How did Lansing's LaSalle score a tour with indie rock heavyweights Cursive?

"Well, they asked us," said guitarist/vocalist Mike Reed.

The two bands and their members go way back, even though LaSalle has only been in existence for a few years. Two-thirds of LaSalle — Reed and drummer Dan Jaquint — toured with Cursive in the late 1990s, back when they were part of the now-defunct band Small Brown Bike.

"I don't know what it was, but we all hit it off really well," Reed said. "Both our bands drew kind of different crowds, so when you added us together into one tour it was sold-out shows every night, and it was awesome. I don't think either (band) had experienced that before."

Much has happened since those sold-out shows: Cursive and their hometown of Omaha, Neb., became major blips on the indie radar, Jaquint left Small Brown Bike in 2001, and the band eventually called it a day in 2004.

Following the breakup, Mike Reed and Katy, his wife, reunited with Jaquint to form LaSalle, in which Katy Reed shares vocal duties with her husband and plays bass. Previously Katy Reed was in the band Charlevoix with Jaquint.

Having stayed in contact with the Reeds and Jaquint, Cursive bassist and vocalist Matt Maginn said he and his band chose LaSalle to open a string of East Coast dates based on their personal connection and musical respect. The show opens tonight at The Temple Club, 500 E. Grand River in Lansing.

"A lot of times, we do like to take out bands that, not only do we like (their) music, but we have some sort of — I mean, we don't have to be lifetime buddies — but be familiar with them or know friends of our friends," he said. "LaSalle's a good example."

Reed said the East Coast jaunt with Cursive will be a departure from his past days on the road.

"We've all done the tours where you're kind of sleeping in the back of the car, and you're driving 12 hours after a show. We've done that, and I think this (tour) we kind of are aware of what we like and don't like. ... So yeah, let's get a hotel every night, or yeah, let's rent a van."

Given this more seasoned outlook on touring, along with the responsibilities of marriage and full-time jobs — Jaquint and Mike Reed are Web designers and Katy Reed works in radio — would it be fair to say a sense of maturity has crept into LaSalle's dynamic sound?

"I don't think that our music is mature," Katy Reed said. "In fact, I'm sure a lot of 16-year-olds would turn on a song and go, 'That totally speaks to me.'"