It's not easy playing rock 'n' roll music like they did in the '50s. Sure, the music is simple enough, and only the most stalwart post-punk cynics truly dislike it, but have you ever tried to travel long distances with an upright bass? Bryan McNeely, bassist for Cleveland's Ace and the Ragers, who will make their Athens debut at the Union Bar and Grill,18 W. Union St., tonight, has and he can tell you it's not the most pleasurable way to get around.

"The toughest thing is not having a van," he said. "You end up having to do car pools, and I get stuck driving without a buddy, because the upright bass has to ride in my passenger seat."

Despite a few additional bass-induced blind spots and lonely drives, McNeely and his bandmates are obviously thrilled to be playing music, and are looking forward to spending more time on the road.

"I can't think of a show we've played in the last year that wasn't an absolute party," McNeely said. "We're looking at touring nationally after Jan. 1. We're looking forward to an excellent time of cocktails and mayhem."

Though Ace and the Ragers hasn't brought its mayhem to cities nationwide as of yet, the band has been blowing the roofs off of various Cleveland rock dives (and some really nice venues) for several years.

"We've been together for about five years," McNeely said. "The idea was born between three of us in a bowling alley."

In the time the band has been together, the lineup has expanded to six members, four of whom (singer/guitarist Jason "Ace" Borkowski, tenor saxophonist Nelson Flanagan, drummer Craig Ramsey and McNeely), will be present at the Union tonight. The band has also expanded its repertoire.

"We started off playing covers of rock 'n' roll standards, and started writing and performing our own material about two years ago," he said.

The band's original material, which will be featured on its forthcoming debut CD "Light This Sucker Up", seems to have worked. Ace and the Ragers' Cleveland shows are usually packed with an audience mainly made up of high school kids but encompassing ages up to 40 or 50. The band has even caught the attention of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. The band recently played the gala opening of the hall's new Elvis Presley exhibit.

"(Playing the Hall of Fame) was just a good time" McNeely said. "There were thousands of people there. The atmosphere wasn't like the insanity we see at other shows, but it was very flattering show for us to play."

Ace and the Ragers certainly owe a debt of gratitude to many of the acts in the Hall of Fame - a fact they openly admit - citing the likes of Bill Haley, Little Richard, and of course, Elvis Presley as inspirations. McNeely, however, was quick to distance Ace and the Ragers from the words "rockabilly" and "swing."

"We just want to play rock 'n' roll in the original style - not rockabilly; not swing," he said. "They're both some of our favorite style of music, but we don't really fit in with those bands. We open for a lot of bands in both genres because we have horns, and that fits in with swing, and because the upright bass works with rockabilly."

In keeping with the old-time rock 'n' roll spirit of the band, McNeely said given the opportunity to play with any rock legend, he'd choose Jerry Lee Lewis. The Killer hasn't sought out the Ragers yet, but the band has plenty to keep itself occupied with in the meantime, starting with tonight's show.

Ace and the Ragers will bring their Bill-Haley-with-more-testosterone rock to the Union at 10 p.m. Columbus swing-punk favorites Wolfgang Parker and his Jumpin' Terrors also are on the bill. Cover is $4.