SOUNDS AROUND TOWN / LIVE OAK MUSIC FESTIVAL : Purrfect Blend : The Acousticats will be ‘host’ for the weekend-long event. They’re always showing up somewhere near you.

As band names go, the Acousticats boast a handle with a perfect fit; it’s part pun, part truth-in-advertising. They serve up heaping doses of acoustic music, a loosely defined admix of bluegrass, Western swing, folk balladry and improvisational expression.

And, as musicianship goes, these are ‘cats, i.e. hot players who know their way around their instruments.

In the beginning, there was the Phil Salazar Band, featuring the master fiddler and son of Ventura Symphony conductor emeritus, Frank Salazar. (The Acousticats were surprise guests at maestro Salazar’s swan song symphony concert last month; they did a sort of Loony Tune-ish orchestra-versus-bluegrass band shtick during an encore).

During the ‘80s, the Phil Salazar Band cut a wide swath in the tri-counties area and on the road. They recorded an album for the respected, folk-oriented Flying Fish label before calling it quits.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Santa Barbara, guitarist-singer-songwriter Cyrus Clarke was looking to plunge into music after a few years away, during which time he started a family and worked a “real job.” Clarke had spent a dozen years in the ‘70s and early ‘80s with the Cache Valley Drifters, an eclectic folk-bluegrass band that toured extensively and also released albums on Flying Fish.

Along came the ‘90s. A pact was made, a name was nabbed, and a band was born.

“Playing a lot of different styles of music is an important part of what we were thinking about,” Clarke, the unofficial spokesman of the band, explained last week while sitting in the kitchen of his downtown Santa Barbara house. “Phil is a great improviser. That’s his forte. The guy can think faster on his feet than anybody I’ve ever played with.”

The other ‘Cats are: mandolinist Mike Mullins, tandem fiddler Charl Ann Gastineau, and bassist Rick Borella, the only member who requires an electric outlet.

Since they formed, there’s never been much problem finding the Acousticats in a given week. They’re always showing up at a club, restaurant, showcase or festival near you.

Now you can find them in the folk section of your neighborhood music store. Their debut album, also on Flying Fish, is called “Down at Evangelina’s,” and it’s a beaut, both musically adventurous and as heartwarming as a cold beer on a back porch.

This month, the ‘Cats band will be the “host” band for the weekend-long Live Oak Music Festival, by Lake Cachuma, which has grown into one of the musical high points in the area. On Sunday, June 28, they’ll strike Ventura County as part of the lineup in the first annual Bowlful of Country.

“Live Oak is really a home base for us,” Clarke said of the annual folk-bluegrass-jazz affair. “The Live Oak Festival represents a spectrum of music that is happening in America today that KCBX (the public radio station out of San Luis Obispo that is the festival’s sponsor) not only supports but plays on the station,” Clarke said.

“I think the Acousticats are the musical representation here of that spectrum. We’re the representatives of what’s happening right here, right now at least.”

The Acoustics are now entering that second phase of a band’s shelf-life, that of a group with a discography. Along with it comes a new self-awareness.

“When you come out with a record, there’s a tendency to relax and say,” Clarke breathed a mock sigh of relief, “well, just dig me for awhile.’ That’s a dangerous thing. It’s inevitable. We’re trying to fight that.

“We’re constantly attempting to push outward. We don’t just want to be the greatest acoustic band that ever happened to the tri-counties,” Clarke said, laughing.

Last week, the ‘Cats could be found doing a showcase at the Mesa Cafe in Santa Barbara, where they had an album-release party a few weeks back.

They kicked things off with a dazzling instrumental ditty, featured on the new album, called “Triplett’s Reel/Fiddlin’ Reel.” A fast slippery melody is laid out by the pickers Clarke and Mullins, easing into a counter melody from the fiddler faction. The song manages to neatly outline the working mechanics of the band’s format.

“More than any other song, that does give you an insight into what our sound is about,” Clarke said. “When those two fiddles hit you, you can’t help but smile. It’s a great sound.”

Much as the Acousticats’ music draws its juice from Appalachia and other Easterly parts of the American landscape, the band plays an increasingly important role in the California progressive acoustic music scene. That scene has included the Bay Area-based David Grisman (featured at last year’s Live Oak Festival), not to mention the Phil Salazar Band and the Drifters.

Local color crops up on the new album, such as a reference to Highway 33 on the “The Road to Yesteryear.”

One of the centerpieces is Clarke’s tip o’ the hat to the Sunshine State, “California Republic.” He said, “I decide to write a song and take the name right off of the California flag. It turned into this travelogue about the state.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is tap into the (millions of) people who live in California. A key cultural requirement is being able to deal with your environment, where you are. That’s how I look at myself as a songwriter.”

Traditionally marginal music forms like folk and jazz have broadened their audience base in the last several years. Clarke, at the ripe age of 39, believes that acoustic music’s newfound popularity has to do with a generational curve and the diverse tastes of the Baby Boom demographic.

“A lot of people like it all--they like jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and acoustic music. I never lost my love of good music and I don’t know anybody who has. So to be out of the pop mainstream requires looking elsewhere for good music.”

One such definition of “elsewhere” this weekend is just off of San Marcos Pass.

* WHERE AND WHEN

The Live Oak Music Festival, featuring the Acousticats, John Hartford, John McEuen, Tuck and Patti, Mose Allison, and many others, Friday through Sunday at San Marcos Camp, 1.8 miles north of Paradise Road on San Marcos Pass. For more information, call 781-3030.