Sundays used to rock hard once in a while at the Boheme Bistro. But now, under the guidance of Jim Schloemer, senior in architecture, the venue is hoping to rock Sundays a bit more softly.

Starting Oct. 5, every Sunday will feature an acoustic performance by some of the better-known acts in the area.

Schloemer says that when he began helping at the Boheme, there was a definite direction the venue was trying to work towards.

“When I started helping with the booking for the club, it was of an understanding that Pete [Sherman], the owner, and [I] were going to try and work together on it and keep the same kind of vision for the club,” he says.

Schloemer says that vision has always existed but suffered from a lack of definition.

“It’s basically there to offer an alternative,” he says. “It’s always been there to offer an alternative, but [Sherman] was always very nondescript in what that alternative was.”

The Boheme’s Sunday open mic night has historically been the place for new bands to first play outside their basement practice areas. But Schloemer says recent developments in the scene have decreased the necessity for that service.

“Now with People’s doing Tuesday nights where they have the local rock bands and heavy hitters come in, the need for a venue in town where new rock bands can play has lessened a little,” he says.

Schloemer says he was looking for a way to follow the Boheme game plan but still help out those in Ames with a tendency for the louder side of things.

“I still wanted to get the rock bands around the area in there and I was just trying to think of a way to do it,” he says. “The idea actually occurred to me while watching the Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘VH1 Storytellers’ where the band sat down with acoustics. It was almost like they were hanging out playing for five friends. They pulled stories, had a good time and everyone was laughing. To me that was really cool.”

Something along the same line would translate well to Ames and the Boheme, says Schloemer.

“I started thinking about it. There’s never really been a place where a rock band was invited to come and sit down and play a full acoustic set,” he says. “In the vein of offering that alternative kind of show, I just thought it would be really cool if prominent members of the local music scene go to come in and play full acoustic sets. They could just kind of hang out, drink coffee with everyone, share jokes with everyone, tell stories and play their sets.”

Sherman says he agrees that the Boheme is the perfect place to offer “a forum for acoustic music” on a regular basis and he was more than willing to offer his club.

“I think we’ve got a good venue for it,” he says. “So I thought we’d go ahead and give it a try.”

Schloemer thinks that Boheme Unplugged will definitely take a step toward giving the Ames population something different, especially in a town where “90 percent of the shows around the area will be ‘Oh, here’s 40 minutes. Plug in, crank it up and knock us on our asses.’ “

Schloemer says there are some exciting shows coming to the Boheme Unplugged stage in the coming month. He says he’s particularly excited about Bi-Fi’s Aaron Hefley, formerly of Pookey Bleum.

Schloemer says he’s hoping some more of Hefley’s compatriots in the local scene will be up to helping out on a song or two.

“It’s just one of those things where he’ll come and get on stage and he’ll have a bunch of his friends in the audience and we’ll see what happens,” he says. “We’ll see who gets on stage and picks up what instrument. That kind of thing is really cool to me too.”

Boheme Unplugged shows start at 7 p.m. every Sunday. Admission is free.