Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Nick Pauly and his three friends from eighth-grade jazz band still are playing together.

But after five years as Offbeat Revolution, the Fort Collins-based quartet still can’t legally drink in the bars they play.

“I always try and view it as an advantage rather than a disadvantage,” he said about their age. “We have time to grow and time to learn the business and stuff. But it is strange in places where they would normally give you a (bar) tab, they don’t know what to do with four 19-year-olds.”

But age is no barrier in music, and the band will bring its lighthearted rock-reggae vibes to Steamboat for the first time Friday night. Offbeat Revolution plays a free show at The Tugboat Grill & Pub starting at 9 p.m. Denver dub-hip-hop group Skin Your Teeth opens.

Offbeat Revolution comprises Pauly on guitar and vocals, Alex Goldberg on bass, Robbie Austin on drums and Shannon Bolenbaugh on saxophone and vocals.

Bolenbaugh joined the group almost two years ago, and Pauly said the smooth jazz tones of the sax added a special something that really began to excite their Front Range audiences.

As middle school and high school students, the young men were hung up on ska and fascinated by the reggae of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

“We kind of just started jamming on whatever — I think Sublime was the first actual reggae cover we learned,” Pauly said. “From there, we just started listening to the message, and as we kind of grew up, we started listening to the words. The message of reggae is socially conscious.”

It’s that message they try to carry over into their reggae-dub-rock, focusing on issues important to the band and its generation.

“We write songs about everything from just the way people view other people in a negative way and trying to eliminate negativity,” he said. “A lot of the stuff we write is just about positive thinking and how you can really make your own life whatever it is.”

He said the band members hope to study music business in Denver and want to make touring and playing music their livelihood.

While it may mean cleaning houses during the day right now, Pauly and his bandmates can’t imagine any other future right now.

“All I can say is I’ve never felt something that feels quite as ... I think it’s just fulfilling,” Pauly said. “It’s our favorite part of the day, to come home from school and work and take your mind off anything and live in that moment of the jam.”

He said the band has never been to Steamboat, and he’s looking forward to playing for a mountain-town crowd.

“I think everybody should add a little bit more reggae to their lives,” he said.

To reach Nicole Inglis, call 970-871-4204 or email ninglis@ExploreSteamboat.com