Strangefolk Doesn't Have to Phish for Fame - 12/26/97


by Steve Morse
GlobeStaff

        Making it from Boston is one thing. Making it from New York is another. But making it from far-away Burlington, Vt., is a real test if you're seeking a music career. Few acts have been able to do it. The band Phish comes to mind as Vermont's premier export. And currently hoping to follow suit is Strangefolk, riding a similar grass-roots wave topopularity. "It's neat to be from Vermont, instead of saying we're from Connecticut or New York or Boston," says Strangefolk singer Reid Genauer. "There's a strong sense of community - and an appeal to saying you're from this charismatic, charming state."
        Musically, Strangefolk is lumped into the neo-hippie Phish mold, but is more lyrically complex and philosophical (but still fun), which you can hear when Strangefolk headlines two nights at the Somerville Theatre tomorrow and Sunday. It's an impressive feat for a band that played the Paradise club earlier this year, then returned for one night at the Somerville Theatre, and now is doing two nights.
        "We wanted to do a holiday run - and Boston is a center for New England, so it makes sense to be there as people return home from school," says Genauer, whose band attended the University of Vermont in Burlington. Strangefolk has released two albums that have become popular through word of mouth, including the new "Weightless in Water," with inspired, folk-rocking melodies that evoke memories of the Grateful Dead and Pure Prairie League, and also New Riders of the Purple Sage through occasional pedal steel guitar.
        Strangefolk began in 1991 as an acoustic duo of Genauer (who came from a singer-songwriter background) and guitarist Jon Trafton, who would go onstage using distortion pedals. "We were strange people," says Genauer; hence the name Strangefolk.
        The group soon expanded to a four-piece (with drummer Luke Smith and bassist Erik Glockler) and moved from cafes to the two most prominent Burlington rooms - Club Metronome and Club Toast.
        "It was a case of baby steps. We didn't form a band to tour the country. It was a natural, even-keeled progression," says Genauer, now 25.
       Then came the long road trips to break out of the Burlington circuit to a wider audience. "I remember driving eight hours to play for 10 people for $50, then driving right back again," says Genauer. "And once we went to what we thought was a huge civil rights rally with the governor being there, but it was really 30 guys sitting around in a Grange hall."
        None of the band originally came from Burlington - Genauer grew up in Chappaqua, N.Y., and Trafton in Augusta, Maine, for instance - but Burlington is now home. "It's our heartbeat," says Genauer. "It's where Strangefolk grew and where the enthusiasm grew. It's still a positive place for us."
        Strangefolk still lives in the shadow of Phish, but there are worse places to be. "We're just starting to get to know Phish. But their organization has been very helpful and supportive to us," adds Genauer. "And we certainly look to them as role models, as a model of success. It's hard to live in the shadow of anyone, and we definitely live in their shadow, but we have a strong sense of what we're doing musically. And we're different from them. We don't want to copy them."
        Strangefolk's co-producer, Dan Archer, who runs Vermont's Archer Studios, also worked on Phish's "Lawn Boy." But looking for other Phish analogies is moot. Strangefolk is blossoming into its own entity. Look for the band to make a national splash in the future.