Self described as a psychedelic rock journey, Moving Matter thought that Humboldt might appreciate their music. They are probably right. They head up the Jam band scene in Austin Texas and are in the middle of a West Coast tour bending spoons and blowing minds.

To be in a band in Austin is difficult. It might be compared to being a magician in Las Vegas. It's the place where the best magicians are and it's also the place where the magicians who want to be the best are. The magician section of Sin City's phonebook is huge. In comparison, Austin is so saturated with musicians that to make it near the top of any scene is freakin' magical.

Enter Moving Matter. Though their name evokes a higher awareness of all things transcendental, these guys are down to earth and even kind of funny. They've been in Austin since 2003 when the three original members, Josh Pearson, Christopher Holland and Dan McGreevy, moved from Fort Collins, Colorado to further their musical career. In Austin they met Dustin Bozarth who sat in with them on keys a number of times until they asked him to pack his toothbrush and stay with Moving Matter for good.

With a keyboardist this band took on a whole new dimension and went somewhere that a normal three piece band couldn't have. This boosted their popularity in Austin as the premier jam band.

”The passage of time and especially adding me has really changed the style of Moving Matter from the sound when they started,” Bozarth said, whom the rest of the guys refer to as DBOZ.. “It's gone from a threesome jam band to more rock.”

They are rockin', but they are also funky and improvisational live. They are showing it off by touring the west coast for a month and releasing a fourth album, this one half studio and half live.

”It's not harder to make a double album, even it terms of cost,” Bozarth said. “We just wanted to make a hybrid. One CD is great improvisational jams pieced together. The other is our more traditional live songs.”

Even with the talent that this band has in their tour van, they are not above a quick buck or a crowd pleasing stunt involving canned cheese. McGreevy, Matter's drummer is attempting the Guinness Book of World Records most Easy Cheese eaten during a drum solo.

”He only whips this trick out every once in a while,” said Bozarth. “He is trying to beat his own record. We have also been known to light our chest hair on fire for ten bucks.”

Just in case the cheese solo misses the Red Fox, you can see a previous attempt on YouTube by searching Easy Cheese drum solo. What is amazing is that his drumming remains pretty good throughout the cheese ordeal. Don't let the college humor fool you, though. These boys are full of great music and they really play off of each other well.

”Expect a lot of unique music,” Bozarth said. “Our approach is to play what works in the moment.”

This is the group's first tour through Humboldt and our reputation precedes us again.

”We have a growing number of contacts out there and people keep telling us to come play,” said Bozarth. “What I've gathered is that Humboldt is really beautiful. We've heard it's really open minded there and we are totally excited to check it out.”

The reverse is true as well. Humboldt will want to check them out tonight at the Red Fox Tavern in Eureka at 415 Fifth Street in Eureka.