Strangefolk Known by Young and Old Folk

In the youth-centered world of rock n’ roll, new bands tend to focus on the teenage and young-adult markets. But Strangefolk appears just as interested in landing an older audience.

When the Burlington, Vt.-based band recently opened a string of dates for Rat Dog--a group piloted by ex-Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir--it was delighted to find that it appealed to the headliner’s relatively mature following.

“There is potential for people who grew up liking classic rock to appreciate what we’re doing because what we do is very much ‘70s rock,” observes Strangefolk lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Reid Genauer, interviewed by phone last week from his home in Burlington. The band performs at the Coach House on Wednesday night.

“It’s just that thus far we’ve been most accessible to people who are between 16 and 22 years old. When we opened for Rat Dog it was cool to look out and see graybeards and people in their mid-30s and mid-40s who were rocking out to our music.”

Genauer says Strangefolk has been influenced by a wide array of classic rock figures. Strangefolk’s nimble-fingered guitarist Jon Trafton was inspired by such ‘60s and ‘70s ax heroes as Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. Bass player Erik Glockler is a student of the Beatles’ musical and songwriting genius. The more folk-oriented Genauer cites venerable singer-songwriters such as Neil Young as models.

Strangefolk got its name after Trafton and Genauer teamed up in 1991 while students at the University of Vermont. The duo played acoustic folk, but Trafton would often add odd echo and distortion effects to his guitar playing.

It was indeed strange folk.

In 1992, Glockler and drummer Luke Smith were added to the lineup. Since then the band has evolved into a multifaceted rock act that embraces styles from rock and blues to folk and bluegrass.

But Strangefolk’s predilection for mellow rock textures and its love of onstage improvisation have placed it squarely among the current crop of Grateful Dead-style groove bands. The group is most often compared to Phish, a like-minded jam band that has developed in recent years into one of the stars of the neo-hippie movement. Phish also happens to hail from the rustic college town of Burlington.

The inevitable Phish comparisons “are both a blessing and a curse,” Genauer said. “For the most part, it’s been a blessing because they are certainly respected and well known in our genre of music. We’re secure enough in our own identity that we don’t feel threatened by the comparisons. We’ve met them and they and their management have been really supportive and helpful to us. But we’re not Phish and we’re not trying to be.”

Like many of the band’s classic rock heroes, Genauer would like his group to be known primarily for its songs. Unlike many groove bands, Strangefolk is fairly adept at constructing memorable pop tunes, which form the foundation for its onstage jams.

Like Phish and Dead fans, though on a much smaller scale, Strangefolk followers are apt to follow the band from town to town whenever it goes on tour, which is often. Some of these fans are also into tape recording shows for posterity.

“Some fans follow us partly because it’s part of the [neo-hippie] culture and it’s sort of what’s been done in the past [with bands like the Dead],” Genauer said.

“But moreover they do it because they see there’s something to come back to night after night. There’s enough variation and enough freshness to each evening to attract them. In a situation where some of the same people are coming for multiple evenings, it keeps us on our toes.”

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Until it signed with Mammoth Records earlier this year, Strangefolk was strictly a grass-roots operation. Early on, it wasn’t easy being a do-it-yourself band in remote Burlington. Genauer remembers how the young Strangefolk once drove eight hours to perform a gig that paid $50 and attracted 10 people.

But as the band embarked on more extensive tours, it began to develop a solid following in parts of the Northeast and in other pockets around the country. Eventually, the quartet felt confident enough to borrow $15,000 to record its first official album, 1995’s “Lore.”

The debt was paid off so quickly that the emboldened band felt comfortable spending $30,000 for the 1997 follow-up album, “Weightless in Water.” Both albums, as well as an early demo tape, have been sold primarily at the band’s concerts and through mail order.

The group has independently sold more than 20,000 copies of its CDs and cassettes.

“We were always confident,” Genauer says. “The motto was ‘If you build it, they will come.’ We thought if people like it, eventually record labels will come to us.”

Five weeks ago, the North Carolina-based Mammoth Records (also home to the popular neo-swing band Squirrel Nut Zippers) began to distribute the “Weightless in Water” album nationally for the first time.

Genauer says he is looking forward to recording the band’s first album for Mammoth.

“Making an album is a daunting task. It takes a lot of time and involvement,” he said. “But, for us, part of that had to do with the stress of organizing it and financing it ourselves.

“I’m sure it will be nice to have some other minds from the label helping pull some of the details together and allowing us to focus on the music with our next album. There’s potential for having it sonically superior to the stuff we’ve done and, hopefully, musically superior.”

* Strangefolk performs Wednesday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. $8. (714) 496-8930.