Four-man rock band Theory of a Deadman is hoping to reconnect with fans in its third appearance at Rock on the Range.

The band, which hails from Vancouver, Canada, is scheduled to perform at 2:20 p.m. Saturday on the main stage at Rock on the Range, held at Crew Stadium.

Drummer Joey Dandeneau referred to the band’s music as standard rock, and said it is heavily influenced by Alice in Chains and the grunge era of music.

“We have the ability to tour with bands like Three Doors Down and yet have the ability to go out with Mötley Crüe at the same time,” Dandeneau said. “So we have songs that are very commercially viable in the rock world and we have a few pop songs.”

The band released its fourth album, “The Truth Is…,” in July. Dandeneau deemed the album’s theme as “rockability,” but said all of the songs are different.

“There’s a couple of heavier rock type songs, and then we went into a kind of pop rock feel, which is almost like slapstick comedy,” he said. “We have a song called ‘Lowlife.’ It’s just funny lyrics, and it makes people laugh and feel good and want to party. Then we have our pop songs, like ‘Easy to Love You’ and ‘Head Above Water,’ which are more ballad kind of songs.”

Dandeneau said he believes “The Truth Is…” is Theory of a Deadman’s best work yet.

“I guess every band thinks that their newest record is always the best record, and I’m sure there are other people that will disagree and say there are other records that are better than this one,” he said. “But we feel that this is our best quality record from beginning to end.”

For Dandeneau, coming back to play Rock on the Range isn’t just a chance to play in front of a large crowd, but more of a family reunion for the band, he said.  

“There’s an incredible amount of people that go see the festival which is amazing for us too, obviously, to play in front of that many people, but it’s also exciting to run into the bands that play because we’ve all toured with them at some point,” Dandeneau said. “So everybody’s just friends backstage, so it’s very exciting for us.”

The group played at Rock on the Range in 2008 and 2010.

Dandeneau emphasized his excitement to connect with old and new fans.

“We didn’t play last year, so it’s going to be good to go and meet some of our fans that we haven’t seen in a while and reconnect with them and see how they’re doing and see how they’re reacting to our record and hear what they have to say,” Dandeneau said.

Gary Spivack, a representative for Right Arm Entertainment, the group promoting Rock on the Range, said Theory of a Deadman has a lengthy tour resume and has put on impressive performances at the festival.

“They have a nice long legacy and wonderful history at Rock on the Range. They have a tremendous amount of airplay, and a tremendous amount of North American tour history,” Spivack said. “Tyler, the frontman, is one of the premier frontmen of all of rock ‘n’ roll. Good band.”

Tyler Harrison, a fourth-year in firefighting and EMS at Columbus State Community College, will work in security at Rock on the Range and said even though he’s not familiar with Theory of a Deadman’s songs, he’s still planning on having a good time during its set.

“I’ll be working security, so I’ll more than likely be on the floor, moshing front and center while they’re on,” Harrison said.

Dandeneau said he’s looking forward to playing the festival for a third time and expects the daytime performance to be a simple, yet amusing show.

“We’re going to be playing during the day so we’re not going to have all the thrills, like the light show and all that stuff,” he said. “It’s just going to be the four of us going up there, and we’re probably going to drink a few beers and just run around and have fun, and we’re going to talk to the crowd and try to get them involved as much as we can into our show and make them sing. We love making them sing.”