Rock-reggae groups Passafire and Ballyhoo! are set to infuse the Maintenance Shop with some island grooves as part of their BrewHaHa tour 8 p.m. Feb. 20 with opening act Pacific Dub.

Savannah, Ga.-based band Passafire fuses alt rock with reggae, dub and progressive musical styles to create a sound that should appeal to fans of Sublime and Bob Marley.

“It’s reggae with a lot of rock; it’s rock with a lot of reggae mixed in,” said percussionist Nick Kubley of Passafire. “You could call it progressive reggae rock.”

Passafire was started by Savannah College of Art and Design students Ted Bowne and Kubley as an extracurricular activity.

“Me and Ted, the singer, went to college together,” Kubley said. “We just started playing together, and in 2006 my brother joined the band as a bassist; we got him out of high school.”

Passafire’s band name was inspired by none other than reggae’s iconic legend Bob Marley.

“There’s a Bob Marley album called ‘Catch a Fire’,” Kubley said. “We thought that was cool, but we didn’t want to name it that exactly, so we went with Passafire.” 

Since Passafire’s beginning, they have progressed to touring about 150 shows a year.

“We’ve played quite a bit with Rebelution, Slightly Stooped, Pepper, the Expendables and we’ve done some with 311,” Kubley said.

Passafire has released five albums starting with their self-titled release in 2006 and leading up to to their most recent record, “Vines,” which was released in November.

“The main difference with the latest album, ‘Vines,’ is that we got to make songs altogether, with all of us in a room,” Kubley said. “We just wanted to keep going in the direction that we started going in with ‘Start from Scratch,’ and we wanted to go in that direction further.”

While energetic alternative group Ballyhoo! incorporates reggae sounds as well, they borrow more heavily from the punk spectrum.

“It’s punk-rock-reggae type music,” said frontman Howi Spangler of Ballyhoo!. “A friend and I were trying to come up with a band name, and he suggested Ballyhoo!. I had no idea what it meant. I looked it up; it meant a loud noise, a crazy advertisement, kind of like organized chaos. I definitely [think it relates]; we’re organized chaos.”

Hailing from Aberdeen, Md., Ballyhoo! has been playing since 1995 and have released five albums. Their latest release, “Pineapple Grenade” came out this last summer.

“[Pineapple Grenade] was recorded in about three weeks time back in January,” Spangler said. “We didn’t have an idea of where we wanted to go with it. We just recorded a bunch of songs and went with the best for the record. It was a lot more chill than ‘Daydream,’ our last record, but we came up with a different tone. We’re really proud of it.”

Passafire and Ballyhoo! have a touring relationship that spans back several years.

“We used to do shows with [Ballyhoo!] back in the day, back on the East Coast,” Kubley said. “We’ve probably known those guys for seven or eight years. “[Touring lately] has been great. It’s been fun. Everyone gets along really well.”

Up-and-coming fellow reggae group Pacific Dub is set to open for Thursday night’s show.

“We’ve done a few tours with [Pacific Dub] as well,” Kubley said. “This is the third time that they’ve been out with us, and they’re great. All of the bands in the scene are a pretty tight-knit community.”

Both groups promise a fun show for anyone partial to reggae or alt. rock, as well as for music lovers in general.

Where: The M-Shop

When: 8 p.m. Feb. 20 (Doors open at 7:30 p.m.)

Cost: $8 for students, $12 for public. $2 increase for both day of the show.

Tickets can be bought on Midwestix.