Jason Ringenberg knows chicken pickin’.

Jason Ringenberg never strays far from his Illinois farm roots.

With guitar in hand, he hit Nashville in 1981 and formed Jason and the Scorchers, turning that town on its musical ear with a high-octane mix of punk, rock and pure country, dousing it with a splash of yodelay-ee-hoo, the likes of which hadn’t been heard before.

He’ll politely reminisce about his glory days, but what really gets his blood flowing is performing as Farmer Jason, his “twin brother.” Islanders can hear his engaging children’s show on Saturday at the Island Music Guild.

“I’m really looking forward to playing on Bainbridge,” Ringenberg said from New Hope, Pa., where he performed as both personas at the Johnstown FolkFest during Labor Day weekend. “Playing a Farmer Jason show and going to my brother’s wedding in the same day is a bit of a buzz.”

Although brother Jerry lives on Bainbridge, Ringenberg has never visited here.

With his “On the Farm With Farmer Jason” CD, Ringenberg has roped in a new, young audience and their parents – many of whom remember him as frontman Jason and his maniacal stage presence.

Country audiences hated the marriage of punk rock and Hank Williams as much as critics and European audiences adored it, but Jason and the Scorchers didn’t make it to the top of any charts. As one music writer put it, “Mainstream America was still five to 10 years away from accepting alt-country.”

Pressures and indulgences caused the band’s demise in 1989. Ringenberg’s embroidered stage outfit hangs in Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame, but he doesn’t miss it. He hasn’t really done anything Scorchers-related in about four years, and that’s fine with him, too.

After taking a break from the music scene, he got back in with a vengeance.

“I’ve been doing a lot of solo work with an acoustic guitar and having a lot of fun with that,” he said. “I play a lot of festivals, but I do all kinds of gigs.”

In 2002, he released a CD of folk-esque songs called “A Pocketful of Soul,” which did quite well and launched his Courageous Chicken Records label.

Showcasing ballads and honky-tonk numbers, it was named one of the top country records of the year by the Associated Press.

Ringenberg started performing around the world again. At the time, his two younger children were 2 and 4 years old. (Now his daughters are 15, 7 and 5.) He wanted to leave them something to listen to while he was gone, something fun, so he wrote “A Day at the Farm With Farmer Jason,” released in 2003.

“I thought I’d just put it out on my own,” he said. “My record company (Yep Roc Records) heard it and was really into it and got behind it. It started as a grassroots thing and has taken off.”

Ringenberg made the music interesting for adults, too, with what he called “adult humor and adult playing.” The song “Guitar Pickin’ Chicken” exemplifies this, with its boot-scootin’ rhythm and dazzling guitar interlude.

“This has the potential to go bigger,” he said, but in what direction he’s not exactly sure. “It just works. It’s very appealing.”

Ringenberg went back to his serious side for “Empire Builders,” his fifth “regular” solo release, in 2004. The songs address politics, racism and rebels he admires – including his father, to whom “Half a Man” is dedicated – through a mix of blues, polka and poetry.

Ringenberg is working on another children’s CD called “Rocking in the Forest With Farmer Jason,” songs that will touch on ecology and feature a punk rock skunk and a moose on the loose.

Ringenberg was raised on a hog farm, where he acquired a strong work ethic and learned to play the harmonica and guitar. Farming stays in his blood.

“I have a strong connection to my hometown, Sheffield, Ill.,” he said. “I go back four or five times a year. I still help my father farm there.”

Ringenberg lives with his wife and children on a “hobby farm” between Nashville and Memphis, sharing the land with a goat, chickens, a pony and “a nice garden.” He remains a consummate traveler across the U.S. and Europe, wearing out a set of luggage twice a year.

“I sound kind of jaded, but it’s not about seeing Scotland. It’s the joy of the performance,” he said. “Playing Farmer Jason (is)…a lot of fun. The character even works with inner-city kids, interestingly enough. I played a school in a working-class Atlanta neighborhood and they got really into it. It was incredible, actually.”

His favorite part of performing comes after the show.

“The kids are kind of in awe. They’re like little angels, so sweet and cute and animated,” Ringenberg said. “In the olden days I was not quite so excited to meet people after shows.”

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Rural roots

Singer-guitarist Jason Ringenberg, a.k.a. Farmer Jason, hits the Island Music Guild stage at 11 a.m. Sept. 10 at Rolling Bay with a show geared for children of all ages. Tickets are $5.

For information call 780-6911.