Phil Salazar and the Kin Folk to perform at San Diego Folk Heritage event

Phil Salazar and the Kin Folk will play at the Pilgrim United Church of Christ Oct. 19 in Carlsbad as part of the nonprofit San Diego Folk Heritage’s regular series of events.

“Everywhere I play, people like the way I play,” said Phil Salazar, a fiddler in the L.A.- and Ventura-based band, which has been playing an eclectic mix of rock, bluegrass, pop and other genres for decades.

“We do a little bit of all of it,” he added. “I guess you’d call our music Americana.”

San Diego Folk Heritage is a nonprofit that promotes the folk arts throughout San Diego. Its concerts and other events are held at locations including the Encinitas Library, San Dieguito United Methodist Church in Encinitas, Maritime Museum of San Diego and Templar’s Hall in Poway.

The band’s set list for this show will be heavy on folk.

“We’re going to play as much folk music as we possibly can,” Salazar said.

Kin Folk band members are Tom Corbett on mandolin and guitar; Bill Knopf on banjo; Rick Borella; and Bill Flores, who plays dobro, mandolin, guitar, steel guitar and fiddle, among many other instruments.

Salazar said the band is called the Kin Folk because “we are like a family.” When they’re not performing live, the group is recording two albums, one bluegrass and one a more “jam band variety” in the vein of the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers.

Salazar recently played a gig with the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Past shows the band has played include the Strawberry Music Festival, Live Oak Music Festival, the Grass Valley California Bluegrass Festival, as well as folk clubs and house concerts.

Their performances have earned rave reviews from organizations such as the California Bluegrass Association, which said, “You can tell from the first note this band is going to be special.” Chris Hillman, a founding member of the Byrds and Desert Rose band, praised one of their CDs for “excellent playing and choice of material.”

Tickets for Phil Salazar and the Kin Folk’s San Diego Folk Heritage performance are $20. Pilgrim United Church of Christ is located at 2020 Chestnut Ave. For more information, visit sdfolkheritage.org.