‘A Sonic Thing’

Clashing polyester shirts and bell-bottoms, long, scraggly hair and mutton chops, a loopy sense of humor--no, it’s not a taping of “That ‘70s Show.” It’s David Lindley.

While his idiosyncratic fashion sense would seem to make him a perfect choice for a cameo on the new Fox TV sitcom, his eclectic musical passions keep him plenty busy.

In recent years, the former sideman to the likes of Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and a slew of others has been following his muse around the world, immersing himself in projects that have explored music from the Caribbean to Madagascar to Scandinavia, with partners including guitarist Henry Kaiser and Jordanian American hand percussionist Hani Naser.

During those journeys, the former leader of cult-favorite band El-Rayo X--which he mothballed after four albums--has collected more than 100 instruments. He’s got a full array of guitars and banjos as well as a Hawaiian lap steel guitar, bouzouki, oud, Turkish saz and the cumbash, the latter a kind of Turkish banjo played with a bow.

On tour with drummer Wally Ingram in support of the duo’s brand-new “Twango Bango Deluxe,” the ever-restless Lindley is, as ever, in an experimental mood. His vast array of stringed instruments often lends an exotic, otherworldly ingredient to the album’s appealing mix of American rock, folk, blues and country music. (See accompanying review.)

For example, he uses the saz to create what he calls “the Kurdish version” of Bob Dylan and Danny O’Keefe’s disheartening “Well Well Well.”

“I used four different regional styles in that one song, including this bluesy, John Lee Hooker, chicken-scratching kind of hybrid on the saz,” Lindley, 54, said by phone recently from his home in Claremont. “There’s a certain texture . . . a sonic thing that happens whenever you bring something new to something old.

“Like on [Noah Lewis’] ‘New Minglewood Blues,’ ” he continued. “I don’t know of anyone else who plays it like I do with a bouzouki, so it’s got its own unique thing. It sounds like three-fourths of a 12-string guitar. You know, you mess around . . . and if it doesn’t sound right, you scrap it. But when it works, it really works.”

At 18, the San Marino-born Lindley won his first of four straight Topanga Banjo and Fiddle contests. That competitive fire--and a strong work ethic--was handed down to him at an early age.

“You just have to keep at it . . . learning and improving. . . . That’s just part of who I am,” Lindley said. “It was my late grandmother, Gladys--the matriarch of the family--who taught me that. She was an interior decorator, and a very good one, who continued working into her 90s. She was such an inspiration to me.”

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Lindley said his first aim is to entertain and in the process inspire others to seek out the roots of the world music he has come to embrace.

“I just play the kind of music that really gets to me, and I figure it will have the same effect on others,” he said. “The best reaction I can get is for someone to hear one of my songs and go, ‘What the [expletive] was that?’ Then maybe they’ll get interested in something like the saz, and go on to discover that Talip Ozscan is the best saz player in the world!

“I mean, look at [Nigerian singer-guitarist] King Sunny Ade. He’s playing before much bigger crowds in the U.S. now because people understand that African music is not just something played by Paul Simon. It’s better than that.”

As Lindley works to inspire more interest in a variety of global music and cultures, he cautions against putting too much thought into it.

“If you spend too much time taking the music apart, it’s gonna end up in your intellect,” he said. “That means you’re analyzing and not grooving.

“This mental stress could blow your brains out, which is not good. I find that the stuff you listen to with your heart stays with you longer and causes less headaches. Just absorb the music and let its spirit wash over you.”

* David Lindley with Wally Ingram plays Thursday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. Toulouse Engelhardt opens. 8 p.m. $18.50-$20.50. (949) 496-8930.