Like the five unlikely students who formed “The Breakfast Club,” five musicians with very different backgrounds make up the Ronnie Buxtons. 

 

The group includes a Jeopardy contestant, a martial artist, an art teacher, an athlete and a guy who’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for mashed potato wrestling.

 

“In my head, Ronnie Buxton is this ‘Charlie’s Angels’ kind of guy who’s always wanted a band, so he buys people to be his band,” said bassist Scott Cook (also of the Porcelain Boys). “He appears to the audience and he’s like, ‘Hey guys! Ya like my band?’”

 

The Ronnie Buxtons refer to themselves as middle-aged rock, but the group’s music has a youthful, melodic quality that’s contagious and reminiscent of Weezer’s older tunes. 

 

“There are fewer and fewer bands that have guitar, bass, drums and keyboard,” said drummer Misha Dashevsky (also of Die Electric!). “We’re just a straight-up rock band. … I don’t know how to do electronic stuff.”

 

“Ronnie Buxton” is a fake name the band gave to its made-up manager who’s listed as a contact on the group’s Facebook page. “Buxton” wrote a press release and sent out emails on behalf of the band.

 

“Sometimes people think I’m Ronnie. They’ll be like, ‘Nice set, Ronnie!’” said guitarist Steve Barone (formerly of Lifter Puller).

 

After throwing out hundreds of potential band name ideas, the Ronnie Buxtons agreed to add “the” and “S” to their fake manager’s name.

 

“The worse the band name is, the easier it is to sell, I think,” Cook said.

 

With the exception of guitarist Adam Anderson, all of the members of the Ronnie Buxtons have been in different bands. Barone said they’re “veterans of the scene” who at one point took a step back from music for a while. 

 

But Barone and Dashevsky wrangled up the band’s members to pursue a new project — the Ronnie Buxtons.

 

“I decided to do this on a whim,” said keys/violinist Jeaneen Gauthier (of the Autumn Leaves). “I just wanted something to do, and [Barone] wanted to get something off the ground.”

 

Cook’s interest began when he received an email from Barone, who was seeking a bassist. And though he had been out of the music scene for a decade, he was curious of the group.

 

“The reason I said yes to joining the band wasn’t because I wanted to join a band, it was because I was interested to see how these people would work together,”

Cook said, “I liked them all and respect them all and was curious about their processes.”

 

Cook said though the musicians’ different methods have led to some arguments, the band’s humble disposition is refreshing and makes them fun to work with.

 

Transparent lyrics about broken legs from dancing on coffee tables make the band’s light-hearted persona clear, too.

 

Barone also wrote songs about partying on patios and ice fishing. 

 

But “Dancing on a Coffee Table” is the first track on the group’s debut album, “Getting Together.”

 

“[The table] would be full of pizza and red Solo cups,” Barone said. “Like ‘Coyote Ugly: the home version.’”

 

And if the opportunity presented itself, the middle-aged rockers said they would personally dance on a table.

 

“I’m not that stiff,” Barone said. “I do yoga.”