The Inca Campers are going to enjoy their concert on the top of the Central parking garage on Friday for a couple of reasons.


It will be outside, so the air will be fresh, with no smoke to worry about.

And lots of friends and family who don’t normally hang out in the bars, where the Incas often play, will be out in force to see them.

And after 15 years together, the Incas never get tired of playing together.

“It’s the best gig of the summer,” says Matt Underhill, who plays the guitar. “This is going to be a lot of fun. After all these years, it’s easy to play together.”

They will be playing some original material as well as covers by the likes of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits.

The Inca Campers, which also includes Trixie Greiner on vocals, keyboards, accordion and flute and Neal Kreider on bass, along with drummer Paul Murr who joined the band more recently, don’t play together as much as they once did.

Back in the 1990s, the group was playing up to eight or 12 gigs a month and were regulars at places like the Lancaster Dispensing Company and the Blue Star.

Their sound, which they describe as multi-eclectic, is a combination of blues, funk, Latin music and folk, with their own stamp on it.

That attitude is reflected in their musical influences. While they all grew up in Lancaster and are all around the same age — mid-30s to 40 — they listened to different music growing up.

Greiner, who is a classically trained pianist, was a huge Beatles fan. Underhill calls himself “a nerdy heavy metal kid,” who loved groups like Iron Maiden in high school, though he ended up getting a degree in jazz guitar and loves bluegrass music.

And Kreider listened to whatever records his older sisters had, from Jim Croce to the Rolling Stones. He also liked soul, Motown, punk, country and funk.

When the three started hanging out together, they gravitated toward jazz and Latin music.

“If you’re an open-minded musician, you can take something from every genre,” Kreider says. “There are terrific musicians in every genre. If you say you don’t like country, well then you miss out on Johnny Cash.”

For a time, the Inca Campers pursued the music as a serious career. In addition to playing just about every weekend, they toured and recorded two CDs, “Outside” and “Freaks of Nature.” (Go to their website, www.myspace.com/incacampers for more information.)

If they are disappointed the bands didn’t hit the big time, you wouldn’t know it. All three seem content and laid back.

“I think when we were trying to make a career out of it, there was a little more pressure,” says Greiner. “But there aren’t any ego, power struggles. Everyone is comfortable in their own roles.”

They make a point of writing and playing positive songs.

“One thing about the band is that we’re not tortured artists,” says Kreider. “We don’t write songs complaining about how hard life is. I like going out and playing happy music.”

All three play in other bands as well.

Kreider is in Hexbelt and Underhill is in High Falootin’. Greiner plays in the jazz band Trixie and the Matrix and her newest group, The Girl Band, will open for them on Friday.

“It’s just me and a couple of my girlfriends,” Greiner says, adding with a laugh. “We play songs about politics — about killing the crows in Lancaster and stuff like that.”

“They play lots of angry music,” Kreider adds with a laugh. “We play all the happy stuff.”

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