Darren Schlappich sounds laid-back and at ease, but he's a very busy guy right now. The band he fronts, Frog Holler, is releasing its sixth CD, Haywire this month (February 2006), and as head of his own record label (ZoBird, named after his two cats), and acting as his own publicist, he's got his hands full. Not to mention his "day job" as an independent businessman servicing the taps in the bar and tavern trade in his eastern Pennsylvania neighborhood.

"I really like the new record," Schlappich says. "I'm really anxious to get it out there."

The six-member Frog Holler has spent the past 10 years working its way into the top ranks of the Americana scene. It's music is a literate and melodic blend of roots rock, country and folk. Live, Frog Holler covers a wide variety of acts including Tom Petty and Creedence Clearwater Revival, but Schlappich now writes all of the band's recorded material, which ranges from introspective strummers to wailing rockers. John Kilgore and Todd Bartolo provide a dual-guitar attack that often includes Bartolo's lap steel. Mike Lavdanski plays banjo and accordion, and Josh Scuerman on bass and Daniel Bower on drums lay down the rhythm.

Schlappich started playing bluegrass with Kilgore in the mid-90s, as part of the college open-mike scene in Kutztown, Penn. Until about 10 years ago, he'd never even played a guitar.

"I've always been a fan of music and a record listener," he says. "I went through all kinds of different phases, from the Sex Pistols and the Clash, to the Replacements and R.E.M. in the '80s, but in the '90s I started listening to bluegrass music. I liked how simple it was -- it helped me understand how to play music."

He started right off writing his own songs, and over the next couple of years the band picked up more members, which led to Frog Holler's first release, 1998's Couldn't Get Along. There's been a new recording every year or two since then: Adams Hotel Road in 1999, Idiots in 2001, Railings in 2003 and a seven-song EP, The High Highs and the Low Lows in 2004. The releases have shown a steady maturing in songwriting and playing, which Schlappich acknowledges with some pride.

"Absolutely," he says. "It's been light years musically for me from the first record until now. I've worked pretty hard at trying to be better at music.

"In the beginning, it started from just trying to have a lot of fun," he continues. "And then people started to like the band, and it's kinda snowballed to where, all of a sudden we've got this thing on our hands."

Schlappich's growing awareness of the approach of middle age is reflected in several of the new songs, like "Rat Race," "'74," and "On Winter Blues."

"All of a sudden, I'm bearing down on 40 and time's flying," he said. "I started the band when I was 29, and it seemed like you still had time to have fun but now, the realities are hitting me hard."

The new album also addresses a political theme or two, particularly "Ben Franklin's Blues," with its refrain of "Safe to lay my head to rest, but not to speak my mind."

"It's unavoidable at this point," he says of speaking up politically. "You either find yourself on one side or the other, and instead of feeling guilty about your side, I think it's time to fight for your side."

Raised a Catholic in Calvinist Pennsylvania Dutch country, Schlappich has always worked spiritual issues into his songs, including Haywire's opening track, the mid-tempo rocker "Hades" in which he asks rhetorically, "How come there's heaven for us, but not till we die?"

"I'm not really much of a religious person, which is funny because I always write about it," he says. "I think ... my writing about religion is more questioning the whole thing. There's two sides to all those songs, and I think most people pick up on one side of it."

Whatever their meaning, Schlappich is eager to get on the road in their 15-passenger van and play the new songs for Frog Holler's fans. They'll be playing about a dozen gigs in the Northeast and Midwest in March and April; check the dates on the Web site.

He says he "never imagined" Frog Holler would be doing what it is now, 10 years ago. "We're just trying to keep it going and see where it leads to." Early critical reaction to Haywire has been good, he says. "I've got pretty high hopes for this one."