Telecaster-toting populist musician and Yale graduate are nouns rarely used in the same sentence. Such is not the case for heartland rocker Mary Cutrufello.

Cutrufello graduated from Yale with a degree in American studies. She’s now on the road supporting her Mercury Records debut “When The Night Is Through.”

The 27-year-old Cutrufello thinks good guitar work defies gender barriers.

When asked who her favorite guitarist is, she made haste in articulating the name of Mick Taylor, axeman for the Rolling Stones during the “Exile on Main Street” era.

“The way he says things on guitar speaks to me,” Cutrufello said in a husky, road-hardened tone. “It’s got it’s own voice.”

Cutrufello doesn’t have a favorite female guitarist.

“I don’t think about guitar players in terms of what their genitalia look like,” she said.

In her records liner notes, she thanks Metallica frontman James Hetfield — even though she hasn’t met him. She has seen Metallica twice on its “Reload Tour.”

Cutrufello described Hetfield as “one of the world’s greatest rhythm guitarists.”

Like the Boss and his E-Street Band were the standard for rock in the ’80s, Cutrufello suggested Metallica “might be the E-Street Band for the ’90s.”

If rock ‘n’ roll was an established religion, Cutrufello would worship at the temple gates of Bruce Springsteen.

The Boss is one of her mentors partially because she grew up in Fairfield, Conn., near New York state, where the “whole Bruce thing is huge.” Her new album has been compared by critics to Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”

“I like Springsteen for what he stands for,” Cutrufello said.

Other staples in her record collection include Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Bob Seger and John Mellencamp.

Cutrufello first picked up a guitar at the age of nine. She became interested in the instrument due to a mysterious guitar that was collecting dust in her living room. She said no one in her family knew who the guitar belonged to or where it came from.

Her parents finally conceded to enroll her in guitar lessons, and with the mystery weapon in her hands, she began her instruction.

She took lessons sporadically, but a large part of her guitar schooling came from playing along to classic rock radio.

After graduating, Cutrufello decided to relocate to Texas to play guitar for a living. She paid her dues on the honky-tonk and rock club circuit.

Her days strumming the mystical guitar paid off as she began grabbing local attention. She caught the eye of musician Jimmie Dale Gilmore, who asked her to play lead in support of his album “Braver New World.”

In 1997, Mercury records offered Cutrufello a six-album record deal after she performed at the Nashville Entertainment Association’s annual Extravaganza festival.

“When the Night Is Through” was recorded in Los Angeles under the guidance of producer Thom Panunzio, who has worked with U2 and Black Sabbath.

The studio band included the rock heavyweight drummers Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Bob Seger) and Jim Keltner, bassist Bob Glaub (Jackson Browne, John Fogerty) and keyboardist Rami Jaffee (The Wallflowers).

Her touring band includes former E-Street keyboardist, Danny Federici, who was snagged by Panunzio.

“He’s just a monster player,” she said.

Cutrufello returned to Nashville when she kicked off her year-long tour on Aug. 29 at Nashville’s renowned Exit/In.

The way things look now, she doesn’t plan on putting any less miles on the touring van.

“We’re going to be on the road as long as we can get away with this record,” she said. “Playing on the road is my favorite thing to do.

“I have great faith in straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll,” she declared.

Cutrufello plays at The Maintenance Shop Saturday at 9 p.m. with American Paint. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 general admission.