Growing up in San Anselmo, longtime friends Charles Yoakum and Todd Miro spent their days listening to music and dreaming of performing live with their band. Then life happened and they started their careers and had families. That dream was put on the back burner.

But, after watching his son, Logan, play the tenor saxophone at HopMonk Tavern with this band, Miro had a realization.

“I was a proud papa, but also, I’m like, I need to get myself up there. I think a lot of people had those moments during the pandemic or shortly thereafter where they reassessed things in their lives. And that was one thing where I just said, ‘I cannot go my whole life and never play live in front of people.’”

After both going through the BandWorks program, Yoakum and Miro teamed up with drummer Theo Banks, bassist Scott Hodes and singer Carly Ball, who grew up in Marin. The local rock band, called Distortion Therapy, performs covers from all eras.

“When Carly came to do her tryout with us, it was immediately evident that she was exactly what we needed and that she brought us to another level — both musically and performance-wise. I got goosebumps just hearing her and we all agreed right there and then that she was the one,” Miro said.

For Ball, who had just returned to the Bay Area after hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, the band was her “new adventure” as she put down roots in the area.

“They were like, ‘Do you mind that we’re a bunch of guys in our mid-50s? And I was like, ‘I don’t. Do you mind that I’m a girl in my mid-20s?’ They were like, ‘No.’ I was like, ‘Cool, let’s jam,’” Ball said. “We want to be proud of what we do. We spend the time to actually hone our skills. I wouldn’t want to be in any other band.”

Being from different generations has been a benefit to the band, they say, hinging on their ability to share and expose one another to different music.

“It allows us to flesh out our setlist to be much more varied and interesting,” Miro said.

“I always feel music is very universal. Whether it was recorded 40 years ago or four days ago, a great song is a great song, and it connects and excites people,” said Yoakum, who adds that the band loves to perform songs people love but “they’d almost forgotten they’d loved.”

The band will be one of the competitors of the Battle of the Dad Bands as part of the Larkspur Summer Festival, taking place from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Piper Park in Larkspur. The winner, chosen by both the audience and a panel of judges, will get to perform at HopMonk Tavern at a later date.

Presented by the Larkspur Chamber of Commerce, the event will also feature food trucks, a beer garden, local vendors and more.

“Our goal was to do a countywide event that showcased the amazing talent throughout Marin and bring together all of the chambers, which is why we have six bands from six different cities/towns,” said Jamie Bristow, of JLB Event Productions, who is helping put on the event. “We started as a humble Battle of the Dad Bands event with six local bands that we pulled together from friend recommendations and it’s morphed into the Summer Festival. We love doing community events and knew nothing like this had ever been done in Marin, so we saw an opportunity. We also partnered with HopMonk Tavern early on and they have been a huge supporter of us and are participating in multiple ways in the event.”

Admission is $28.52 to $119.22 for general admission or $188.58 for VIP. Get tickets at eventbrite.com.

Here are the other Marin bands playing.

The Velvet Fog >> Gabriel Bryant has been surrounded by music his entire life. His grandfather was a classically trained tenor and his mom ran nightclubs in the Bay Area. As he got older, he began playing in original and cover bands, including a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band.

So, the Sausalito resident knows when something feels right musically — and he and the other band members of the Velvet Fog felt it when they got together to play a few years ago.

“We got together and, instantly, the chemistry was there. The first time we rehearsed, we went through all the songs without a hitch. I think that was the moment when we really started vibing, and we were like, we’re on to something. They’re all talented musicians, and we try to push each other as much as we possibly can. It’s just a wonderful group of guys,” said Bryant of the group, which rehearses out of a warehouse space in Novato.

Composed of Bryant, the vocalist, lead guitarist Scott Decker, drummer Ryan Comiskey, bass guitarist Mark Mussato and the newest member, keyboardist Chad Davidson, the band performs “rock covers for every generation,” from Queen to Queens of the Stone Age to David Bowie to The Black Keys.

The name is an homage to musician and singer Mel Tormé.

“We were at the Speakeasy in Novato after a rehearsal, and we were trying to think of a band name. Mark was talking about going to see Mel Tormé when he was younger. And he’s like, ‘Mel Torme, the Velvet Fog,’ because that was his nickname. And we’re like, ‘That’s an amazing name for a Marin- and Bay Area-based group.’ Our fans are called the Foggettes.”

With a tagline of “professional quality — serious fun,” the group is excited to take the stage on Saturday.

“Any event like this that gets people out and about enjoying music, enjoying their town, supporting the community is definitely a blessing. We’re very excited to play and we’re excited to hopefully bring home the gold,” he said.

