A 3-Day Reunion Of Dance Band Pencilgrass

Turns out you can go home again, even if it’s only for a few days.

Pencilgrass, an eclectic, popular New Haven septet from the mid-2000s, reunites this weekend at a benefit for the Space in Hamden (Friday, Aug. 28); a shared bill with Albany’s Mister F at the Acoustic in Bridgeport (Saturday, Aug. 29); and a return home to Cafe Nine (Sunday, Aug. 30).

The band — singer Eddie Prendergast (who wrote the songs), keyboard player Rob Katz, bassist Tom Harron, guitarist Bill Readey, drummer Matt Goff, trumpeter John Panos and saxophonist Erik Elligers (currently a member of the folk-rock band Goodnight Blue Moon) — formed in 2001 at the University of Miami School of Music.

Pencilgrass’ music was difficult to categorize, but there were a few, clear points of reference: Sly and the Family Stone’s “A Whole New Thing” album (from 1967); ’80s hardcore bands like Bad Brains and Minor Threat; early Trojan dub and reggae sides. Prendergast would take the basic structure of hardcore (simple A part, simple B part, breakdown, return to A part) and cram a different musical genre — electronica, salsa, disco, funk, rock — into each section.

“We weren’t trying to mix genres,” Panos said. “We were trying to use genres to get the songs across.”

In some ways, style-bending worked against Pencilgrass. Band members’ friends were punks, but Pencilgrass didn’t do well on punk bills. R&B shows weren’t a good fit either. Jam-band fans, however, welcomed its unpredictable, dance-friendly sound.

“When we played jam-band shows, we hated being there,” Panos said, “because we hate jam bands. … We kind of got lumped into the jam-band scene, which was always a big bummer for us, but we recognized that there are a lot of those fans who are into us.”

The shrinking market for original music in Miami was also frustrating.

“A lot of us came from the punk or alternative/indie scenes growing up,” Panos said. “We didn’t see any groups down in Miami that were doing their own songs. There were a lot of cover bands. There’s a lot of entertainment on the beach, but we were trying to do something that encapsulated [Miami] for us.”

At the end of 2003, Pencilgrass moved to New Haven (NYC was too expensive) and quickly grew its fan base. Cafe Nine became a second home.

“We were just constantly playing,” Panos said. “We would book anything. We played childrens’ birthday parties.”

The band recorded an EP, “Bubblegum,” in New Haven with engineer Scott Amore and found a backer to fund a full-length album. But the relationship soured, and the album never got released.

“We don’t own the rights to that album,” Panos said. “It will never see the light of day.”

Money was an issue. Some members left, or were asked to leave. “The last year we were a band, we called it Pencilgrass II,” Panos said. “We were doing a more avant-garde version of ourselves, but a lot of people were unhappy with the direction of the band.”

They were also poor.

“At one point, we were living six of us and our drummer’s wife in a three-bedroom apartment. … It was rough when we started over.” Pencilgrass disbanded in 2006.

At the Space fundraiser, Pencilgrass joins nine other bands, including Political Animals, Head with Wings and Ceschi. It’s joined by Mister F, a band Pencilgrass hasn’t played with before, in Bridgeport, then reunites with Hancock, a friend from the Miami days, in New Haven. Interested fans can purchase unreleased Pencilgrass recordings, either on CD or through a download card, at the shows.

Looking back, Panos said, Pencilgrass just wanted people to dance.

“That was the No. 1 goal, at all times, still to this day,” Panos said, “without them having to worry about what kind of music is this, or is this a funk band. ‘Am I supposed to mosh to this? Is this a hippie jam-band?’ It was to make the music as danceable as possible.”

PENCILGRASS performs at the Ballroom at the Outer Space in Hamden on Friday, Aug. 28 (5 p.m. doors, donations welcome); at the Acoustic in Bridgeport on Saturday, Aug. 29, (9 p.m., $15); and at Cafe Nine in New Haven on Sunday, Aug. 30 (9 p.m., $10).