Mod Marriage: Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby

YOU'D THINK THE FOLKS who make up the "adult alternative" audience would have some respect for artists who try new things. But in the case of Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, the newlywed rockers didn't get much love when they married their repertoires together onstage.

"We find people will shout out for a song that they want to hear, and they'll be very much in the camp of one person or the other," says Rigby by phone from the couple's tour van. "And they'll be so resistant to the other person. So we have to stand our ground with those people."

As Rigby finishes her thought, a voice with a lazy South London drawl emerges in the background. It's the inimitable Eric chiming in. Er, what's he saying, Amy? "Eric is saying [the problem is] mostly the old gits who are stuck in their ways," she laughs.

Eric (whose surname is Goulden) is one of the original Stiff Records artists who cut humorous U.K. hits like "Whole Wide World" and "Take the K.A.S.H." in the punk era, then became a DIY artist. Rigby is a Pittsburgh-bred singer-songwriter whose brilliant 1996 debut, "Diary of a Mod Housewife," earned her critical raves and a large cult following.

The duo started dating in 2006 and married earlier this year, right around the time they recorded their forthcoming CD, "Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby." Why record together? "Amy is a fantastic singer and songwriter — when I first met Amy, I became an admirer in lots of ways," explains Eric. "I like Amy an awful lot, you know?"

On disc and stage, the pair have pared their sound down to just the two of them. Eric says they conjured an original sound by avoiding drums: "No matter how good the drummer is, it just makes it sound normal."

Naysayers shouldn't expect the happy, loving couple to decouple their musical activities anytime soon.

"Making music is our life. We don't do music as a bit of a hobby. It's not a job we do and then we come home and do horticulture or something."

» Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Avenue E., Vienna; with the Crowd Scene, Thu., 8 p.m., $12, 703-255-1566.

Written by Express contributor Tony Sclafani
Photo courtesy Karen Hibberd