While at home during the summer months, one ISU student makes sure his electric bass doesn’t get dusty by playing in a jazz jam band with high school friends.

Andrew Hathaway, sophomore in engineering, performs with his jazz group Jimmy Mack and the Heart Attacks every Thursday night at Mojo’s, a coffee shop in Davenport.

Hathaway said the main reason he plays in the band is to improve his skills for when he returns to the ISU Jazz Band and his jazz combo.

“None of us are playing because we need the money – we have our own jobs – but it’s just fun to get together and play. Every time you play with people you learn something,” Hathaway said.

Hathaway, guitarist James Mack, a student at Boston University, and the rest of the band began jamming together during their senior year of high school after the regular jazz band season had ended.

“We still had a few months of school left and we didn’t have jazz band, so we put together some of our friends for a combo and we just played every morning,” Mack said. “Then we got a few gigs last summer and we got most of the same guys back this year from their colleges.”

The band has seven core members, and they welcome any musician who brings an instrument to the performance to jam with them onstage.

Mack said they have seen a wide variety of talented musicians in Davenport come to join them in making music.

“There’s a lot of really great players in the area that will come and play. There was a guitar player that was just ridiculous, he was so good. It’s so much fun to see them play,” Mack said.

Although Hathaway and Mack both said they have a passion for music, they plan on pursing careers outside of their art. They said they hope to continue to play in similar bands just for fun in the future.

For the rest of the summer, the band has only a few other gigs besides their regular Thursday slot at Mojo’s. After August comes around, Jimmy Mack and the Heart Attacks will split up once again as the members return to their separate colleges.

“We’re going to have some more fun, jam some more. Hopefully become better players. That’s what it’s ultimately about,” Hathaway said.