Bladder-busting humor will be the back-up band when Mike Rayburn breaks out his guitar for a free lunchtime concert Monday in the Student Center.

Comedy is a huge part of [the show] because I began playing for drunk people in bars, Rayburn said. After playing [Jimmy] Buffet repeatedly, you just don’t want to play it anymore, so I would add humor instead and basically just make fun of it.

Rayburn said the comedy aspect of his performances has added crowd appeal to his shows. He has rewritten such classic hits as Hotel California, and he finds that the remade version of the tunes is a definite attention grabber.

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They may not hear all of their favorite hits, Rayburn said. However, they might hear me making fun of them.

Though he pokes fun at popular rock artists through their own tunes, one experience left Rayburn knowing some stars are more down to earth. When recording with Toto bass player Rob Jakobs, he noticed a pile of gold statues propped up as bookends and tossed about.

We recorded in his house and when I walked in, there was a huge pile in the corner, and I noticed they were Grammy Awards, Rayburn said.

After the recording stint with Jakobs, Rayburn joined forces with several other rock n’ rollers to form Mike Rayburn and the Gigantic Daughters of the West.

But at his performance in the Roman Room, Rayburn will be playing solo. Performing without a back-up band is fine with Rayburn because it cuts down on difficulties coming from transporting a band on road trips.

I play every once in a while with the band, he said. Touring is just simply easier as a solo. It’s just more economically feasible.

Despite the light-hearted comedy in the show, Rayburn said he does have a very serious musical interest in mind when performing for an audience.

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I sing, play guitar and do comedy. It is a righteous guitar and acoustic rock, he said. Stylistically, that’s what I call it.

As a member of the National Association for Campus Activities, Rayburn said he and 45 other performers auditioned in the Illiana Region Showcase. He was chosen to perform at numerous schools throughout Illinois, Indiana and surrounding states.

Right now 80 percent of the shows I do are at colleges, Rayburn said. The NACA does the booking for a bunch of universities and they are bringing me to [SIUC].

Rayburn is the first performer of the Nooner series, which is being sponsored by the Student Programming Council.

Rayburn adjusts well to the college crowds even though he doesn’t have the powerful backing of full rock n’ roll ensemble.

Generally I can adapt pretty well without instruments, he said. Playing requested songs is usually not the problem, but the lyrics can be.

Rayburn said he usually does not take requests, but he will make some exceptions. He occasionally finishes a show with what he calls A Melody from Hell.

It’s a combination of requests, he said. I piece the requests together and play them all in the same song at that time.

FACTOID:The concert begins at 12 p.m. Monday in the Student Center Roman Room. For information, call SPC at 536-3393.