TMBG is an “alternative rock” band started in 1982 in NY. They were never as big as Phish, Nirvana, or The Spin Doctors, but have a rather large fan base.
Like Phish, The Grateful Dead, early Bruce Springsteen, and now Jonathan Coulton and some others, TMBG has a thing for free music distribution. That might explain the large fan base. They set a trend with dial-a-song, a 1-800 number that featured a new song every week. Sound familiar? That’s not the only Jonathan Coulton influence.
Jonathan’s zany lyrics are the main thing I can identify as being TMBG-like out of his style. He is more acoustic than they are. TMBG’s sound is a bit grungier, without being totally punk like Nirvana. And like JoCo, TMBG sing well, which I can’t say about Nirvana or The Spin Doctors.
Mr. Me, feel free to post any links to any fact corrections. I speak as a sometime fan and not a musicophile, so you probably want to jump in and take over now.

here is link for John Hodgman in case you don’t have it: http://www.areasofmyexpertise.com/