Tone Def All-Stars back together for a good time April 17 at Arena Building

When Tone Def All-Stars perform April 17 at The Show at the Arena Building, they will be playing together for the first time in almost a year. But vocalist Darren Burgfeld said spontaneous performances are something the band has mastered.

"With Tone Def, it's kind of a standing agreement that if we ever want to play a show, we can get together and do it," Burgfeld said. "We can do it on a moment's notice if we want."

In the eight years since the band formed, Burgfeld said the band practiced only a handful of times. His move to Texas in September 2005 put the band on hold, allowing only a few reunion performances, such as the weekend of the River City Music Festival in 2007.

But after three years as a tour manager, he said, he became a father and moved back home to Cape Girardeau in December. Now the Tone Def All-Stars are ready to do what they do best: have fun.

"We like to involve the crowd. We want people to smile, have some drinks and forget all the other things going on in their life. Let go of that stuff. That's what it does for us," Burgfeld said.

Burgfeld met bassist Pat Koetting and drummer Ron Ruppel, in college at Southeast Missouri State University. They formed a band called Cataphasia, but during the summer of 2001, open mic nights at Jeremiah's shaped the project known as the Tone Def All-Stars.

Having never released a studio album, Tone Def -- consisting of Burgfeld, Koetting, Ruppel and guitarist/vocalist Darrell Chad -- built its following from playing live shows.

"We'd record shows and give them out on CDs. Our following kinda grew from that," Burgfeld said. "We started to have a lot of people coming to see us, which was funny because we never took it seriously."

Instead, the band has always focused on just having fun.

"It's always been about fun. Humor was a huge part of our music and still is. We liked to make people laugh at the shows, and as that moved along, people started to follow our songs and got to know them," he said.

Now, almost eight years later, the Tone Def All-Stars are performing again in Cape Girardeau, and Burgfeld said much of it is for their fans and friends.

"We have great fans that really get into the shows. They are dancing, laughing, drinking and having a blast. I think that's why we still play, more or less to give everyone that release."

For more information or to listen to a few of their tracks, visit myspace.com/tonedefallstars.