A ‘Rambunctious!’ Weekend for South Cobb

Having done the requisite duty in high school basement bands, rocker and Mableton native Kerry Ayres was no stranger to the plaintive pleas of “Turn it down!”

“Actually, our parents were very supportive and patient,” said Ayres. “The neighbors, not so much.”

Fronting ragtag ensembles with names like the Monotones, Cream Machine and Visual Purple, Ayres channeled the psychedelic sounds of the 60's at sock hops, parties and festivals. He recalls playing “Born to be Wild” in the Mableton Dairy Queen parking lot circa 1969–for a church youth rally!

As it will, life soon intruded on those wild days.

“After playing a high school graduation in 1973, I sort of put the electric guitar under the bed for a few years,” said Ayres. “Girls, obligations and responsibilities came into the picture. I performed in an acoustic duo in the late 70's and joined a working band as a bassist in 1979. We mostly ‘worked’ at trying to find gigs!”

Ayres continued rocking on the side, all the while juggling a day job and raising a family. “I can say that, since 1980, I’ve always had a band that I could take to a gig and make it happen,” he recalled. “In the mid-80's, I was working with as many as five bands.”

Ayres’ current aggregation, Rambunctious!, was formed in 1989, with the present lineup intact since 2004. “I envisioned a party band that was energetic and interactive,” he said. “I had a wireless microphone that I would take into the crowd and act like a wild man. We lived up to the name!”

Cobb County residents will get a double dose of Ayres and company’s four-plus decades of stage savvy this weekend.

On Saturday, Rambunctious! will perform at 6 p.m. in Collar Park as part of Austell’s Concert in the Park series. The free, family-friendly event will take place in the park’s vintage-style bandstand.

“There’s an elevated train track behind the stage that echoes the sound and acts as an amphitheatre,” said an enthusiastic Ayres.”Sometimes a train comes by and adds its own rhythm to the music.”

On Sunday, Ayres and a few Rambunctious! bandmates will sit in at the Southwind Race Team’s “Back to the Track” party at the in Austell. “I’ve played at the Sweetwater dozens of times,” said Ayres. “Rambunctious! is already booked for New Year’s Eve 2011.”

While the band rocks with abandon, they have mellowed a bit, stirring some country and “hippie-grass” into the mix.

“We still get rambunctious though,” assured Ayres.

And while the set list spans a spectrum of pop hits, a few originals are making their way in as well.

Have Ayres’ musical tastes changed over the years?

“In a word, no!” he answered emphatically. ”I respect good new music. But it’s hard to top the Beatles, Stones, Allmans and George Jones.”

Saturday: Collar Park, 2625 Joe Jenkins Blvd. Austell, 30106.

Sunday: Sweetwater Inn. 2471 Veterans Memorial Hwy, Austell, 30168. 770-948-4200

www.rambunctiousband.com