Finding good songs is not a problem for the recently formed Richmond, VA-based quintet Junk Food Buddha, which will appear at Port O’ Call Friday night.

“All five of us write,” says drummer/singer Jody Boyd. “We all bring things to the band.”

With musicians influences ranging from Billy Joel to Miles Davis to Nirvana, Junk Food Buddha incorporates alternative, rock, reggae, jazz, Latin and ska.

The faces in the band - Boyd, guitarist Chris Lowery, bassist/sax man Jeff Nagle, keyboardist/trombone player Chris Leitch and sax/flute/clarinet player John Winn - should be familiar to Outer Banks club hoppers.

Before the August 1996 startup of Junk Food Buddha, the musicians played in such well-traveled groups as BS&M, Fighting Gravity, Randy Perkins Project, No Small Feet, Everything and Baby Huey.

“We’ve all played in a lot of bands,” Boyd says. “But this one feels good because it’s realy about music.”

All five band members hold degrees in music - and several are collage professors. Bring a pen and paper. When Buddha sits on stage, the nightclub becomes a classroom. But don’t expect long letures.

“Everything we play is danceable,” Boyd says. “Usually after two or three songs, people are up dancing.”

Boyd says Buddha’s mission is to play “good music.” To that end, the band mixes its original songs with rarely-heard covers like The Beatles’ “Get Back,” James Brown’s “Sex Machine,” Toad The Wet Sprocket’s “Fall Down” and Stephen Stills’ “Love The One You’re With.”

Junk Food Buddha has recorded a demo tape. “We will be approaching some records labels soon,” Boyd says. “But we have the ultimate job now. We play our own music. And we play it loud.”

This article apeared in March issue of "The Carolina Coast, The Virginian- Pilot. Reprinted with permision.