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But Draheim's psychedelic four-piece, Infrared Radiation Orchestra, backs up that claim more than most bands. Not only is it fronted by a proficient theremin player in H. Elizabeth Alcott, but Draheim, the band's songwriter, actively rearranges the songs it covers and sometimes even writes additional parts for them. So when Infrared blends its own songs with those of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd and more at places like Market Street Park Thursday and Aug. 11, the set plays like "it's all just one song," Draheim said.

"I love taking songs and finding a way to make them our own," he said. "I think that's what I'm best at."

Draheim formed Infrared a decade ago, after his band for the previous 25 years, Spirit's Tavern regular Static Cling, ran its course. He spread word that he wanted a bassist and drummer for a three-piece, and found his personnel in Richard Terry and Paul Nolan. The latter would leave and join , but he continues to mix and produce Infrared's recordings, Draheim said.

Meanwhile, about five years ago, Infrared played a double bill in Rochester. Afterward, Draheim was asked if he'd like to add a fourth member by one of the other band's backup vocalists: Alcott. 

Infrared at first added Alcott as an "auxiliary member," Draheim said, but before long, audiences would ask where she was when Infrared played without her. So she became that fourth member.

"She's the fairy dust," Draheim said. "The magic spark that elevates this whole experience beyond just being a good band."

With Alcott on vocals, theremin and more, Draheim on guitar, Terry on bass and newest member Sam Baranski on drums, Infrared has hit a new high, Draheim said.

"Everyone wants to be there as much as I do," he said. "It's pretty hard to get four people together, and all at that level of 'I'm having fun and this is what I want to do.'"

The band recently played a July 29 show in New York City that saw Joe and Albert Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult sit in on bass and drums for a few songs. Draheim befriended the founding members of the legendary "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" band through a mutual friend, he said. The gig took place at the Harlem location of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and came about because Infrared has performed at the restaurant's Rochester and Syracuse locations. Draheim said it was the band's first downstate trip, but it won't be the last.

With Alcott from Rochester, Draheim from Seneca Falls, Terry from Syracuse and Baranski from south of Ithaca, Infrared has no hometown, Draheim said.

"Even though we don't have a huge following any place, we have an OK following every place," he said.

Infrared has built that following by being "the most psychedelic band around," Draheim said. Alcott's theremin playing — which the Bouchards complimented after playing with the band — gives covers like "I Am the Walrus" a spacey edge, the guitarist continued. It does the same to a signature suite in which Infrared melds The Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home," Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone From the Sun," Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" and The Byrds' "Eight Miles High." 

The amount of covers on Infrared's four albums has varied, Draheim said. The fifth, which it hopes to release by Christmas, will feature a couple along with several of his own compositions. He's "furiously" writing new Infrared material for the first time with Steve McAvoy, his high school bandmate in Uptown Dog Food with whom he recently reconnected.

To make time for writing, Draheim said, he's stopped actively searching for Infrared gigs. But the offers continue, he said, and the band is on course to play 35 to 40 shows this year.

"If you told me when I was 20 that I'd be playing more in my 60s than any other time, I'd think that was crazy," he said.

Five questions with Kim Draheim of Infrared Radiation Orchestra

Q. What's your favorite song to play live?

A. It changes from gig to gig. I always get a kick out of "I Am the Walrus" because people love it so much, and I always get a kick out of whatever the newest original is.

Q. What's the first concert you remember seeing?

A. I remember, very clearly, seeing Donovan during the "Summer of Love," 1967, at the Syracuse War Memorial.

Q. Who are your major musical influences?

A. More than individual bands, I would say it's individual scenes. One of the things we do is kind of marry the punk energy of 1976-1977 New York City with the psychedelic experimentation of San Francisco in 1967.

Q. Do you have a "desert island album"?

A. "Astral Weeks" by Van Morrison.

Q. What's one venue you've always wanted to play but haven't had a chance to yet?

A. Places that aren't there anymore: The Marquee (Club) in London would have been great. I have played CBGB so that was a check on the bucket list, for sure. All the legendary ballrooms in San Francisco, the Whiskey (a Go Go) in L.A. I guess the No. 1 would probably be mid-'60s the Marquee in London.