God. Street. Wine.

These words sound like free association spoken by a patient in a psychiatrist’s office. They have no connection whatsoever. Except for when they link together to form the name of a New York roots-rock band.

“It was actually a mispronunciation of something else. We came up with this really bad name and we told it to this drunk girl that we met on the street, and she said ‘What? God Street Wine?’ and that sounded better than what we came up with, so we stuck with it,” said Aaron Maxwell, vocalist and guitarist for the band.

Formed in 1988 in upstate New York, God Street Wine set out with the goal of just playing some live shows at bars in New York City.

They never knew they’d be playing with high profile bands such as the Allman Brothers, The Black Crowes and Blues Traveler.

But the band’s true love is still playing bars.

“It’s always fun for us because it’s really intimate, and you really get to interact with the audience. They’re right in your face, you know, so it’s a cool experience,” Maxwell said, squeezing in a quick phone interview before he and the band hit the road for Cleveland.

There’s only one thing Maxwell doesn’t like about bars. “Bars can tend to be a little smokey,” he said. But that doesn’t matter; just as long as the vibe is good, everything’s groovy for Maxwell. “I enjoy any show where people are into it and there’s interaction going on and everyone’s having a good time,” he explained.

After just finishing recording sessions for a new album, God Street Wine is fresh and ready to go back out into the world and do what it does best — play live.

“We never really know exactly what we’re gonna do when we go out,” Maxwell said. “We could do a song two nights in a row and it won’t be the same way.”

God Street Wine shows involve everything from improvisation and dancing to jazz harmonies, but overall Maxwell said his band puts on a standard rock ‘n’ roll show.

Replicating the feeling and intensity of its live show is something the band strived to do on its most recent 1997 self-titled album.

Maxwell said a lot of his band’s songs are written in the studio.

And the group has had some privileged experiences while recording albums.

The last album was recorded at Sear Sound, a studio which boasts vintage equipment that was used on legendary recordings such as The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”

“We got to record in a studio that was basically a museum of old, vintage gear,” Maxwell said excitedly. “So many times today recording studios can be so sterile, and this particular studio was just cozy and had amazing equipment in it.”

On top of that, both John Popper of Blues Traveler and Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne lent music to the album.

“Bill Payne was amazing. Just being in the room with him was a lesson. He’s just such an amazing musician, it’s just wild to be around him. It was inspiring for sure,” Maxwell said.

On its upcoming album, God Street Wine was also lucky enough to record in a studio with some history.

“We made it out on this farm up in Mass. for about a month, and it’s just a great experience to be up there and immersed in the project,” Maxwell said. “The Rolling Stones had recorded there, and Aerosmith, so it had lot of history. It was pretty wild.”

The as-yet untitled new album was recorded this past August and is expected to be released in March of 1999.

Because of its long jams and musical explorations, God Street Wine’s music is not exactly custom fit and ready to serve for radio and MTV, which caused problems a few years ago when the band signed with Geffen Records.

“We were there at a time when Nirvana was real big and Beck was just happening, and we were really in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Maxwell explained. “They didn’t really know what our kind of band was. We were a grassroots kind of band, and it just didn’t really work out.”

In order to accomplish its goals, God Street Wine moved on to sign to Mercury Records, where it could get the attention it deserves.

“I’d like to make a lot of money off of it, but who knows if that will happen or not?” Maxwell said. “That’s just sort of a side effect of doing what you love. As long as I can be happy doing what I’m doing, that’s it for me. But I may change tomorrow, so you never know.”

The music industry even went through some changes as the band switched record labels.

“I’m feeling like [the music industry is] very reactionary and people are looking around to see what other people are doing, and they don’t want to put money on something to develop it — they want one song that can be a hit song,” Maxwell said. “And sometimes that can be unfortunate because it doesn’t allow for much development in bands. You’ll hear one song from a band, and then you’ll never really hear from them again.”

The nomadic nature of God Street Wine’s fans has earned the band’s followers comparisons to Phish heads.

“They’re freaks, man,” Maxwell said jokingly about his fans, who are frequently referred to as “Winos.”

“I think over the year we’ve had our ups and downs, and for me, I feel privileged to just be able to play music every night,” Maxwell said.

And playing music is exactly what God Street Wine will do when it comes to People’s Bar and Grill Sunday, a place that serves wine and is on a street called Welch Ave. Where God will fit into the picture at the show is unknown. Maybe the Winos can tell you.

God Street Wine plays at 9:30 p.m. The show is 21 and over, and tickets are $8.