A well-known band of locals and a world-famous trio will find they have a lot more in common than just their upcoming concert together at Georgia Theatre.

Athens’ very own SNAP! will open for Soulive, one of the biggest names in contemporary soul and funk.

SNAP! – much like Soulive – is known for incorporating its own brand of funk and jazz with a wide variety of musical styles and influences.

“It basically started with a group of some of the best musicians I know from living in Athens for the last 10 years,” said Jason Fuller, SNAP! keyboardist. “We got together and have just been playing groove, funk, jazz, soul and lots of other stuff.”

The common musical ground that SNAP! and Soulive share is also the result of Soulive’s musical impact on SNAP! over the years.

“Soulive is really one of our biggest influences,” Fuller said. “We’ve actually covered some Soulive tunes in our shows.”

Wil Greene, the owner of Georgia Theatre, came up with the idea of booking both bands together.

“We’re one of (Wil’s) favorite local bands,” Fuller said. “He sees us play a lot, and since we do a lot of the music that Soulive does, he thought it would be a perfect mix.”

Friday will be the first time that SNAP! and Soulive meet, although Fuller and Soulive have been acquainted.

“The two brothers from Soulive (Neal and Alan Evans) actually used to play at my fraternity,” Fuller said. “I’ve met them in the past, but it was a long time ago.”

Brothers Neal (keyboard, bass keys, clarinet) and Alan (drums), alongside Eric Krasno (guitar), formed Soulive in 1999 when they recorded a jam session that became the group’s first EP, “Get Down!”

Along with its following album, “Turn it Out,” Soulive’s innovative grooves and novel instrumentation led them to a contract with Blue Note Records, followed by its current label, Concord Records.

Although Blue Note and Concord are both major jazz labels, the band doesn’t identify itself closely with the genre.

“We’ve never really thought of ourselves as jazz musicians,” said drummer Alan Evans. “I listen to a lot of Coltrane and Miles, but they influence my music just as much as Zappa, Marley and Black Sabbath. I just take it all in. To us, it’s all music.”

One of the unique and principle characteristics of Soulive is its progressive attitude toward many different styles of music.

The band’s choice of collaboration would seem like picking artists’ names out of a hat.

Reggie Watts, Robert Randolph, Common, Dave Matthews, Talib Kweli, Chakka Khan, Jurassic 5 and jazz guitarist John Scofield all have been featured in Soulive’s albums.

However, Soulive manages to preserve its own unique sound when combining with this wide range of genres.

“The artists that we collaborate with don’t rub off on us in a permanent way,” Alan Evans said.

“Usually, we just kind of do our own thing, and that’s sort of why people want to hook up with us. They just kind of jump inside what we’re doing,” he said.

One of the results of taking on these different styles was Soulive’s inevitable appeal to a wider audience.

In response to the challenge, Alan Evans claims that it isn’t really about trying to appeal to a certain crowd.

“I think that you just have to do your own thing and have fun with it,” he said.

“I’ve seen cats try to strike on something just to get an audience, and they might have done well at first, but I don’t think you get lasting success from it,” he said.

Soulive is currently mixing tracks for its new album, set for mid-June.

SNAP! will perform at Athens’ Nowhere Bar next Thursday.