Ska aficionados will leap over the velvet rope this Friday when HBO2 kicks off its debut season of "Reverb" with interviews, performances and behind-the-scenes footage of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Smash Mouth and Save Ferris. |

The music program will spotlight a new batch of emerging artists every week, concentrating its efforts on lesser-known musicians playing smaller venues across the nation.

Shifting its focus from ska to the Lilith Fair, "Reverb" will get up close and personal with Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Paula Cole and "32 Flavors" girl Alana Davis on May 22. In the following weeks, Sugar Ray, G. Love and Special Sauce, Ben Harper, Chris Stills, Third Eye Blind and Bad Religion will also open their dressing room doors to the HBO2 crew.

"This show will transport the home viewer into the club scene and throw them in the mosh pit," Sheryl Northrop, a spokeswoman for HBO, told JAMTV last month. "It's all spontaneous -- if the artist makes a mistake, the mistake goes on television."

"Reverb" is shot with six cameras and has its audio mixed by Mr. Colson at Smart Studios, who has worked with the Smashing Pumpkins and L7 in the past. The show's attention to sound will transform every television into a sharp concert transmitter, Northrop said.

"The goal here is to be visually great -- very cutting edge -- and for the sound to be extraordinary," she said. "['Reverb'] will include everything short of $5 beers and a smoky room." (Anni Layne)