“The best part about touring is meeting people who like the music. But sometimes I don’t know what to say to them, so it feels kind of awkward,” Mendenhall says. “[After shows] I usually try and relax and not talk to many people, unless they want to talk to me, but for the most part, I avoid my band.”

Not a captivating front man in any conventional way, Mendenhall hid behind his beard and thick-framed glasses, immersed in the keyboard melodies that trickled throughout the show. He rarely spoke more than two words at a time to the crowd.

Even with this quiet awkwardness, Mendenhall passionately infuses his vocals and keyboarding with deliberate feeling, leaving us with great music that is energetic at times and somber at others.

In the immediate future, Mendenhall says he plans to record some songs for a new album slated for 2004, write more music while visiting Japan and start another tour. At the moment, though, the band continues their current tour with Carissa’s Wierd. And to keep himself busy on the road, Mendenhall says he’ll be playing Playstation 2 and reading Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

—Staff writer Sarah L. Solorzano can be reached at solorzan@fas.harvard.edu.