When you hear that a band is covering the Ramone’s “Blitzkrieg Pop” at the Esso Club, images of a leather clad punk band must spring to mind. One would probably imagine an ear-splitting, breakneck speed applied to the music as well.

However, this will not be the case when Jeremy Scruggs takes the stage at the Esso Club Friday.

Scruggs is hardly leather clad and he is armed only with a guitar, so don’t be surprised if a Scruggs-covered Ramones song sounds a little different.

“I basically strip down my favorite songs for an audience,” Scruggs said, “But it doesn’t matter if it’s the Ramones, George Michael or R. Kelly; if the song is great it will still translate even if it’s stripped down.”

Scruggs started playing music in a school program in Pendleton at the age of 11 and started playing live shows at 15-years-old. He has now been performing live for 15 years all over the Anderson, Greenwood and Charlotte areas.

Scruggs started as a drummer but quickly changed his tune after running into Atlanta-based-rock-band Marvelous 3’s Butch Walker. Upon meeting Walker, Scruggs immediately admired Walker’s solo work and career as a record producer, so he picked up a guitar and started his own solo career.

“Butch has always been a huge influence,” Scruggs said, “But as a writer and performer, I think I have more in common with Tom Petty; he’s someone I’ve really tried to model myself after.”

Scruggs does cover George Michael’s “Faith” and various selections from the Allman Brothers. However, he always finds time to include his originals, which run the gamut from full-blown rock to slower ballads.

According to Scruggs, “Hole in Your Head” is one such rock song influenced by the Smashing Pumpkins. Scruggs actually compares his voice that of Pumpkin’s lead singer Billy Corgan.

“Corgan is not the best singer in the world,” Scruggs said, “But his voice is unique like mine and that is always more interesting to an audience.”

Scruggs writes most of his songs based on characters from his imagination. He says when he sits down to write about his feelings the results are abysmal, so he always imagines a character or story. “Stay” is one ballad that imagines a character at the end of a relationship who must decide between staying or leaving.

“I never deliberately try to write a love song or breakup song,” Scruggs said, “There is always a place for those songs, though. People break up every day and they keep the music industry in business.”