From listening party to stage

Even if Ben Chasny were not playing at the Echo tonight, he would be playing somewhere, not minding if no one heard but himself.

Chasny has been creating a slew of albums over the past decade with his primary project Six Organs of Admittance, each one a captivating immersion into both innovation and Chasny’s multifarious musical inspirations. Six Organs’ most recent release, “Shelter From the Ash,” can most easily be classified as folk, but remains difficult to pinpoint, likely symptomatic of Chasny’s range of influences.

The musical bottom line of most Six Organs releases varies, each rooted in anything from plain (but not simple) acoustic guitar to confusing ambient noise. This broad sonic palette stems from Chasny’s self-proclaimed record-phile status and pastime with the old turntable.

“I think of myself as a record-collecting nerd. I just like listening to records with friends; I’ll hear something and think, “˜I want to make something that sounds like this’,” Chasny said.

While earlier Six Organs releases have dabbled in sounds that depart from conventional understandings of musicality, recent albums like “Shelter from the Ash” and previously “The Sun Awakens” and “School of the Flower” are not too obscure to prevent a conventional listen.

Though at first listen the masterful acoustic guitar of “Shelter” harkens to both Bert Jansch’s solo and Pentangle careers, even in his more traditional work Chasny suggests there is a lot going on beyond folk.

For instance, currently Chasny’s influences include the PSF label from Japan and the underappreciated Richard Youngs. He cites any oddity as fair game for a muse.

“I was listening to some old record a while ago. … It started out with this guy going, “˜awww shit!’ and I was like, “˜I’ve got to do that, I’ve got to do that!’ But I chickened out. I just couldn’t do it.”

Chasny’s albums with Six Organs are not simply sponges for the many records he spends his time with. He feels his efforts are more discriminating and are musical confirmations or denials of what he has been listening to.

“Everyone wants this grand statement with music, but a lot of what I’m doing is music criticism anyways. … In what I let into my music, it’s my way of saying, “˜Hey, I’m really into this record,'” he said.

Chasny’s discussion of listening to records like an everyman music lover creates an understated demeanor. While he may have gained more mainstream “freak folk” or “psych folk” or just plain “folk” notoriety by being championed by the charismatic Devendra Banhart on his “Golden Apples of the Sun” compilation, Chasny’s creativity is simpler and unadorned.

“I’ve just been doing it (making music) for so long, it’s a very natural thing. It’s not like I’m making something; it’s just what I do,” he said.

Chasny’s modesty does not match the breadth of his musical involvement. Besides Six Organs of Admittance and side project Comets on Fire, he just plain makes music all over the place with a lot of different outfits, sits in on tours with Joanna Newsom or does a stint with Current 93, to name a tiny few.

Chasny tries not to allow these various endeavors to rub off on one another quite like his record collection does upon him. The very distinction of Comets on Fire from Six Organs of Admittance is yet another way to “yea” or “nay” some sound he once heard in a song.

“There is a common misperception that because I play with different people, they influence Six Organs. I do the different projects because they don’t bleed into one another,” he said.

Chasny has played the Echo several times under one of his projects, but never as Six Organs of Admittance. Though he will be there tonight, accompanied by Elisa Ambrogio of Magik Markers, the venue, lights, and audience are beside the point.

“Ten years ago when I made my first record myself, pressed it, I did 400 copies, and I couldn’t even give them away. More people are listening now, but even if there wasn’t anyone listening, I’d still be making it and just put it in the closet.”