A group of five will bring mayhem tonight to Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern at 10 p.m.The Mayhem String Band includes Ben Johnson on bass, Jamison Hollister on fiddle, J.T. Lack on banjo, Kevin Larkin on mandolin and harmonica, and Chris Steiner on guitar.
They said they incorporate the different stringed instruments to create a bluegrass sound.
“We like to call it Mississippi outlaw bluegrass,” Hollister said.
He said the group plays a variety of things that can be considered old time music, but adapt it to make it its own.
“We’ll throw anything into the mix if we think we can pull it off,” Johnson said.
He said they will play things even if they fall outside the bluegrass genre.
Steiner said that they play a full range of songs.
“Usually one person will bring a song in and say, ‘Let’s try this,'” Steiner said.
He said they play a wide range of traditional bluegrass, but they have been getting into Cajun as well.
The band plays songs from artists such as Johnny Cash, John Prine and Bill Monroe along with its original songs.
“We play half originals in our shows,” Johnson said.
He said that they just enjoy playing and getting the party started for everyone involved.
“A big party is what it usually is. People are getting drunk and having fun,” Johnson said.
He said the group has been playing all over the country. Mayehm has performed from Colorado to Louisiana, and the group has future gigs in Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas.
“We’ve been coming [to Dave’s] for two to three years now. It’s great,” Hollister said.
He said they play there roughly once a month, but sometimes every two months because they play at other Starkville locations.
Hollister graduated from Mississippi State University and said he enjoys coming back to Starkville.
“They’ve played a couple of times this semester,” said Dave Hood, owner of Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern. “I tried to give them a good weekend like Super Bulldog Weekend. They’re one of my favorite bands.”
Hood said that they bring in a diverse crowd and always pack the floor.
“I classify them as up-tempo rockabilly. They definitely have their own sound,” he said.
The Mayhem String Band has put out one album so far. The album, Rapscallions and Ne’erdowells, has 12 of its outlaw bluegrass tracks.
“All five of us are pretty much heavy [song] contributors. We’ve all got at least one song on the last album,” Steiner said.
He said each band member is working on new songs for a second album.
“We’re hoping to have another [album] out by next spring,” Johnson said.
The group formed in 2004 when Johnson, Steiner and Lack started to get together to play bluegrass tunes. They were joined by Hollister in 2005, and Larkin in 2006, according to the band biography on www.mayhemstringband.com
All the group members have interesting stories, Johnson said.
“The fiddle player, Jamison, is a part-term taxidermist,” Johnson said. “J.T. tried out to be a professional baseball player but didn’t make it.”
The group follows the piano bar happy hour at Dave’s, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The cover to get in is $5.
For more information about Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern visit, www.davesdarkhorse.com.