Fireflies winked and flickered over the grassy meadow outside the Mill Pond Center in Durham as banjos, fiddles and guitars saturated the twilight. A stack of amps rested beneath the branches of a large oak tree, while spotlights illuminated the five musicians on the porch, which had been transformed into a spacious stage. Some audience members danced exultantly in an adjacent field, joining hands to traipse barefoot across the grass or executing spontaneous cartwheels. Children danced with adults and kicked plastic balls into the crowd, while others tossed Frisbees to the rear. Still others relaxed on blankets and lawn chairs, sipping white wine or hard lemonade as the music washed over them in gentle waves.

Onstage, The Mammals plucked, strummed and bowed their way through two hearty sets of traditional folk and bluegrass tunes. Featuring Oyster River High School graduates Michael Merenda on guitar and Chris Merenda on drums, the band unites homegrown talent with a rich folk lineage. Singer and fiddle player Ruth Merenda, who recently wed bandmate Michael, is the daughter of folk musician Jay Ungar, and multi-instrumentalist Tao Rodriquez Seeger shares the surname of his grandfather, a humble folk artist named Pete.

Last summer, The Mammals drew a crowd of close to 300 people to the Mill Pond Center. The audience was a bit thinner this time around, but many listeners clearly knew what to expect. “How many of you guys were here when we played here last August?” Ruth Merenda asked toward the beginning of the set. A healthy portion of the crowd responded with a chorus of cheers.

The band then launched into a folk song that has spanned several generations. Originally written and performed by Blind Lemon Jefferson during World War I, and later adapted by Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie during World War II, The Mammals brought new freshness to a song that remains highly relevant today. “Whatchya gonna do when they send your man to war?” the band sang. “I’m gonna drink muddy water and sleep in a hollow log,” came the reply.

The Mammals took the stage on the evening of June 21 after an opening set from the Milton Band, led by New York-based singer-songwriter Milton. Though rooted in folk, Milton featured a more contemporary sound than the headlining act. Clad in a flannel shirt and jeans, the tall singer jubilantly strummed an acoustic guitar as he crooned the lyrics with a husky lilt. Chris Merenda joined Milton on drums, while an electric bassist kept the rhythm and a fourth instrumentalist contributed electric guitar and mandolin. A highlight of the opening act was “In the City,” a song filled with everyday urban images, as the author takes listeners on a stroll through Manhattan.

Milton left the stage as the sun made its final descent over the meadow, leaving The Mammals to tune up in the summer gloaming. The quintet played two spirited sets, blending original tunes from its three studio albums with folk and bluegrass standards, along with a couple of surprising digressions.

An unexpected highlight was the performance of “Chan Chan,” a Latin classic originally composed by Cuba’s Compay Segundo and later popularized by the Buena Vista Social Club. Seeger showcased his vocal skills, bellowing the Spanish lyrics, while Ruth Merenda provided beautiful fiddle adornments. The quintet later opened its second set with an energized Zydeco song, demonstrating its musical range.

The dancers were few at first, but as the evening progressed and the sky darkened at Mill Pond, dozens took to their feet and began to move their bodies. When a guest fiddler took the stage alongside Merenda, the two faced off for a sizzling fiddle duo with bowstrings flying. Seeger alternated between acoustic and electric guitar, banjo and harmonica, leaping into the air at the onset of an instrumental section and landing with a punctuated thud from Chris Merenda’s snare. He played with a fervor that has defined the folk tradition for as long as Americans have been making music, with his long hair dangling in front of his face and his feet shuffling through each guitar solo. 

Overall, The Mammals’ sound does not differ much from countless other folk and bluegrass acts that have played for eager crowds through the ages. But these five instrumentalists have mastered the style, and the timeless music they created resonates with listeners as much today as it must have a century ago.

The temperature turned a little brisk after the sun went down, and mosquitoes feasted on the crowd in the meadow, who, in turn, feasted on burgers grilled beside the parking lot. But crowd members staved off the cold and the insects by dancing, clapping and lying under blankets, and the spirit of folk music prevailed over the hurly burly hubbub of a Seacoast Thursday.

For more tour dates or to purchase music, visit www.themammals.net.