RON SWARNER: OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND >>>

Joe Izenman produces a cocktail of calculation, sheer nerve, good timing, quick wit, as well as a cataclysm, daily. As one of Tacoma’s most active bloggers the bearded gentle giant posts frequently on his own blog, Izenmania, and is a constant figure on Tacoma blogs, giving a thumbs up or down in the comments section.

But if you ask him what’s his story, he’ll say he’s just a guy rocking Tacoma. He doesn’t mean shaking up the blogosphere, but rather rocking out. Izenman has contributed his guitar, hand drums, melodica, keyboard, and accordion talents to such bands as This Shirt is Pants, Mr. Fusion, and most recently his father’s band Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Dad, Tacoma folk/country mainstay Don Izenman, and his longtime collaborator, bassist Goodwin Trent, added Joe while Trent recovered from surgery. Although Trent is back, Joe still hangs with the folk/ country band that will perform tonight at Rhapsody in Bloom with special guest, and another Tacoma folk music mainstay, Sue Tjardes.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: What’s behind the band name? Is it related to the Edison Electric Institute’s July 2006 study on why overhead power lines should be buried?

JOE IZENMAN: Out of Sight, Out of Mind is part of a running joke about the fact that my dad, Don, lost most of his vision a couple years ago. Their previous group was called Second Sight. So Out of Sight, Out of Mind is really just descriptive: Don’s blind, and Goodwin’s crazy. (To be fair, though, we’re all a little bit nuts.)

VOLCANO: Out of Sight, Out of Mind has been known to cover a country tune or two. What subgenre of country?

IZENMAN: We cover a very specific sub-genre of country that I like to call “good country.” If you had a Venn diagram of country, bluegrass and folk, we’d be somewhere in the middle: Tim O’Brien, John Denver, Bob Dylan, even some Little Feat.

Tonight’s show will involve little to no cover work.

VOLCANO: Is this the first time you have collaborated with your dad?

IZENMAN: I first started playing regularly with my dad and brother back in 1999, putting together a few covers to open up for his band, Civil Servants, at Shakabrah Java. That was really the beginning of my experience as a performing local musician. We stopped playing together when I went off to college and my brother got a job, but we reunited last summer for a set at the Proctor Farmer’s Market.

VOLCANO: Tonight the band will tackle some of your material, too. What flows from your pen?

IZENMAN: I have songs about abusive relationships, walking away from love, suicide, and the unpleasantness of war. Oh, and happy things as well. I come back to the theme of self-discovery a lot, and the notion of independence from what other people want you to be. And I try to work the element of hope into even the most horribly depressing of topics.

Mixed in with Sue’s philanderer-rich material (with the occasional touching love song) and Goodwin’s tales of life in Alaska (with the occasional touching love song) and you’ve got fun for all ages.

[Rhapsody in Bloom Florist and Café Latte, Thursday, March 27, 7 p.m., all ages, no cover, $5 suggested donation, 3709 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.761.7673]