Portsmouth Herald-08/24/2006
Aug 24 2006

When your heroes pay you respect, you know you must be doing something right.

Prominent folk rocker Dan Bern said he felt as if he were watching legends, after a Mammals performance at a recent festival gig.

Bern also happens to be an inspiration of co-founding Mammals member, and former Durham resident, Michael Merenda, so the words really struck him.

"It's so strange to be walking amongst my heroes backstage, and doing workshops with them," Merenda, 30, says in a recent phone interview from Massachusetts while on tour in support of their latest album, "Departure."

"Gillian Welch, Dan Bern, Hamell on Trial, Utah Philips ""these are all people who I've recently had the pleasure of meeting, and who have made a lasting impression on me both as a fan, and as a musician." Such success is well deserved by this group of talented and tasteful musicians who have slowly bridged the gap (they now have four albums to their credit) between bluegrass, folk and rock music.

"The Mammals buzz has come to some sort of tangible place where people are singing along with us up front," says Merenda. They've also made it to the pages of the quintessential Americana music magazine, No Depression, which says, the Mammals "create a collective harmonized howl as thrilling and rocking as any band currently subverting the folk tradition."

The Mammals got its roots as a trio back in 2001. Michael worked at a music shop in Amherst, Mass., where he met customer Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, grandson of folk legend Pete Seeger. The two hit it off, and Michael was invited to a party to which he brought his now fiancée, Ruth Ungar. Ungar's folk lineage is notable as well. She is the daughter of Jay Ungar and Lyn Hardy, both prominent folk musicians. Jay Ungar tours with Molly Mason, Ruth's stepmother, who is also a big shot on the folk circuit.

At its onset, the trio toured as an old-time string band, carrying only a banjo, fiddle, and an acoustic guitar in hand, while sharing a traditional, centrally located microphone.

Nowadays, the Mammals have added amps, electric guitars, upright bass, and drums. Michael Merenda has really honed his songwriting skills and has developed into one of the best intellectual songwriters of our day with such politically-tinged songs as "The Bush Boys," and "Follow me to Carthage," under his belt. With the core of the group being rounded out by the luminous Chris Merenda (drums) of the Seacoast favorite band, Chewy, and Jacob Silver (bass), the Mammals have been on a tear playing 200 nights a year including a recent high profile tour with Arlo Guthrie "" both backing him up, and as openers.

"We're five times the band we were, now that we've had that experience (with Guthrie)," Merenda says. "Once your band is on that particular (professional) stage, you're forced to rise to the occasion. The water may be deep at first, but once you've learned to swim in it you start to gain more of a respect, and treat every gig as "the big show."

"The Guthrie tour was an apprenticeship of sorts. It was an incredible education, and a great experience," says Ungar.

And the Mammals aren't stopping there.

In the upcoming months the band has earned the rights to play alongside both Los Lobos, and Nickel Creek. After these slots, they'll also be moving on to play seven weeks in Australia throughout March and April. For the Mammals, it's got to be a huge pat on the back to be playing bigger and bigger shows, travel far and wide, and to be appreciated by such a diverse group of fans both young and old.

"We've always tried to give the listener something they're not going to hear every day," Merenda says. "We're very aware of pop music, and of writing a good hook. It's that pop aesthetic that's incorporated into our sound that makes us accessible to a wide array of fans. We're sort of doing what Woody Guthrie did. We're taking traditional American tunes, playing them in a cut time, foot stompin' pace; and then we blow the doors off and infiltrate our own ideas."

An instance both Ungar and Merenda touched upon in their separate interviews was at the Middle Earth Music Hall, in Bradford, Vt. The first time they played the venue 30 people showed up. This past time through on Aug. 4, 130 folks showed up to the venue that has a maximum capacity of 115.

"Having that many people show up excited to see us play is very irresistible," Merenda says. "Doing things on your own terms and having people be excited about it and coming along for the ride is just awesome."

"We were recently at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival, where we played both Saturday, and Sunday night," started Ungar. "What really struck me was the fact that the �returning customers,' which were a group of 9 or 10-year-old girls who were up front, with their hands on their chins, were singing right along. You know, kids are picky, so to have them that interested and immersed is saying something, at least to me. I really love performing, and for me it's fun to be a role model for kids. To show them you can best yourself and have a great time is real important." With all the ground they're gaining, and the increasing success they're achieving, the Mammals still remain strikingly humble as people.

"The van still makes more (money) than all of us. But, you know, she's the most important part of the group," says Ungar with a chuckle.

Look for the Mammals this Saturday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. as part of the Music in the Meadow concert series put on by the Mill Pond Center for the Arts and the Stone Church Music Club. The Mill Pond Center, which is located just off of Route 108, is working in cooperation with the Stone Church for the Music in the Meadow Summer concert series.