On a small stage, shoved up against a brick wall in a Harrisburg parking lot, the seven members of Curbstone & The Rock Hard Horns delivered a robust dose of energetic music to summer afternoon concert goers.

About halfway through the two-hour set it became clear that the daylong summer heat and humidity were going to spill over into a late-afternoon thundershower. The rain held off, however, just long enough for the band to wail away, playing a mix of jazzed up rock favorites and Motown hits.

The Harrisburg area horn band delivers an energetic show that mixes hard-driving rhythm with a powerful R&B brass section; the group maintains a tight, lively show full of horn- laden Motown classics, as well as popular blues- and jazz-tinged tunes.

Curbstone & The Rock Hard Horns have been around for almost four years, becoming recurrent fixtures at local clubs in the Harrisburg area. Drummer and band founder Mark Gray says the band plays locally about three or four times a month – a sparse enough schedule for each member to maintain a day job. They aren’t looking for a record deal, explains Gray, or harboring any rock star illusions. “The focus is on having fun,” he notes, “but we’re serious about being good.”

The band originally started as Curbstone, a conventional four-piece rock band with drums, guitars, bass and vocals. But that combo was livened up by the addition of the three horn players, known collectively as The Rock Hard Horns.

Despite some lineup changes, Gray says the band’s musical tastes and repertoire have stayed largely the same. “We play music that we want to play and have a good time doing it,” he smiles. “We’ve always played classic Motown hits and rock classics.”

Gray notes that the band would eventually like to branch out from just performing cover songs and play its own music, but “the main obstacle is finding the time to sit down and write,” he explains – a feat not easily accomplished when the band practices once a week, and the members are spread across Carlisle, Harrisburg and Camp Hill.

Furthermore, many of the members uphold the time-consuming occupation of teaching. The three Rock Hard Horns, Dan Newhouser, Tim Wolf and Vic Wertz (trumpet, trombone and saxophone, respectively), teach at Carlisle High School; Newhouser teaches science, and Wolf and Wertz both teach – you guessed it – music. Gray also teaches music in the Carlisle Area School District, but adds the responsibility of marching band instructor at Carlisle and Camp Hill High Schools as well.

The guitarist and back-up vocalist, Ken Robinson, who works at a public relations firm during the day, joined the band after seeing Gray at a show. “Do you know any guitar players?” Gray asked. No stranger to the local music scene, with performances in several local bands, musical groups and theaters on his resumé, Robinson volunteered.

Vocalist Lyanna Lusk is a veteran of theater and gospel-style church singing. Robinson and Lusk worked together at Theatre Harrisburg in a production of “Pippin,” and he convinced her to join the band in July. Lusk’s powerful voice is well suited to the band’s songs, which seem to crave a strong female lead; her gospel and theater influences are particularly evident on the band’s rendition of “You Keep Me Hanging On.” “It is nice to have someone who has a great voice but can also put on a show,” Robinson observes of the multi-talented singer.

Bass playing responsibilities are divided among three rotating players: principal bassist Vinny Hunter, Allen Roth and D.K. Parsons.

At a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society benefit barbecue cook-off hosted by the Appalachian Brewing Company, Curbstone & The Rock Hard Horns were the second of three bands slated to play two-hour sets on a small stage in the venue’s parking lot.

Fans relaxed in lawn chairs around the edge of the parking lot, or gathered under tents in front of the stage, anxiously anticipating the performance. The eclectic audience was comprised of older adults, families with kids and a healthy sprinkling of young hipsters, all amidst the scent of smoky barbecue and microbrewery suds.

The day began hot and humid, but by the time Curbstone took the stage, the clouds that would later turn to rain were mercifully shading the audience. Even so, the black-clad musicians, tightly packed on the small stage, sweated out an energetic set through the heat.

In the middle of the group, singer Lyanna Lusk, Curbstone’s sole female member, twirled, Stevie Nicks-like, as she belted out such classics as The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hanging On.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the group supplied ample energy. They cycled through familiar Motown classics and rock standards, spruced up with horns and an incessant rhythmic pulse. They also threw in some slower jams, like “Smooth” by Santana, but added their own jazzy punch. On a rendition of “Mustang Sally,” the band even roused the audience for a crowd solo during the song’s well-known refrain: “Ride Sally, Ride!”

On several songs, the horn players traded their trumpets, saxophones or trombones for cowbells, shakers and various percussion instruments, most of which you’d find in a grade-school music class. Small surprise, since four of the seven band members are schoolteachers.

During the song “Crossroads” (originally written by Robert Johnson, but made famous by Eric Clapton and Cream), a toddler stepped out closer to the stage. She seemed hypnotized by the music as she waddled around, knees cocked and moving insistently to the music. She cast glances -back toward her parents and other onlookers who egged on the cuteness.

A small boy soon joined her at the foot of the stage, swinging her around, then quickly leaving her behind as he ran off to enjoy some of the event’s other amenities.

While the childish tandem comprised most of the dancing that afternoon, the rest of the audience obviously enjoyed the lively set.

Each band member blends his or her range of instruments into the whole seamlessly, creating a lively sound that is impressive to hear and, as the uninhibited joy exuding from the band attests, fun to play.

Check out the band’s Web site at www.curbstoneonline.com for additional information.