Jam bands are not for everyone. The defining element of improvisation is something not every musician can be trusted with.

It can be no more inspiring than that guy in the front row of every Political Science class who attempts to develop his own political theories during the two-hundred plus lecture. There is no cohesion, no focus; the end never seems to be in sight. At the other end, some skills are equivalent to that professor whose intellectual epiphanies are as enchanting and captivating as anything experienced. Such seemingly mythical professors are rare, indeed.

Think of Fat Maw Rooney as the doctorate student. The teaching assistant that is ultimately adored even when neither the students nor he himself is exactly sure where he is going with that sudden tangent from ethnographic theories to camera lenses and insects.

These boys have the abilities. Their craft is six years in the making, but even spontaneous invention needs continual refinement.

Originally hailing from southeastern Wisconsin’s Oconomowoc, guitarists Craig Baumann and Ryan Peterson, drummer AJ Dexheimer, bassist Kevin Rowe, percussionist Ryan Necci and techie Jim Holzem have been hard at work. Not only are most pursuing university degrees at various Wisconsin schools, but FMR also found time to record and release their first album, End of the Beginning, this past year. For Baumann, this album “symbolized the start of our collective musical quest for a centralized groove and a group entity. The first disc set a benchmark for those to come and served as a true learning experience for all of us.”

That centralized groove is something of a chiller version of the Allman Brothers, a touch funkier than early Stevie Ray Vaughan. That group entity further revolutionizes its genre and is as unafraid of vocal experimentation, with the harmonies in “Shine On” as the group is with the improvisation of guitar interplay in “GrassRoots.” While the debut record does a decent job of capturing Fat Maw Rooney’s artistic ability, it only offers a taste of those demonstrated in the live arena.

“Our shows are unique in a way that we are constantly trying new things within the band and with the audience,” Baumann explained.

That audience, unique in nearly every venue, is essential in fueling the FMR sound.

“Most of our show is improvisational, including the interaction with each other and the audience. The audience is truly what drives our show. It is not necessarily the size of the audience that controls our act, but we try to tap into certain special energies from the people that are reacting to what they are seeing and hearing.”

An appreciative audience encourages most musicians. The transfer of energy naturally makes both rock all the harder. But not many artists can so adeptly produce an auditory representation of that energy in the very moment of its existence. The fact that these five boys have the intuition to improvise not just as individuals but also as a group is quite a feat all on its own. This ability likely came from the high school band training. Yes, most of these guys are former neo-band geeks, uniformed in the parades, named in the holiday concert bulletin, the whole bit. Yet knowing the classical rules makes it all the easier to defy them. And that defiance begins with the very basis of making a jam band in the face of such a rock-heavy, production-based musical culture. There can be moments of musical indecision, southern blues bass lines backing up a circa 1970s funk riff, a calm before the spontaneity breaks into a storm, a sharing of vocal responsibilities among band members.

The best opportunity to appreciate the band that rocked HarvestFest and the 10,000 Lakes Festival is to catch it at one of the various Midwestern venues the group performs at.

Baumann said: “We love to play music for ourselves, each other and anyone else who will listen. To me, a good show is like winning a sporting event. We practice hard and learn the plays and moves that are true to our field, and we go and execute them both thru script and audibles.”

Only at shows can the listener understand what really makes Fat Maw Rooney a noteworthy band. “Feel the Love” may sound fun on the stereo and the horns may inject energy through the headphones, but knowing you aren’t the only one feeling it adds a whole new dimension. And in the presence of this kind of greatness, the audience cannot help but enjoy themselves.

“Music is my favorite drug,” Baumann offered. “It can take me high or low or somewhere in between without any warning. The freedom is delightful.”

That kind of freeing drug is only available where FMR plays. Luckily, the band will be hitting Madison this Saturday, debuting at the King Club and returning Dec. 10 for a gig at the Memorial Union.

The two performances will offer the opportunity to understand how Fat Maw Rooney can really react to that influential audience in any instance.

“Madison is a truly enjoyable location to play because of the diverse culture and mass collection of musical tastes,” Baumann said. “We never know what kind of show will go over well while in Madtown, so we just go with the flow when we get there.”

Be sure to bring the best of that Madison energy, give Fat Maw Rooney a challenge and see just what they can do with it.