When: 9:30 p.m. Friday
Where: The Blue Note

Making music has never felt like a job to Ha Ha Tonka frontman Brian Roberts.

The proud Missouri native has a hard time calling what he does work. He likes getting paid to wail on an acoustic guitar. He likes performing for crowds who know his lyrics as well as he does. He likes taking money away from his buddies in tour bus poker games. Roberts, a German-major-turned bonafide rocker, says he laughs when someone calls Ha Ha Tonka a “professional” band.

“It seems silly to view it as (if) we’re clocking in for a 9-to-5 work week,” Roberts says. “We get to play music and tour around the world in a rock ‘n’ roll band, which is pretty crazy.”

Ha Ha Tonka‚ a band that never likes to take itself too seriously‚ will bring its unabashed garage band energy to The Blue Note tonight. Just like with any other Ha Ha show, fans can expect a rowdy concert experience that might leave many with damaged ears and tapping toes.

The band’s twangy, no-holds-barred musical style is infectious. Despite often harmonizing over things like child abuse and the failings of organized religion, the not-always-uplifting themes are masked by rollicking guitar riffs and bouncing piano melodies. Playing its own rowdy take on alt-country — think Wilco after a few beers — the band has an upbeat sound with subtle, affecting lyrics.

On its most recent effort, _Death Of A Decade_, the band has made what Roberts thinks is its most mature album to date. The various themes thrown at the listener — the deaths that define a decade and how we often see ourselves in them–are potent, but oddly uplifting in context. As Roberts explains, the band’s songwriting is heavily influenced by the state its members were raised in.

“We draw a lot of inspiration from where we’re from in the Ozarks,” Roberts says. “We try to sing about the people, places and things that we saw or knew or experienced growing up.”

The concert will be almost like a homecoming of sorts for a band that bleeds Missouri. Not only are they all from the Show-Me State, but Ha Ha’s members went so far as to name their band after a state park close to their hometown. They can tell a Kansas area code when they see it, too.

It comes as no surprise that the band is excited for tonight’s show. While promising there is no bias behind the claim, guitarist Brett Anderson says The Blue Note is among his favorite venues in America. He says he loves the vibe from the theater — it’s a place where the shaggy-haired men of Ha Ha can easily cut loose. To Anderson, that’s an important part of performing.

“You want to make sure that the audience is having a good time,” Anderson says. “And in order to do that, you need to look like you’re having a good time.”

Anderson says the joy he presents on stage is no act. Playing in front of crowds across the world, he says, is something that never gets old. Just like Roberts, he doesn’t see Ha Ha as a “professional” band.

“It really doesn’t feel like work at all,” Anderson says. “It really is an amazing adventure.”