Jim Brunberg used to be a high school teacher. Now he plays guitar in smoky clubs across the country.
"I used to play my guitar in the classroom during some of the lessons," Brunberg said during a phone call from his home in San Francisco. "Then I met another guitarist (Jeff Pehrson). He was a bum, a scoundrel and a lowlife, and I thought, `Hey, I want to be like that.' "Brunberg and Pehrson will bring the rest of their band Box Set to the Zephyr Club, 301 S. West Temple, Friday, Aug. 1. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Brunberg met Pehrson in 1991. The two decided to pull stakes and head to Europe to play music.
"We each packed a bunch of demo tapes, bought discounted one-way tickets and spent four months in Europe playing the streets," Brunberg said. "We sold our tapes and eventually made enough money to fly back to the States."
Although that venture sounds a little too risky for some, Brunberg said the risk factor never even entered his mind.
"I just knew I wanted to go somewhere to play the music," Brunberg said with a laugh.
Upon the duo's return, they made a plan to attack the club scene around San Francisco. From there things began to change.
"We had a friend of ours open one of our shows," Brunberg remembered. "He brought his whole band and they blew us off the stage. But we got our revenge and stole his bass player."
With Chad Heise playing bass, Box Set slowly began taking shape. After auditioning a number of drummers, Pehrson and Brunberg recruited Mark Abbott.
Harmonica/keyboardist Sam Johnston joined by jumping on stage during a gig and huffing about.
"We had never seen him before, but he blew us out of the water," Brunberg said.
Although there is an official group line-up, Brunberg and Pehrson still go on the road as an acoustic duo from time to time.
"We keep things in perspective," Brunberg said. "We split the time evenly."
Since officially forming in 1993, Box Set has garnered a handful of awards. Back in '94, the band was praised by Billboard Magazine's entry on the Honor Roll of Unsigned Talent; the band was named the 1995 Group of the Year by the National Academy of Songwriters, and this year, it won two Bay Area Music Awards (BAMMIES) for Best Club Band and Outstanding Roots/Americana Group. Other musicians who have won BAMMIES in other categories include Santana, the Steve Miller Band and Jefferson Starship.
"We were surprised," said Brunberg. "But we have a loyal following who voted for us."
As for the future, Box Set just signed with Capricorn Records, the home of Widespread Panic, Cake and 311.
"A new album will be out in January," Brunberg said. "But until then, we'll keep touring and selling our independent releases."