POP MUSIC REVIEW : Devoted Coyote Brothers Fail to Reach Out : For all the talent collected on stage, the band was used only to play the music as it has always been played with little attempt made at musical interpretation.

Traditional bluegrass is undeniably an influential, genuinely American innovation whose ripples are evident throughout--and beyond--the world of modern country music. That in itself makes it a music worth celebrating.

Yet, mainly because of its relatively narrow lyrical scope, bluegrass lacks the universal attraction of, say, the country folk of Hank Williams or the folk blues of Leadbelly.

Even in the hands of the Coyote Brothers, five highly skilled musicians from scattered parts of Orange County, live bluegrass rarely reaches beyond its circle of dyed-in-the-prairie bluegrass fans.

With a few notable exceptions, the Coyote Brothers’ 17-song set early Sunday night at Bonito Canyon Park in San Clemente was an excavation of the different sides of Kentucky bluegrass, with a mild bent toward the obscure.

Lovers of the genre would be hard-pressed to find a local ensemble with a deeper knowledge of, devotion to and feel for bluegrass.

Throughout the hourlong set, the Coyote Brothers--husband-wife John and Peggy Corzine and a trio of friends--waxed sad, silly and rollicking, with an emphasis on the latter.

The racket being kicked up was fueled mainly by the lightning duels between frantic fiddler Tom Sauber and banjo-picking extraordinaire Garry Vanderline, equaled in tempo and intensity by John Corzine’s acoustic guitar work.

But taken on the whole, there was little distinctive about the Coyotes’ set.

For all the talent collected on stage, it was used only to play bluegrass as it has always been played, with little attempt made at musical interpretation. And the vocals, shared chiefly among the Corzines and mandolin player Walden Dahl, offered a diverse range of moods and sounds, but none that haven’t been rendered stereotypical by scores of bluegrass predecessors.

The Coyotes didn’t appear to convert any of the 100 patrons on hand into bluegrass devotees. But, then, this docile San Clemente crowd seemed more interested in picnicking and fending off the evening chill than listening--let alone dancing--to the music.

Still, the Coyotes would be well-advised to follow up on their few ventures beyond bluegrass cover tunes. Their original songs in the set, including Sauber’s “Prairie Home,” and their tributes to Hank Williams and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott offered a refreshing foil to the straightforward bluegrass mix.

Diversity, on the other hand, is the forte of Greg and Margie Mirken, the Laguna Niguel-based folk duo who opened the show.

Employing a revolving orchestra of instruments--including the electric mandolin, lap guitar, dulcimer and English concertina, along with the acoustic guitar--the Mirkens took the audience on a half-hour tour of folk music from all over the globe.

Stops along the way included Celtic and Irish folk--for which Greg’s thoroughly American voice is curiously well-tailored--as well as country gospel, Texas waltz and Appalachian folk. And, with the Joan Baez-like quality of Margie’s voice, the Mirkens are one of the few folk cover bands that can pull off ‘60s folk without trivializing it.

The result was an unencumbered, potent blend of folk covers, served up with humor, reverence and innovation, marred only by its brevity.