10 p.m. Friday at O'Hooley's with Forealious and Red Road Travelers. Because it is Ladies' Night, women are admitted for free, and general admission is $2.
