Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Gary Renales, lead guitarist Bryant Meltzer and bass player Bruce Fagan met and formed The Buzz! Band under sad circumstances. After the death of a mutual friend called Buzz in 2010, the three discovered a musical common ground among them and, in tribute, created this fine 12-track demo, titled The Man in the Moon. After playing it through three times and picking up on a fantastic ’70s family folk band vibe that has a lot to do with a mellow, loose country rock influence and backup vocals, I wonder what the record would sound like once polished up in a studio, and if the bells and whistles could really do anything for it.

The Buzz! Band has got an extensive list of achievements and appearances from radio play in Nashville to writing and performing a television show’s theme song. That’s likely because, though Nashville is overflowing with genuine and successful Americana bands, many of whom are very young, The Buzz! Band have age and a firmer grasp of yesteryear’s folk rock on their side. Sounding like a combination of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, America and The Band, they have a loose, good-time style that’s accessible and not hard to figure out.

The Man in the Moon has hooks: opener “She Never Made Me Cry” contains a riff that makes it seem like a country version of the B-52s’ “Planet Claire.” It has stories: “Put Him in the Boat” and “Run Little Red,” a foreboding Riding Hood tale haunted by backup vocals (the video was featured on the Nashville Indie Rock Video Show). And it has romance: the play-on-words of “The Man on the Moon.”

Visit reverbnation.com/thebuzzband for more.