There is only one way to describe Eddie From Ohio – folkin’ excellent.

Witty, satirical lyrics such as “Selena’s long gone, but Celine needs a stalker” from “Tommy the Canexican” provide a major driving source behind the popularity of the four-person folk rock band.

Robbie Schaefer, guitarist, says the lyrics, although not politically correct, take ideas to ludicrous extremes.

An example of this is the song “Let’s Get Mesolithic,” says Schaefer. The lyrics include, “Let me drag you by your hair/ Call this guy old-fashioned but I say a cave is where you’ll find/ submissive woman with her Stone Age Tupperware.”

Schaefer explains that Michael Clem, bassist, who wrote the song, was dealing with his emotions about dating at the time.

“The idea behind the song is that he feels out of place in this day and age, drawn to a more old-fashioned relationship – more of a chivalrous relationship – and he took that idea to the most absurd extreme,” says Schaefer.

The question that comes to mind after hearing it is how the audience is responding to them.

“The reaction is more varied now,” says Schaefer. “We are becoming more popular and reaching more people, which is probably the reason why we have been getting more e-mails about the content of our songs.

“It has been a lesson for us, we have to understand that it will hit some people the way we want it to, and others will be different,” he continues. “We just can’t let it affect the way we write the songs.”

The popularity has grown during the past 10 years the band has existed. Over the years, Schaefer says the most important part of the members’ music is to keep to their own ideas. This has made them a very unique band often compared to Grateful Dead meeting Peter, Paul and Mary, or Jewel with Bare Naked Ladies.

“We did what we wanted to do,” says Schaefer. “It wasn’t any fierce, independent, rebellious spirit, but just something we enjoyed to do.”

The unique blend of various musical styles, along with the satirical lyrics, prove that the band was not trying to become mainstream.

“If you try to chase a trend, by the time you get it, it is gone,” says Schaefer. “Do what you want to do.”

What each member of the band wants to do is influenced by many different backgrounds.

“Julie grew up listening to show tunes, our resident rocker Eddie grew up on Rush and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mike is into the Beatles and Credence Clearwater Revival, and I add the folk aspect with Jim Croce and Paul Simon as my influences,” says Schaefer.

Each of these bands is present in the styles of music EFO plays.

“We have changed over the years, hopefully growing as a band,” says Schaefer. “For [Quick] we added electric guitars, and horn sections, along with edgier lyrics.”

The audience has rolled with the changes of the band, says Schaefer.

“They are really interested in the songs, and in us as performers,” he says. “I am sure we have lost some along the way, but by and large, it seems our audience has really accepted the changes.”

Although the lyrics provoke an initial curiosity in the audience, the fans seem to respond to the band as people, rather than a group just playing at them.

“We try to present a show that includes the audience, not just us standing up there doing stuff to you,” says Schaefer. “The best shows end up feeling like we are all at a party together. People respond well to that.”