Photo courtesy of STABLE SHAKERS
Songwriter and guitarist Spencer Pheil (left) and vocalist Brechyn Chace form the Stable Shakers.

LEWISTOWN — It’s not often a band performs the sweetness of jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald then follows it up with some classic rock from the Grateful Dead.

Then again there aren’t many bands who can handle the girth of music like the Stable Shakers. That’s especially true as the ever-changing, dynamic duo has no intention of fitting into a cookie cutter genre.

“We don’t like to fit into a box so to speak,” explained songwriter and guitarist Spencer Pheil, who is paired with wife and vocalist, Brechyn Chace. “There’s so much good music in all these different genres. I couldn’t be in a band that does just one genre.”

Stable Shakers’ music was made to be unexpected — the material exists in its own ethos. The Chambersburg-based outfit strives to create music that is both nostalgic and contemporary.

On Saturday, the duo brings their vast songbook to the Hungry Run Distillery, 10 Ridens Road, Lewistown, for a 1 p.m. performance.

“It’s so much fun for me just sitting there with my guitar, and when you play ‘Blue Moon’ as a sound check, people hear it live and they’re drawn to it,” Pheil said.

Chace added, “There’s a nostalgic aspect to our set. We hone in on stuff from all decades, and we throw in some originals as well. You never know what you’re going to find at one of our shows.”

Stable Shakers doubled down on this ideology, by bringing in Chace, a Nashville recording artist and vocalist who was part of another band, The Hello Strangers.

Chace certainly brings a wealth of talent, energy and a remarkable versatility, segueing from country ballad, to swinging jazz, to sultry blues all with an undeniable folky flair.

The group formed after Pheil, then with Mightychondria, happened to be playing in the same area as Chace, who was a member of Hello Strangers with her sister, Larissa.

“I had written a bunch of ballads that weren’t a good fit for the makeup of Mightychondria,” Pheil recalled. “I hired them to come to my studio for the weekend.”

Ironically, Hello Strangers also hired Pheil as a guitarist and he ended up touring the country with them for three or four years. When Larissa decided to step away to have children, the Stable Shakers were born.

The pandemic put a halt to the duo’s traditional approach, limiting rehearsals and performances to online appearances. “We were a byproduct of the pandemic,” Pheil said. “We had no idea what the cuss was going on. We tried to live stream as a duo and did some pared down arrangements. They were very stripped down and bare bones.

“But we got a couple hundred people, and the large turnout surprised us,” Pheil added. “We decided to do another one, and it was well received, too. We got a lot of tips, too; so we ended up doing the duo thing in earnest.”

Don’t think the Stable Shakers stopped there. Shows continue to challenge and shift, as they perform with countless combinations of featured guest musicians, from keyboardists, to vocalists as well as changing from quartet to trio and duo.

Prior to the pandemic, the duo — then in different bands — might have performed 120 to 130 shows per year. Now, they admit they’re a bit more selective and have pared back to 50 to 70 appearances.

“We both have day jobs, but it’s full-time,” Pheil said of their music endeavors. “We’re constantly playing music.

“The pandemic changed us,” Pheil continued. “We were on a hamster wheel, taking every gig. Some paid a couple thousand, some paid fifty bucks. It definitely changed our perspective that we don’t have to do every gig … we said ‘no’ more often to gigging, but we don’t love music any less.”

Chace added, “We’re doing it in a way that we love; it’s just not every weekend. It’s more balanced now.”

They still spend an incredible amount of time rehearsing, recording and performing shows, which takes up four or five nights each week.

Pheil admits coming a long way in the music industry since 2005 when he studied jazz in South Philadelphia. “I used to play bars and clubs down there all the time.”

Now, his studio in Chambersburg — originally built by his father — provides the perfect hub for bands from Baltimore, New York City and Philadelphia to commingle.

Stable Shakers has been labeled as a mixture of Americana music and jazz. They’ve also been called progressive folk, Pheil said. “Cosmic folk,” Chace said.

“I write the chords, melody and the lyrics, and Brechyn can take it into the stratosphere,” Pheil added. “She puts her magic touch on the melody.”

Their sound is as eclectic as their influences: Fitzgerald, Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, The Beatles and Phish, to name a few.

“We’re all over the place, with a lot of different genres for sure,” Chace said.

Then again, that’s who the Stable Shakers are.