Listening to five or six CDs a day would be leisure time for most music junkies, but for Dave Newton, director of the Maintenance Shop, it’s a job.

Newton’s main duty is to listen to the discs of bands hoping to book a show at the legendary all-ages Ames bar. If he likes what he hears, chances are the band will soon show up on the M-Shop’s monthly concert calendar.

“It’s pretty easy to tell right away,” Newton said.

Newton listens to pretty much everything, which is evident by looking at the club’s future shows.

There’s the up-and-coming ska sound of California natives Let’s Go Bowling, the reggae of The International Reggae All Stars, the traditional blues of the Son Seals, the folk of Stuart Davis and the alterna-pop of the Cedar Falls trio House of Large Sizes.

HOLS and Chicago-based the Drovers, are two staple acts Newton said will be returning to the M-Shop this fall. “We try to keep with bands that everyone liked the semester before,” he said. “But I’ve been fishing for new stuff.”

Having hosted such legendary musicians as Arlo Guthrie and Bob Mould, the M-Shop has built a strong tradition among touring bands. Newton credits much of the The M-Shop’s popularity to the kind of crowds the club often draws.

“They come to hear a band and maybe get a beer,” Newton explained. “Rather than come just to get a beer.”

Ames’ position on the map also plays a part in the quality of shows the M-Shop is able to book, Newton said. As a one-night stop between such music-cultured cities as Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha and Minneapolis, playing a show at the M-Shop is often the alternative to taking a night off.

Although People’s Theater, an 800- to 1,000-capacity venue, is scheduled to open sometime this fall, Newton said the M-Shop should still be able to draw popular acts.

“A 1,000-capacity theater doesn’t conform to blues or jazz as well,” Newton said. “We’ll probably stick with the mainstays and traditional stuff. We want to see if we can break into more cultured stuff with our student crowd, not just with our adult crowd.”

One advantage the M-Shop has over other clubs is its diversity of events. The club hosts not only concerts, but theater productions, lectures, movies and performances by the campus comedy group Grandma Mojo’s Moonshine Revival.

The M-Shop hosted a local production of “Dark Ride” for three nights this summer and had a very successful turnout. “It sold out every show,” Newton said. “For the last night, we had to allow standing room only. It was the weirdest play I have ever seen.”

Newton said the M-Shop is currently talking to different directors and searching for another play that would fit well in the venue.

In the past, the club has also sponsored outdoor festivals such as last year’s Reggae Sunday. With time and weather major concerns, Newton said any festivals this year would take place in the fall.

“We want to focus on bringing freshmen into the Shop,” Newton said. “Most of them have no clue what the M-Shop is. It can be pretty intimidating when you first walk in, which can scare them away.”

Because the Maintenance Shop is located in and operated by the Memorial Union, it is able to serve alcohol and still allow all ages.

Tickets to M-Shop shows are available at all TicketMaster outlets as well as at the door, although prices increase $1 the day of the show. Up-to-date concert information is available by calling the M-Shop hotline at (515) 294-2969.