The vaudevillian Asylum Street Spankers [ tickets ] have scheduled shows in 17 cities in the southern U.S., as well as San Diego. The tour begins in their home town of Austin, Texas, on Saturday (1/27).

In addition to the confirmed dates, the band plans to schedule shows in "Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Tucson, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Santa Fe, San Angelo, Amarillo, Denton, Las Vegas and more!!" in April, according to its official website.

Asylum Street Spankers' evolution is typical of many bands that have formed in cities with active music scenes: several local musicians meet, discover that they have similar musical interests, play together, do some local shows, and find themselves getting more and more popular. According to their website, "some thirty or so" Austin musicians have been in the Spankers lineup. Mainstays Christina Marrs and Wammo are currently fronting the band.

The band's music is acoustic, and reminds one of the café string jazz of the '20s and '30s, though it also dips into Western swing, blues and Hawaiian music. Until about three years ago, the band also had a regular gig at a Sunday gospel brunch at Austin's La Zona Rosa.

Their lyrics are frequently humorous, even raunchy, touching upon sex and drug use. The band's latest CD, "Spanker Madness," released on the band's Spanks-A-Lot Records, takes it's cover concept from the alarmist, anti-marijuana movie "Reefer Madness," and includes such songs as "High as You Can Be" and "Wake and Bake."