They've gone to the root of rock, tapped into its raw energy by mixing blues, big band jazz and country music -- and brought this authentic brew home to State College.

They are the Triple A Blues Band.

It's hard to catch one of their shows because they're all veteran musicians obligated to other bands, but when they do get together it's a hotbed of music.

For Andy Tolins, founder, singer and guitarist, Triple A is a way to get back to where it all began for him -- his metal-bodied National steel guitar.

"Music's like voodoo when it casts its spell/ Makes everybody happy as far as I can tell/ So let your backbone slip and join in line/ 'Cause Cajun Boogie stomp make ya feel real fine . . ." Tolins sang from "Gator Song." His band was sitting in his living room conjuring up the blues magic with some fancy string bending and finger vibrato action.

Getting back to the heart of it with Triple A caught on with some of the area's established musicians, and what were once two to three guys keeps expanding and contracting from seven to five, said bassist Ronnie Wasco. "I got captured, it was as simple as that," he said, sporting a "Spinal Tap" black baseball cap and puffing a cigarette.

Each one belongs to other bands, including Red Apple Juice, a bluegrass act; Bob Hideycat and the Groovy Boots, Queen Bee and the Blue Hornet Band, both blues acts; and the rock act Screaming Ducks.

"So as you can see, the rest of the bands have their dates and we kind of have to work around them," said Wasco, who works for the University's chemistry department.

This is how their name came about: Tolins was looking at the newspaper one day and saw the triple A baseball teams listed. He said he thought they were like those teams because as a group they weren't playing "any of the real nice spots" but "just sort of fitting it in" when possible and having a good time.

Each member has been playing music for at least 15 years. Drummer Jack Wilkinson said that at the age of 5 he drove his mother crazy by turning garbage cans upside down and banging on them. Then he wouldn't pick up the garbage.

The band's many styles include jug-band music, which is more of an upbeat thing and some jump-blues, which is a hard-riffing side. And now they're concentrating on country blues with a bit of a Chicago edge, which is more electric, said Tolins.

They aim to steer clear of the standards. Triple A is different for State College because the members are primarily acoustic and are "laid back in their presentation," he said.

"We try to mix it up a lot, keep the genres spinning around," said Tolins.

They play songs by Mose Allison, Willie Dixon, Blind Willie McTell and Muddy Waters.

Although Triple A started putting together originals and playing State College in 1990, a modest Tolins said, "We're now just getting to the point where we sound like a band."

Stephanie Whittle (sophomore-liberal arts), who has seen them at an outdoor gig, agreed. "They just make you want to kick off your shoes, snap your fingers and dance. And if you can't dance you can tap your feet," she said.

The draw is the dynamics of the band and their music. They are trying to improvise within the limits of traditonal structures, said Wasco.

They stay within these limits by using tight arrangements, said Pete Sheridan, the band's harmonica player and father of three. "So there's a lot more focused energy," added Tolins.

Asked if someone must have the blues to play them, guitarist Dave Mudgett said, "If that's true, then we're in trouble because I'm a college professor (electrical engineering) with a Ph.D. from Yale, a wife and a 2-year-old daughter."

He said the blues is a feeling. "I wouldn't want to have the traditional blues lifestyle. Paul Butterfield is dead. Janis Joplin is dead. All these people are dead --because they were heavy into drugs and alcohol," he said. But Tolins added that some just got old and died.

But what hasn't died is love for the blues.

They agreed blues has a large consumer market these days and that it isn't hard for them to get a gig. As Tolins put it, "The trails have already been blazed by those people."

But the market isn't what it's about for Triple A.

"When I got out and play I sit my ass down on a stool and I got my bass chucked up here and that's all I do," Wasco said.