Boston-based Averi combines jazz, pop, and country

So here's a recipe for Averi's music: combine jazz, pop, rock, country and a little dash of a cappella and you've got the band. After four years of hard work, this Boston band definitely has its act together.

A mixture of both ages and musical styles shows in both their music and their personalities: the lead singer is just out of college, energetic, and the band's resident joker_ while the rest are in their late '20's, laid-back and thoughtful.

They're headed for stardom with their lively pop/rock style and likable lyrics that get people singing along.

Chad Perrone the classic rock lyricist, and Mike Currier, an R&B/funk saxophonist and pianist, lead the band, along with Matt Lydon the old country soul drummer, and their other two band members, Chris Tilden and Stuart Berk , who are always up to flashy solos. Factor all of that into songs, and you'll get a taste of the band's energetic and dynamic style: songs that start out as ballads and end up as "monster rock," in Chad's words.

They are true entertainers and in concert members will do everything from dance all over the stage to coax an audience to sing back to them in a surprise a capella number. The band even has a local slant with lyrics like, "I'm waiting for the sun to come up over Cambridge. from the band members dancing all over the stage to the Perrone who coaxed the audience to sing back to him in a surprise a cappella number.

But the best part, besides the music, is the band's do-it-together spirit. "No one steals the spotlight," said Perrone, Averi's lead singer and lyricist.

Their spirit comes in many forms: from Averi's work ethic to just how the band works a song. Some songs get you dancing, while others have you swaying back and forth, recalling romantic moments. As Perrone sings in one of his lyrics, "I feel that it's easier now." After four years of pulling together a cohesive sound, the rest of the band feels the same way.

Averi's members laud each other, repeating how each member is a great addition to the band. Perrone emphasizes how impressed he was that Currier learned to play keyboard when he felt some songs called for it, and how "Mike will just make the decision to sit it out or just sing without instrumentation when he feels it's appropriate."

So how did it all come together? Their story sounds like a rock fairy tale. Lydon and Currier had both separately attended The Berkelee School of Music and through a strange twist of fate they ended up living next door to each other at Suffolk University. They found they were both music lovers and began playing together. One day at Suffolk's fall fest, Mike heard Chad playing on his guitar and singing.

"Dude, you've got to hear this kid on guitar, he's amazing," he said, and they tracked down Chad, who joined the band to humor them. From there the threesome went on to pick up Chris Tilden, the bassist, "cause he's a good kid," and Stuart Berk, their guitarist.

They have a fan base that's as dedicated to their music as they are. Just don't mention the word "fan" around them. "I hate the word 'fan,'" says Chad. "Everyone's like friends and family and that's how all bands start out. When you pack a room with 70 people, that's how it is. And when you get 700 people, it's just more friends and family." He's referring to their sold-out concert at the Paradise Rock club in Boston, where they played to an audience of more than friends and family.

"The same people showed up in the front row in pictures from three separate shows," says Averi's photographer, affectionately known as "Cheez."

Averi's members are even modest about mentioning their sold-out concert at the Paradise, "We weren't just asked by Paradise suddenly to play," Perrone said. "We opened for other bands and worked there doing other [stuff] more than once."

Averi doesn't consider the Paradise Rock club their best show, either. For the band members it's much more about the audience response and their dedication to making good music: "Any show that sells out regardless of how many people there are is a good show, or when people sing back, or when there's an encore. There's still something amazing about it," Tilden said.

When it comes to songwriting, Perrone may be the lyricist but the entire band contributes their own "appropriate" arrangements. Perrone writes his own guitar parts but everyone else brings in their own knowledge.

Although they work a lot ("I need a vacation from my vacation," Perrone said), they also don't manufacture anything - emotions, songs or arrangements, though they could with the genre Averi plays in. Perrone says, "I can't force [a song].Even if we've arranged a song, I'm not going to force the lyrics. It's a natural evolution."

It shows: when I listened to their music again on their CD, I could see how they combined the best elements of pop music with a genuine emotion and musicianship. It's easy to figure out the song lyrics and the musicians take their time with the songs, waiting for everyone to come together instead of rushing headlong and screaming (or balladeering) straight through.

Many of the songs are about relationships, relating the "me" to "you," an element of so many successful pop songs. But the songs are personal and specific: Chad explains how his song about the sun rising over Cambridge stemmed from a night spent picking up a girl, going to her place and then getting to listen to how she still loved her ex-boyfriend. He found himself wandering around Boston at 5 a.m. wondering what the hell he was doing wrong with his life - and thence the song was created.

Perrone doesn't believe in writing vague lyrics that can express a universality: "I write for me," he says, though "it's great if people take away their own interpretations."

So where does Averi see itself in five years? "Off the top of my head, I want to be doing what we're doing now, only better," Perrone said. Currier and Lydon agree.

Upcoming shows: Tonight, Dec.r 6 at Bell in Hand. 21+, Averi at 7:30 p.m. December 28, The Sad Caf?© in Plaistow, NH with Mr. Vertigo. Doors at 7 p.m. All ages.