Borderline Jams With Country Sound

The O'Fallon Jammin' concert series continues with the country band Borderline.

"We had them here last year and they had a really good turnout," said Marsha Seymour, manager of tourism and festivals for O'Fallon. "They did a fantastic show."

The outdoor performance runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, in, 308 Civic Park Drive, O'Fallon. Bring blankets or chairs for seating on the lawn around the bandstand. Admission and parking is free, concessions will be available for purchase.

The Borderline band began as a family affair. "My uncle had been in bands previously and he was about ready to hang it up but my brother and I wanted to play music and he thought it would be cool to play with us," said Joe Mellenthin. "That was 15 years ago."

A native of Bunker Hill, Ill., Mellenthin and his brother Tim were still in junior high when they started up the band. "I was in fifth or sixth grade and my brother was in eighth or ninth grade," Mellenthin said. "We played around town and the band got bigger and bigger. My uncle retired 10 years ago and we kept going with the players we'd picked up."

Borderline's current lineup has been together around 10 years. It consists of  Joe Mellenthin (guitar and keyboards), Tim Mellenthin (bass guitar), Randy Bland (drums), Stephanie Lynn Rabus (vocals) and Kenny Ziegler (acoustic guitar and background vocals). They are sometimes joined by Lanny Engler on steel guitar.

Mellenthin now lives in Belleville, Ill., and all the band members are from the metro east. "We play most of our shows on the east side of the river," Mellenthin said. "We do venture over to Missouri for fairs and festivals. We're playing the July 4 in O'Fallon.

"Summer can be busy with festivals and fairs. We've done the Illinois State Fair for the last five years. This year we're taking a step back. Everybody's got kids so we're going camping and doing other things. This summer we're playing what we want to play."

Borderline specializes in country cover tunes, mainly from the late '80s to the present. "Anything and everything, from George Strait to George Jones," Mellenthin said. "We do slide in some classic rock standards -- Brown Eyed Girl, some Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Seger. It's a pretty wide range of artists covered."

Borderline has some original material in their portfolio. They're not chasing after a record contract but wouldn't turn down any opportunity that presented itself.

"We're trying to be the best local band we can be," Mellenthin said. "We want to have fun and we want our audience to have fun."

The 2011 O'Fallon Jammin' series launched last week with a performance by Butch Wax and the Hollywoods. "Despite the heat we had a really good turnout, over 700 people," Seymour said.

The series runs most Tuesdays through August and continues with

• Mirage June 21
• June 28
• Stone in Love July 12
• Rough Grooves Blues Band July 19
• The Younger Brothers July 26
• O'Fallon Jazz Band and O'Fallon Community Concert Band Aug. 2
• Laytham and Holmes Duo Aug. 9
• Fanfare Aug. 16
• Trixie Delight Aug. 23

For more information call 636-379-5614, email mseymour@ofallon.mo.us or visit the website.