Grandsons’ rock ‘n’ roots

Sometimes, rooting around in the used-record bin can bring more than you bargained for. At least that’s the story for members of the Grandsons, Washington’s own roots rockers, who will be appearing at Bangkok Blues in Falls Church tonight and at Strathmore Hall in Rockville on Wednesday.

“We love everything about the past couple of hundred years or so of American music,” says founding member Alan MacEwen. “Jazz, rhythm and blues, classic Little Richard, Buck Owens — we’re into all of it.”

The Grandsons got their start in 1986, when Mr. MacEwen and his buddies decided to form a group called Grandsons of the Pioneers, with a nod to their rockabilly roots.

Five full-length albums later, what was once a group of students from McLean High School has parlayed its initial success into a series of paying gigs. What draws the crowds? A mix of high-energy, slightly offbeat songs that capture the tenor of the times without ever taking themselves too seriously. They’ll do some Smokey Robinson, some Roger Miller. And of course, some of their own takes on D.C. rock ’n’ roll.

“There’s a lot going on in this area, so there’s a lot you can draw on in songwriting,” says Mr. MacEwen. “But you don’t have to live in D.C. to get it.”

A case in point is “Party with the Rich,” the lead track on the group’s eponymous album, alluding ever so slightly to that special Washington-area preoccupation with pretentious recreation. Thorstein Veblen might have called it conspicuous partying.

“We usually try to keep things universal, but I couldn’t resist putting in a mention of Foxhall Road,” says Mr. MacEwen, referring to the tony Northwest neighborhood of large houses and high fences.

Over the years, the Grandsons have had some lineup changes. Only Mr. MacEwen and saxophonist Chris Watling remain from the original group. The result? A more streamlined sound and a tendency to become a little more indulgent with the lyrics.

“I’ve tried to count less on my personal experiences and more on coming up with a crazy idea,” Mr. MacEwen says. “I wanted to make it greater than the sum of my experience.”

So “Baby’s First Cadillac” carries a reference to his wife’s 1963 Cadillac as well as a far-fetched tale of plucky baby who returns with a “large American luxury car.”

“People expected me to write something sentimental when my son was born,” Mr. MacEwen says, “but this is more like me.”

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In the meantime, Scottish roots rockers Old Blind Dogs bring their distinctly upbeat sound to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring on Monday under the auspices of the Institute of Musical Traditions.

Expecting your run-of-the-mill folk rockers who cram contemporary instruments and old lyrics into a 21st-century aesthetic? Then you’re in for a surprise. The aforementioned elements are all there but are so lovingly crafted together that the result actually works.

Anchoring it all are the vocal contributions of Jim Malcolm, who joined the band in 1999 after the departure of Ian Benzie and Fraser Fifield. A silky-voiced singer-songwriter who has had a long affiliation with the songs of his native Perthshire and Angus, Mr. Malcolm comes by his interest in music naturally, through his mother.

“My mother was a folk fan in the 60s,” he remembers. “So I got into folk music early.”

Mr. Malcolm is also known for his harmonica playing, which he couples with guitar in the style of American blues musicians and Bob Dylan. But when blues harp players suck in or draw the notes, Mr. Malcolm blows them out.

“Basically, I’m playing the blues backwards,” he says.

He’s also not averse to going through the record bin, or someone’s family album.

“We found a lot looking through old archives,” he says. “Sometimes we use the words, sometimes the melody; sometimes we adapt or change the chorus to make it fit.”

What they aren’t looking for are those songs that everybody knows.

“They’re so overused that they’ve become hackneyed,” he says. “But there are a lot of songs out there that we’d like to bring back to life.”

The band is particularly interested in resurrecting — or reinventing — the songs of Robert Burns. Originally written for fiddle, the songs have to be taken down a notch or two to fit the requirements of the human voice.

But Old Blind Dogs is also a contemporary band that depends on a certain rapport with the audience. That translates into hard-driving, fast songs that can bring a crowd to its feet.

“I’d say we play to wake the dead,” Mr. Malcolm says. “A lot of people like to get up and dance.”