And if you wonder why they look and sound just a little different then the other bands playing around town tonight, you will probably notice that in the midst of the guitars and amps there are a couple of horn players.

Tommy O’Connor, who plays guitar, describes the music as horn-driven, funky-original jazz-rock.

We have a horn section, he said, so we are definitely going to sound different than other bands out there.

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Also, we go up on stage to have a good time. Some of the bands get up there and play really serious music to the audience, and there is nothing wrong with that, but we are a little weird and funny, and our lyrics are pretty silly.

O’Connor said that when it comes to the band anything goes. He said that in the case of the saxophone player, Jerry Wagner, it is all completely up in the air.

Jerry is kind of like the M.C. of the band and we have no idea what he is going to say, he said. There are times when he will just go into a little stand-up almost, asking the audience to do weird things, and laughing the entire time.

Another drastically different reason this band is not run-of-the-mill is that as other bands are out there looking to get signed to a major record deal, these guys are just going with the flow.

We are not begging record companies to be signed, O’Connor said. It would be nice, but worrying about that is someone else’s job. If the band and a record label cross paths and we both want to deal, then that is fine.

Otherwise we will just keep doing what we do.

In any case, Spankin’ Rufus breaks the mold when it comes to what a band is, and how they should act.

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The horn-driven music gets your attention, and the antics keep it.

If you go see the band tonight, watch out for its potato gun, and ask the sax player what that tape on the floor behind him means.

Spankin’ Rufus plays at 9:00 tonight at Pinch Penny Pub, 700 E. Grand.