What: Ra Ra Riot with Givers

When: Friday, 9 p.m.

Where: Sugar Nightclub

Tickets: $15 at Lyle's Place, Ditch Records and www.ticketweb.ca

The early days of Ra Ra Riot were like those of any other university band. They pretty much took whatever gigs they could find.

Ra Ra Riot was a staple at one point at campus parties and bars along the lines of Funk 'n Waffles, a popular eatery just a few blocks from the Syracuse University campus in New York state, where, in 2006, its members got their start as students.

Venue quality has improved considerably in the years since, as evidenced by the band's recent tour stop in the wine region of Sonoma County, Calif.

Last week the Brooklyn-based group became the first act booked to perform in an old barn at Gundlach Bunschu Winery in Sonoma Valley. The estate's first rock concert was a success as much for the local community as it was for the band, according to Ra Ra Riot cellist Alexandra Lawn.

That they had their fill of wine goes without saying, Lawn confessed. But what most impressed her was the impossibly beautiful scenery, photographic evidence of which can be viewed in a blog on the band's website.

"It's something we don't necessarily see, geographically, on the East Coast," Lawn said earlier this week, during a day off in Eugene, Ore.

Settings and environments appear to be of particular interest to Ra Ra Riot.

The band's debut, The Rhumb Line, voted one of the best albums of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine, was named after a navigational term used to plot a ship's course, while last summer's followup, The Orchard, was conceived at a peach orchard in upstate New York.

Touring hasn't heightened their cold-weather capabilities, mind you. Lawn and her bandmates — guitarist Milo Bonacci, singer Wesley Miles, violist Rebecca Zeller and bassist Mathieu Santos — struggled during some of their Canadian tour dates in November. The group, with new drummer Kenny Barnard in tow for its current trek, is happy knowing it will be warmer climes this time out.

"When we booked the dates, we said, 'Isn't it going to be cold?' We were told, 'Oh no, it's not winter there yet.' But it was very much winter for us."

With each tour, the group's reputation grows, and the novelty of a pop group outfitted with cello and viola becomes less of an issue. Fusing pop with classical components was never a problem for anyone in the group, least of all Zeller and Lawn, who studied cello at a young age.

"Switching wasn't as hard as you think," Lawn said. "Both [Zeller] and I were pretty open to that thinking process, as opposed to playing music off a sheet of paper that thousands have done before you. This was a really cool opportunity."

Without any sort of musical script to follow, the group — free from the typical limitations of a guitar-bass-drums setup — created for itself an original orch-pop genre. Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend are often cited as reference points, but Ra Ra Riot took steps on The Orchard to make its approach unique.

Bonacci, the group's guitarist, played keyboards on occasion, while primary vocalist Miles took over the guitar on a song.

It was typical, Lawn said, of the band's open-door policy to music.

Lawn occupied a new role as well during the sessions — that of lead singer. She gave Miles a rough demo of the song, You and I Know, complete with her own scratch vocal, so he could learn the tune in time for the record. He wound up liking her version so much he urged Lawn to sing it herself. The only problem? Her experience prior to joining Ra Ra Riot was primarily with classical ensembles.

"That was the first song I had enough confidence in to give to the band. I was still assuming he would do it, so I freaked out. I also had the task of writing lyrics, which I had never done before."

Once in a while, during the recording sessions, the band lost the plot, Lawn admitted. Though the fusion of styles might sound seamless, it was a complicated process to perfect.

"You should hear it in the early stages," she joked. "Definitely, when we're writing music that happens. But the way we write our music, a lot of it is about trimming down. Everybody's part may sound good on its own, but we can't all play it at the same time."

mdevlin@timescolonist.com