Musical ensemble Strangefolk to perform

Strangefolk, a musical ensemble that blends vocal harmony, acoustic guitar and innovative songwriting, will perform at Bates. The concert, appropriate for all ages, is at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, in the Clifton Daggett Gray Athletic Building, 130 Central Ave. Tickets are $12 and available at all Bull Moose Record locations in Maine and Portsmouth, N.H. Tickets will be available at the door if the concert is not sold out in advance. The Vermont-based group is composed of Reid Genauer, lead vocalist and rhythm guitar; Jon Trafton, lead guitar and back-up vocals; Erik Glockler, bass; and Luke Smith, drums. Genauer and Trafton formed the group in 1991 when they teamed up to play for students at the University of Vermont. Combining their interests in folk-songwriting and electronic enhancement of acoustic guitar, they produced a musical hybrid that “was folk, but it was strange,” Trafton remembers, explaining the origin of their name.

After inviting Glockler and Smith to join the group in 1992, the foursome etched out a sound that was part rock, part folk, part blues and part blue grass, creating a loyal following with their two self-released CDs, Strangefolk (1994) and Lore (1995). Their latest offering and debut on the Mammoth label, Weightless in the Water (1999), sold 20,000 copies independently prior to its August release.