The music never stops for The Mike Renick Band

It's Valentine's Day at the Rude Dog Pub and by a quarter to 10 the Mike Renick Band has found a groove hammering out The Police's "Message in a Bottle."

Sitting at a table in the corner there's a bearded 30-something wearing a slight frown. He's not lonely. In fact, there's a dark-eyed brunette cozied up under his arm. But he's frustrated trying to explain to a stranger just what to expect from the band. He says not to worry, that he's heard them play plenty of times. He just can't quite put his finger on a way to describe them. "It's sorta. Oh, you know -- like Dave Matthews Band."

It's the standard comparison, and Mike Renick welcomes it. But when considering the scope of their five studio albums and countless live shows, it seems wrong to pigeonhole his band like that.

There's no shortage of jam bands in a college town like Cape Girardeau. But as other bands have come and gone, Renick's is entering its 10th year of performing.

Their uninhibited, high-energy romps across the landscape of popular music have established their reputation as one of Cape's go-to, good-time acts. But the band members are more than just veterans of the downtown bar circuit.

They've played The Pageant in St. Louis, a venue that holds up to 2,000 people, the Gramophone and Columbia's Blue Note; a fact that Renick recalled with surprising nonchalance in his office at KGKS radio station.

"Obviously it's neat to play at bigger, well known venues, but I like the intimacy of places like the Rude Dog," he said. "It's just a fun, party atmosphere."

Intimate is right. The Rude Dog Pub doesn't even have a stage. In fact, patrons pass right through the band as they walk in the door -- a setup that would become problematic once things got into full swing.

The bar starts to fill up by the time they finish their first set. The crowd is a few years older than the one gathering for the DJ down the street at Mixing 10. It's indicative of the unique bond Renick shares with his followers. Both the fan base and the fans themselves have grown with the band over the past decade.

"The people who were first coming out to see us are 30 now, you know?" Renick said.

Most are the usual late-20s type, but there's a white-haired man at the bar who swears that the Mike Renick Band is one of the most reliable acts in town. His name is Archie and he's lived in Cape for years. He starts happily listing area bands of a similar caliber like the Big Idea and the Whistle Pigs. When he runs out, he calls the bartender over to vouch for the Cape Girardeau music scene and throw in his two cents.

Renick's not shy about attributing the success of his band to the locals' appreciation for live music. He said that ever since he first started performing there has been a heavy demand for live acts and that downtown venues were quick to catch on.

"When I first started playing out, you had places like Port Cape, the Rude Dog, a place called The Camp, which I think was knocked down to become part of the Casino parking lot," Renick recalled. "Then slowly you would see more and more places start to do the live music. People weren't necessarily going to where the club DJ was."

Back at the Rude Dog Pub, it certainly looks like the locals are having a good time. The dance floor gets more and more crowded as their second set continues. The patrons who aren't dancing are quick to point out that Renick's is not a cover band; the Foo Fighters' "Times Like These" is only the second or third of the night. The rest have been original songs, which Renick suspects is part of why the band has enjoyed such lasting popularity.

"Playing covers is an important part of a show," Renick said. "It's a great way to draw people in ... but to keep things fresh, we prefer to play our own songs."

It's an extensive repertoire, and one that the band is proud of, but they resist the urge to self-promote. They rarely even mention a title between songs.

"I never say 'This is one of our own songs,' and then play," Renick said. "You just play."

To them it's not about the songs -- it's about the music. They just flow from one to the next. One woman begins to sway 'onstage' among the band members, who make sure that nobody dancing is ever left without a beat.

Until somebody stumbles into the drum set.

The band just shrugs it off. They consider it part of the charm of the Rude Dog. They regroup and start things back up, glad the crowd is enjoying the show. There was a time when crowds would be this large even for a Thursday night gig, back when Mixing 10 was still called Due North and "The Great Recession" might have been just another bad band name.

Renick and his band witnessed the effects of the economic downturn first-hand. Although downtown Cape was never empty, it still isn't the same as it used to be. But Renick is happy to say that it has rebounded in recent years.The band is also itching to hit the road again.

"We haven't gotten out of town as much as we used to," Renick said. "It's something I want to get back into this year."

As the night stretches into the wee hours of the morning, they don't slow down. If anything, the drums get jazzier, the bass gets funkier and the wail from that irrepressible saxophone fills the bar. They're having fun.

Wherever they decide to go this year, their fans need not worry. They'll be back soon to play the Rude Dog.