Midlife on Mars >> When Tyke Lewis and Matt Foley met at a birthday party a few years ago, they bonded over their shared love of music and having children around the same age.

“We were talking about music and how we missed playing music, and we started playing some music in my garage. One thing led to another and we started bringing a few more people on board and really putting the set together and going out and starting to play some shows,” said Lewis, of Midlife on Mars, which still practices in his garage.

But there was one slight problem: They both played drums. So, Lewis decided to throw himself into playing the guitar wholeheartedly since learning the basics in his youth, pushing himself to get better as they began playing gigs throughout the last two and a half years.

The band’s members, many of whom live in San Anselmo or Fairfax, are Lewis, drummer Matt Foley, singer Chris Levens, guitarist Steven Orloff and bassist Steve Chen. They play throwback rock anthems from the 1990s and 2000s.

“What we noticed is that there aren’t as many bands around here playing music that we grew up listening to,” Lewis said. “It felt like there was a hole missing with the kind of stuff that we all love.”

The “dad band” moniker rings true for the band.

“That’s exactly how we identify,” he said. “From the beginnings of the band coming together around preschool, to our singer showing up in his pajamas with bags under his eyes because he had a 7-week-old kid, to going to shows and having all of our kids wearing ‘Midlife on Mars’ shirts with headphones on dancing around to all the songs — I feel like that very much embodies the energy of what we do. It’s very much a part of the kind of music that we play and why we do it in the first place.”

For their 20-minute set on Saturday, they will weave in and out of songs and mash up some songs that “are a lot of fun and going to be a crowd pleaser.”

The Sofa Kings >> The Sofa Kings, which started in a Mill Valley garage in 2016, will perform their take on the “cooler songs” of the 1980s and ’90s.

Stonefish >> Stonefish describes itself as “a mixtape your older sibling would have given you,” a collection of songs from over the years — some may be nostalgic and others you might be hearing for the first time or have forgotten how good the song was.

But at the core are four friends from Sleepy Hollow, vocalist and guitarist Brian London, drummer Teague Sterling, vocalist and guitarist Jeff McFarland and bassist and vocalist Matt Andrews, who met in fall 2019.

“Our wives were friends because of kids around the same age. Someone would say, ‘Oh, my husband plays this,’ or ‘My husband plays drums.’ They were like, we should put our husbands together. And one dad said, ‘I have a buddy who plays guitar; he should come over.’ And then the pandemic happened. We slowly established a friendship over lockdown; we talked all the time on a thread and it kept our sanity,” London said.

When restrictions started to loosen, they began to practice together on Thursdays in a garage and started performing around 20 shows a year in the area, playing through a rotation of around 500 songs they have in their arsenal, moving on when they get tired of them.

“We have this great group of community and friends, and then we have the availability to play concerts for them and still be able to do it even though we’re all parents living in the ‘burbs.’ That’s amazing. I feel really blessed to be a part of it,” said London, who has played in other bands.

How did the name Stonefish come about?

“We were going through songs and a lot of the guys really loved the band Phish, and we were playing a (Rolling) Stones song. And out of my mouth I said, ‘We should play a Stonefish.’ Everybody just looked around and went, ‘Yes,’” he said.

What should you look forward to in their set?

“Get ready to dance,” London said.

Funk Nugget >> The members of Funk Nugget were no strangers to performing in bands — in fact, many performed in other groups in Marin, where they all live. But, they all wanted to do something together and play music they felt they didn’t hear much in the area.

And so, around three years ago, Funk Nugget was born, a Marin ‘70s cover band with all kinds of funk and disco up their sleeve — sprinkling in little nods to other genres here and there.

“We’re trying to do service to the music that we grew up with and love,” said Michael Margulies, the band’s vocalist and guitarist.

In fact, their first gig was at a competition at Sam’s Anchor Cafe in Tiburon, where they placed second. And they’ve been growing a local following ever since.

“We’re just super grateful to be able to bring that party vibe to the places that we play. The most important thing for us is just playing music that we love and making sure people have fun, too,” Margulies said. “At the end of the day, we want it to be a dance party.”

The band includes Margulies, drummer and vocalist Brandon Hemley, keyboardist Michael Reese and percussionist, vocalist and harmonica player Jimmy Baldwin.

Many coming from rock band backgrounds, they’ve savored playing this genre of music and being able to “feel the energy from the crowd” in a different way.

“As a performer, the ultimate thrill for me is being able to have that feedback loop where you’re putting energy out, you’re getting energy back, and it’s like building on each other’s energy to bring things to sort of an ecstatic peak,” Margulies said.

“That’s why I think most of us are musicians — to capture that.”

And they’re ready to bring that on Saturday — and possibly some fun outfits.