By John Harper

Formula is riding high.

The local jamband recently won "The Battle of the Bands," a contest sponsored by the Outer Banks Brewing Station and 99.1-The Sound.

With the victory, the quartet earned the right to open for Blues Traveler, the Grammy award-winning group performing Saturday, August 14, at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

"It's great," says Andy Torrington, who plays mandolin and keyboards. "We're trying to grow our audience."

The band, playing Saturday, Aug. 7, at Outer Banks Brewing Station and Wednesday, Aug. 11, at Stripers in Corolla, also includes Matt Hoggard on lead guitar and vocals, Jayson "Mole" Hicks on drums and vocals and Jason Rabeiro on bass and vocals.

What the larger audience will hear is joyful music, built on three-and-four-part harmonies, virtuoso playing and extended instrumental flourishes.

"We play whatever we feel like playing," says Torrington. "It's a mixture of everything we grew up listening to."

Borrowing ideas from a number of genres -- rock, jazz, funk, Latin and bluegrass -- the three-year-old band's repertoire is half-original and half-cover material.

"Our stuff is truly collaborative," says Torrington. "We focus on what belongs and what doesn't."

The remakes are all over the place, ranging from an off-the-record cover of Pink Floyd's "Breathe" to a bluegrassy version of Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" to a spacey, atmospheric romp through Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy."

"Everything is spontaneous," says Torrington. "That's the key to the success of this kind of music."

And like other jambands, the group is politically and socially active.

For club dates, the band registers voters.

Who: Formula

When and Where: 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at Outer Banks Brewing Station at milepost 8 on the bypass and 10 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, at Stripers in Monteray Plaza in Corolla

Cost: $5 at the Brewing Station, no cover at Stripers

Also this week …

Singer/songwriter Tad Dreis plays Friday, Aug. 6, at Junkanoo Island Cafe on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway and Saturday, Aug. 7 and Sunday, Aug. 8, at the Pelican Restaurant in Ocracoke.

Catch him while you can. The Chapel Hill-based musician, who's from Manteo, recently qualified for the prestigious "Open Mike Shootout" at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta.

The renowned acoustic music club has been a launch pad for several Grammy award-winning artists, including John Mayer and Indigo Girls

Dreis, who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, writes melodic pop-folk-rock songs with witty, sly and telling lyrics.

He's also an inventive guitarist and first-rate interpreter, breathing life into such well-traveled material as Outkast's "Hey Ya," Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and Davie Bowie's "Space Oddity."

Dreis plays from 5 to 8 p.m. at Junkanoo and 7:30 to 11 p.m. at the Pelican Restaurant. There's no cover charge.

On Monday, Aug. 9 and Tuesday, Aug. 10, Kelly's Restaurant and Tavern in Nags Head offers some serious bang-for-the-buck -- $8 in advance, $12 at the door -- with a double bill of The Clarks and Fastball.

The Clarks are a Pittsburgh quartet whose music incorporates rock, twangy country, psychedelia and folk. Think CCR meets Tom Petty meets the Byrds.

A pop/alternative trio out of Austin, Texas, Fastball got into the heads of radio listeners with two great pop hits in the late '90s -- "The Way" and "Out of My Head."

The show starts at 10 p.m. Kelly's is at milepost 10.5 on the bypass.