Currituck Co. can be found in the northeastern corner of North Carolina. Currituck Co. can also be found in Brooklyn, unless it is traveling. This week, for instance, you can visit Currituck Co. at the Crocodile Cafe, on Monday, March 27. Confused? Please hold...

Originally, Currituck Co. the musical unit—which takes its name from a region on the outer banks of the Tar Heel State—was the alias of New Yorker Kevin Barker, who was also the guitarist in indie rock ensemble Aden. Barker also serves as an in-demand sideman for underground faves including Antony & the Johnsons, Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom. Lately, percussionist Otto Hauser, who also plays in Espers, has joined Barker under the Currituck Co. banner.

Before this column starts to read like the table of contents for the latest issue of Arthur, let's briefly push aside further associations and comparisons, and condense the Currituck sound into bite-size pieces. Mr. Barker plays a variety of stringed instruments, primarily guitar. His style draws on elements of the blues, the '60/early '70s British folk revival, and American folk music, as well as some of the more outré, psychedelic practitioners of the humble genre called "rock."

Now, a few more reference points for the hopelessly hip: Currituck Co. has frequently been compared to inventive, acoustic guitar virtuoso Bert Jansch; a cover of Jansch's "Silly Woman" is one of the highlights from the second CC full-length, 2003's Ghost Man on First, which also features "A Raga Called Nina," an ambitious overhaul of Nina Simone's interpretation of "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair." Currituck has also dedicated works to Fred Neil (composer of "Everybody's Talkin'," from Midnight Cowboy), surf-rock pioneer Terry Melcher, and the artist Barker's eclectic aesthetic most strongly evokes, blues guitarist John Fahey. "Medley: John Hurt Shiva Shankarah," Currituck Co.'s contribution to the recent anthology I Am the Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey, is seven and a half minutes of cymbals, tom toms, and nimble finger picking, which slowly escalates in animation, culminating in a climax of childlike joy.

Last year saw the release of a couple new Currituck albums, including Ghost Man on Second. Divided into two halves ("In Two Towards" and "In Turn Returns"), this is the best gatefold double-LP you never stole from your tripped-out stoner uncle. Instrumental cuts like the extended acoustic guitar and drum improv "Don't the Road Look Rough & Rocky," the meditation for banjo and Turkish drum "Disembark," and particularly the 30-minute long "Space Cruisin' Boogie (Remix)" mesmerize with their low-key virtuosity, reminiscent of Carlos Santana's Hare Krisha–period albums and even Alice Coltrane's 1977 Eastern-inspired masterpiece Transcendence.

Suffice it to say, it's easier to stick a pin in Currituck Co. on a North Carolina map than it is to pin down the mercurial sound of Currituck Co. the band. But the travel required to visit the latter is shorter than ever this weekend, and—unless the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce website is unduly modest—far more culturally stimulating.

kurt@thestranger.com