The Friday Concerts on the Lemont Village Green series continues this week when new local band Cootie Brown comes to play at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The show will be the second the band has ever played together, having just completed its four-member lineup in April when drummer Jim DeVoss joined the band. However, DeVoss said the band has steadily improved, culminating in its tightest session yet at a performance in Lock Haven Saturday.

"It was the best time we've collectively played together for an extended period of time," DeVoss said. "We've been hiding because we want to get a lot under our belt."

Though the band members are relatively new to each other, they are not new to their instruments. Each member has been playing music for a long time, the band members said.

The band got started when Brian Eckert (bass, didgeridoo and vocals) started playing with Ryan Alford (guitar) near the end of November. Jacob Haqq-Misra (congas) joined in January, and the band's current four-piece incarnation was completed when DeVoss joined in April.

While the name Cootie Brown had been used by one of Eckert's previous bands, he said this incarnation of the band is a completely new one. It got started when Eckert and Alford started jamming and found immediate chemistry.

"We just clicked," Alford said.

Haqq-Misra was shocked when the band replied to his post on the Internet within one day.

"I posted on StateCollege.com, and the next day they'd responded already," he said.

The group members said the whole band was formed through the Web site in one way or another.

While DeVoss is from State College, the rest of the band members are here because of their connection to Penn State. Haqq-Misra is a graduate student, and the other two are alumni. They had all been actively looking to join a band when Cootie Brown came together.

"I said to myself, 'That's my project for the semester,' " Haqq-Misra said.

The band does not classify itself as any specific genre of music.

"We play funk, jazz, reggae, with a space element," DeVoss said. "Everyone we can think of has influenced us."

Despite the popularity many local bands have from playing in bars in State College, Eckert welcomes his band's acceptance to other markets.

"There's a real audience of people under 21," he said.

Though the band plays one cover, its music is "99 percent original," Eckert said.

The band said that its style would be welcome at the Village Green, which has a family atmosphere to its shows.

"I've had 4-year-olds dance to our music," Eckert said.

Hajj-Misra agreed. "I don't think our music offends anyone," he said.

Eckert said the band's style brings a lot of variety to the table, due both to all of the musician's styles and backgrounds.

"We play something for everybody," he said.