A bass guitar leaned against an amplifier as Mama’s Cookin’ set up to play a show in Colorado. The instrument had to be moved. Steve LaBella picked up the bass, and he couldn’t resist the urge to put the strap over his shoulder. He didn’t play any notes, but he paused for a moment, just to hold the bass, feel it in his hands and think about its owner.

The bass belonged to George Porter Jr., a founding member of the Meters, known by musicians as the most influential funk band ever, but unknown to casual music fans.

“The cats know who they are,” LaBella said. “They know they kept it real. Their songs have been sampled and reused by everybody.”

The band from Kings Beach’s brush with greatness came on a night it played as the opening act for headliner PBS — Porter, drummer Russell Batiste and guitarist Brian Stoltz. Mama’s Cookin’ plays a lot of Meters cover songs, so many in fact, three of the four members decided to start a tribute band.

“We used to cover them here and there and the next thing you know we’d learned 25, 30 songs,” said LaBella.

Named after a Meters song, Funky Miracle plays Friday, Nov. 20, in the Crystal Bay Casino’s Red Room.

LaBella, of course, plays bass. Zeb Early is the guitarist who plays the licks of Leo Nocentelli. Mike Adamo covers Zigaboo Modeliste’s drums, and Todd Holway is on the Hammond B3 organ, recreating the sounds of Meters bandleader, Art “Poppa Funk” Neville.

“The Meters are the roots of so many styles,” Early said. “Leo probably was the funkiest guitar player — simple and gritty. They pretty much wrote the book.”

The Meters were a scaled down version of Art Neville and the Neville Sounds. The band was hired to a long-term gig at a Bourbon Street club, whose owner wanted a four-piece instrumental group, Neville told Lake Tahoe Action earlier this year. So saxophonist Gary Brown, percussionist Cyril Neville and singer Aaron Neville were out of the band.

The Meters, which eventually brought back Cyril Neville, performed from 1965 to 1977. It toured with the Rolling Stones and served as the top session group from New Orleans, recording with artists such as Dr. John, Robert Palmer and its producer Allen Toussaint.

“It kills me that they are so under appreciated,” Early said. “Nine out of 10 people don’t even know about them. This is a tribute to spread the vibe and turn some new people on to the Meters. Even my dad has gotten into it.”

Funky Miracle plays more than 30 Meters songs, including “Cissy Strut,” “Chicken Strut,” “Fire on the Bayou,” “Same Old Thing,” “Cabbage Alley” and “Ride the Pony.”

The Funky Miracle’s first show was Aug. 29 at the Tahoe Biltmore. It is slated to return to the Red Room Jan. 16.

Early said he has befriended Porter on Facebook.

“I invited him to the show mostly for ‘gits’ and ‘shiggles,’ ” he said.