Bands such as The Hives, The Vines and The Strokes have marked a comeback of 1970s-era garage rock, and have managed to leave a mark on the music industry. These acts come from big cities where they have met success as a result of thriving local music scenes.

But you don’t have to be a band from a big city to be successful in the music industry. Despite the trials and tribulations of a small Kansas town’s barely existent music scene, The Anniversary managed, through hard work and a giant-sized passion for music, to land a record deal and a chance to do what they love.

“It was tough getting shows at first,” says keyboardist and vocalist Adrienne Pope. “Our friend … did a great job of promoting us, so we did pretty well.”

The band began in 1995 when singer/guitarist Justin Roelofs, singer/keyboardist Adrienne Pope and singer/guitarist Josh Berwanger started performing and writing songs. After a few years, the group made its pilgrimage to Lawrence, Kan. There, they met bassist James David and drummer Chris Jankowski, and The Anniversary was born.

It was through Get Up Kids members Matthew Pryor and Robbie Pope that The Anniversary managed to land a deal with indie label Vagrant Records. In July 1999, the band released their debut album titled “Designing a Nervous Breakdown.”

After two full-length albums and numerous tours in the United States and Europe, The Anniversary is gearing up to embark on a short Midwest tour spanning six shows over six days. They are bringing their wild personalities and unique songwriting approach along with them. This will be the group’s third trip to Ames.

“We have played in Ames twice,” Jankowski says. “We went in not knowing what to expect and we were blown away by the response.”

The Anniversary will be headlining the show which includes labelmates T.K. Webb and Grand Champeen.

Jankowski says the setlist will include tracks from both albums as well as a few covers and maybe a few new tracks.

“We have never played live with [T.K. Webb and Grand Champeen] before,” Jankowski says. “We are looking forward to it though.”

Pope says the band doesn’t go for any specific sound when writing songs, and no two songs sound alike. That is what makes the band unique.

“We don’t really have a specific way of approaching our songwriting,” Pope says. “We pretty much feed off each other and it just kind of comes together. Josh and Justin will write the bulk of each song and then the rest of us add bits and pieces here and there.”

Pope says the band draws from such influences as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival and old school blues, but each individual band member has his or her own favorites.

“We all listen to the same types of music,” Pope says. “But we also listen to completely different types of music, like classical and even techno. We draw influences from more than just rock.”

Pope says although they are happy with the indie rock scene, The Anniversary would consider going mainstream, especially if it meant that the band’s music would get wider distribution.

“Our long-term goals are to keep making better and better albums and to get our music out to as many people as possible,” Pope says.

Who: The Anniversary, T.K. Webb, Grand Champeen

Where: Maintenance Shop

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

Cost: $9 students, $10 public