Saxophonist Matt Corey will give popular top-40 club songs new life as he and his band come to Nate and Wally’s Fishbowl tonight for an evening of bellowing brass, good spirits and dance.

Music has been a part of Corey’s life for as long as he can remember. Growing up watching many of his family members play one instrument or another, when he discovered saxophone, it was only natural he should run away with it. He did.

Corey graduated from Youngstown State University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Music, specializing in music education and jazz performance. Following graduation, Corey found a job playing music at Disney World. Disney later sent him to London to work on the project “BLAST”: a theater production showcasing a horn-based re-imagining of the popular Broadway show, “STOMP.”

When that job dried up, Corey returned to the U.S. and reunited with some friends he had played with while in high school to form the band, Skinny. The band had a good run on the jam-band college scene, Corey said, prior to their parting ways early this year. With Skinny disbanded, the side project Matt Corey Band took his central focus.

Matt Corey Band experimented with several different approaches initially, test driving various singers and rappers as front-men, but things never clicked. Fueled by frustration and a spark of realization, Corey eventually stepped up to the lead role he said he should have assumed from the beginning.

“There was a point where I realized that if this is going to have my name behind it, I need to be the guy up front,” he said. “That way if at the end of the night I’m not satisfied, it’s my fault.”

Once the indecisive haze settled, with Corey taking his tenor sax to the center-stage, the resulting sound was a highly danceable ensemble of popular club songs tossed in the juicer to blend with a jazz additive for nutrient. The band builds its foundation utilizing drums, bass guitar and turntables, with Corey erecting soul-rich sound-structures on its top. Lyrics are largely removed, save the occasional hook from the original song, provided by the DJ.

“We’re kind of playing the same stuff you’d hear in a dance club,” he said, “only with a slight twist.”

Now settled into their style, Matt Corey Band is playing a tour of over 40 college towns and cities across the country, serving a demographic Corey readily admits may seem difficult to reach with his approach.

“It’s been really scary to be in a band led by a saxophone and play for college kids,” he said. “A lot of them think saxophone is going to be dentist music, like Kenny G. It’s sort of my job to break that mold.”

The band’s record has proven much of this worry to be misdirected. According to Corey, the band has been one of the top-booked bands on their circuit, often beating out hip-hop and rock bands traditionally more thought to be built to cater to a college crowd.

“It’s been crazy,” he said.

Tonight will not be Corey’s first visit to the Fishbowl, having played there numerous times before with Skinny. Former Nate and Wally’s bartender Angie Poehler recalled memories of these high-energy shows, where the audience would “crowd up to the stage” as the band “seemed to draw them right in.”

“Their music seemed to attract an assortment of music fanatics – simply people who like catchy lyrics and music you can move to,” she said.

Fishbowl co-owner Nate Cordes believes Corey’s new act will re-create a lot of the same energy formerly provided by Skinny.

“[Matt Corey] has always had a good vibe; he’s always been very energetic,” he said. “He really plays to the crowd and tries to get everyone involved. He’ll have everyone’s attention for sure.”

Corey spoke with experiential laughter as he reminisced on his previous playings at the Fishbowl.

“People at Nate and Wally’s really know how to have fun,” he said.

“When I got a little more control and say in where the band goes, I was like: ‘We have to get back in Bowling Green, we have to get back to Nate and Wally’s,'” he said. “It’s just too much fun there not to go.”

Matt Corey Band’s live act, as well as some originals, can be heard at Mattcoreymusic.com. The 18-and-over show will start at 10:30 p.m. with a three-dollar cover at the door.

Matt Corey has opened for acts such as Dave Matthews, O.A.R., George Clinton and Lil Wayne. Despite his accomplishments, Corey remains humble.

“I’m just glad people are still willing to let me play at their place,” he said.