Girlfriend Material

Two dudes, one goal: fun. If you’ve ever seen Girlfriend Material play at Double Roads Tavern in Jupiter, Florida — the premier live music venue in Palm Beach County — you already know. There’s something about the energy this band brings, not just through their instruments and the mic, but into the crowd itself. Everyone finds themselves singing, clapping, dancing, and repeating, song after gloriously fun and funky cover. Like the saying goes: we’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a (damn) good time.

“We play to the room and we can generally win over every crowd. We never write set lists — we read the crowd and go off the room,” said Mike McCleary, who has been with the ever-evolving band since its inception. “We play everything from The Beatles to TLC to a lot of old classics like Bowie, then we might go into NWA. We don’t limit to any genre — we keep it fun and dance-y, with a little bit of jamming, but always pretty accessible to the crowd.”

The Girlfriend Material you know today has been in the works for about 15 years. At the helm of the band’s buzz was — and is — Bryan Smith, a self-prescribed entertainment and music addict. In 2000, he and Mike, who both attended Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts for music, started Gimp, a high school band that played original songs. From there, as one would imagine, the group went their separate ways, with Bryan heading to Delaware and then Albany.

When Bryan returned to Florida around 2008, it just made sense to start yet another band — this time called Ladies and Gentlemen. Some of the original bandmates moved on to other musical ventures, so the original leading duo decided to keep doing what they do best: evolve and jam, this time as a cover band.

In a Parks and Recreation/Mouse Rat-esque twist, they kept changing their band name every couple of weeks, thinking it was the funniest thing going. “People would hire us knowing it was us, but people were annoyed because they could never find us,” Mike said. “Then we were talking, and I said I needed to meet a nice girl and settle down — that I wanted to find a girl who’s girlfriend material. Bryan said, ‘That’s our band name now!’ I said, ‘Man, you can’t keep doing this,’ but we decided that was it, and it stuck.”

That was the beginning of Girlfriend Material, back in 2010.

Since then, the lineup has grown to include bandmate Tom Coughter. Now you’ll find Bryan on guitar and vocals, Mike on drums, harmony vocals, and trombone, and Tom on bass. Through it all, the mission has stayed the same: bring the fun, and keep the band feeling more like a passion than a job.

“The best part about being in the band is having a job that doesn’t feel like work! I get paid to entertain people,” said Bryan, whose past work has included time with 103.1 The Buzz and MTV’s Ridiculousness. “Whether it be music or radio or comedy, I loved working on a TV set. Anything in entertainment and music as a whole. If I can provide a distraction from people’s shitty or great lives, that’s awesome. I just like making people have fun.”

That’s exactly what you’ll get at every Girlfriend Material show at Double Roads Tavern. The trio works hard to keep their sets unpredictable, never relying on a set list and instead reading the room to shape each night’s run of covers — everything from Zeppelin to Outkast.

“With the exception of a couple of songs, we pick obscure songs that we still know the crowd will recognize, but they’re still fun. We put our own spin on it,” said Mike. “Bryan has more energy than anyone I’ve ever met. He’s very much an entertainer, and people love watching him on stage. If you’re not having a good time, he’ll find you and get you out of your seat. The overall objective is to have fun.”

They know that what you get out is what you put in — so at every show at Double Roads Tavern, Girlfriend Material goes all in, keeping the crowd on its tapping toes. They might be a cover band, but their sound is completely original, and the Double Roads Tavern crowd loves it every single time.

Girlfriend Material performs live every Monday night at Double Roads Tavern, located in the heart of Jupiter, Palm Beach County — widely regarded as the premier live music venue in the area. Pair their unforgettable sets with mouthwatering food, craft cocktails, and the best vibes in town. Come early, grab a bite, and get ready to dance the night away.

Want a taste of what to expect before the show? Check out Girlfriend Material live in action:

Follow Double Roads Tavern’s event calendar for upcoming show dates and times.