Two years ago, a new band began to creep under the door of the Ames market, but not until this year did the door open and welcome it as one of Ames’ own.

Dazy Head Mazy — stemming from Mankato, Minn. — has developed a relationship with Ames’ fans that is unprecedented by its other audiences.

“In all honesty, Ames seems to be more fun [than Mankato],” drummer Andy Clark said. “There are about 500 to 800 more people in Mankato, and every time we do a show, there are always new faces. Ames has a different kind of feeling. Everyone is open.”

This sincerity has shown through several times. After a recent show at People’s Bar and Grill, Seth Parker, who sings and plays keyboard and harmonica, asked, “Why is everyone here so nice? They’re not this nice to us at home.”

And that’s why they keep coming back. In Dazy Head Mazy’s time together, the band has played in Ames several times including last year’s Veishea.

“Yep, we were around somewhere when everything happened,” Clark said.

The story of Dazy Head Mazy is not an atypical one. Three years ago singer and bass player Jason Anderson, Parker and Clark were playing in local cover bands and lead singer Will Bauermiester was playing in a separate folk band. They met; they played together; they clicked and they formed a band.

And, like many college bands, Dazy Head Mazy’s first gig was at a house party. Shortly after, the band became regular entertainment in a small Mankato bar and slowly moved to bigger bars and eventually broke into the Minneapolis area.

During this time, the band also produced two CDs — the first is a self-titled track that was used to book gigs, and the second, “They’re All Wearing Pearls,” is owned by nearly all Ames’ Dazy Head Mazy fans.

“This year things have really taken off, and the CD helped out,” Clark said. “We’re still real regional, but now we have a booking agent, and we’re thinking about moving into the Colorado and Kansas scenes.”

Even the songwriting efforts of the band are not unlike those of other bands.

“Will usually brings in a song he has written, and we jump in and tear it apart,” Clark said. “Will does about 90 percent of the songwriting, and Seth does the rest. Jason and I have only done one — ‘Melvin James’ — but it’s a real group effort.”

Dazy Head Mazy’s goals are the same as every other band: to “have fun, hopefully get a deal and make a living at this,” Clark said.

So what makes the band original? Simple: its magnetism on stage and its four-part harmony.

“We always try to keep harmony throughout the songs,” Clark said. “As a matter of fact, harmony is in almost every song, and not a lot of bands have that. We work hard to keep it.”

But some might say Dazy Head Mazy may be riding on the coattails of The Nadas’ success in Ames — even though Dazy Head Mazy had been playing in Ames for two years, the band’s name didn’t become household until it opened for The Nadas at a sold-out People’s show earlier this year.

“They [The Nadas] are a great bunch of guys,” Clark said. “It’s been great working with them, and we’ve done all kinds of shows together. We have a similar feel, but they’re more groovy and more hyper.”

Although The Nadas may have helped break Dazy Head Mazy into the Ames circuit, the band has been successful on its own merits. In the last two months, Dazy Head Mazy has attracted vivacious crowds that are able to sing along almost lyric- for-lyric.

The band is obviously doing something right to be invited back to Veishea for a second year. However, this year’s dry Veishea is more of curiosity than anything to them.

“How’s it going to work this year?” Clark asked.

“[Veishea] will be a challenge this year. It’ll be interesting to see who’ll see the show,” he said after listening to a long, drawn-out explanation of the year’s Veishea rules. “We were talking to someone last night [at its April 8 show at People’s Bar and Grill] and someone said that the freshmen and everyone else in the dorms are scared and won’t leave, but they’re also scared they’ll get caught drinking in the dorms. It’ll be interesting to see who shows up.

“But it’ll be a blast,” he continued. “We played on Welch last year also, and it was a lot of fun.”

Dazy Head Mazy will be playing on the Taste of Veishea Stage on Welch Ave. Saturday at 9 p.m.