As good years go, 2006 was a particularly good one for The Decemberists, the Oregon-based indie rock combo with roots in the region.

After slowly building their name on the underground scene with a series of self-produced and -released CDs, the group landed a sweet deal with Capitol Records. Their Capitol debut, "The Crane Wife," arrived to great acclaim in 2006, landing on numerous year-end "best of" lists including No. 1 on a list compiled by National Public Radio.

U.S. tours since the release of "The Crane Wife" have been hugely successful from coast to coast. Inspired by a Japanese folk tale, the album centers on two song cycles, "The Crane Wife," and "The Island," the latter which was inspired by William Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

And, a much-publicized guitar showdown Christmas week between Decemberists' guitarist Chris Funk and television host Stephen Colbert (on his "The Colbert Report") garnered the popular program a record viewing audience and drew involvement from famous Decemberists' fans Dr. Henry Kissinger and Peter Frampton.

The Decemberists, once a quirky fixture of the underground arts community, have risen quickly from beloved cult favorites to major players on the modern rock scene.

Despite their escalation to major-label status, The Decemberists remain true to the unique sound they developed over a series of beautiful albums, each brimming with highly melodic songs populated by legionnaires, chimney sweeps, sea captains and adventure seekers of all kinds.

The Decemberists embrace experimentation while celebrating everything from classic pop to klezmer to Irish jig to prog rock, ultimately forging an original aesthetic all their own.

Anchoring that refreshingly bizarre sonic stew is multistring instrumentalist, Chris Funk, a native son of Valparaiso, who once took part in an "air-band contest" put together as a fundraiser by Valparaiso High School teacher, Alice Gamble.

Following graduation from Valparaiso High School, Funk attended college in Iowa before dropping out and returning to his hometown, where a job at Front Porch Music changed his life forever.

Funk told The Times he has nothing but fond memories of the region and the wonderful people here who nurtured his love of music and inspired him to perform. Here are excerpts of what the region's latest rock export had to say.

Q: Are you surprised at how successful The Decemberists have become?

Chris Funk: Actually, yes. I think we have good songs, but we're not exactly mainstream, so finding so many people in so many places getting into our music is really great.

Q: Would you like to see the Decemberists come to The Arc at Valparaiso University to play what for you would be a "homecoming" concert?

CF: That would be awesome but, honestly, I personally would rather do an intimate, acoustic show at Front Porch Music instead. I have great memories of playing there and the people there, who I still consider my friends and family. That would be my idea of a real homecoming show.

Q: How important was Valparaiso's public school music program to you?

CF: Very! My parents were head of the Jazz Band Parents Association, so I was really involved in the band program there. I think Valpo has a pretty amazing program for students, and I can honestly say that it helped get me to what I am doing today.

A teacher there, Alice Gamble, got me involved in some pit orchestras at the school and at the Opera House in Valpo. She was great.

It'd really sadden me if Dan Pritchett's excellent music program were to go away, because I believe Valparaiso has one of the best public school programs in the country. I might not have liked all the music we were doing, but as I look back now, I see how much I learned about music there. I got the tools I'm still using today with The Decemberists.

Q: You are a multi-instrumentalist -- playing guitar, pedal steel, dulcimer, hurdy gurdy, and even the Greek bouzouki. Give me your instrument evolution and how you started?

CF: I started with piano lessons at 4 years old. Because Valpo had such a great music program, I started playing saxophone in fourth grade. The Middle School band program encouraged you to explore all kinds of instruments, so I began playing drums in marching band.

That's what opened my eyes to playing more than one instrument. I liked rock music, so my dad bought me a guitar from Rubino's Music, and I started a high school rock band, The Outlaw Bikers.

Then in the early 1990s, I put together Social Sometimes. We did pretty good I guess, because we got a song played on Q-101. I also played locally for a while with a guy named Jim Chaddock.

But my real education and inspiration came after I took a job at Front Porch Music (1993 and 1997) and started working with all the amazing musicians there.

Q: Tell me why that environment had such an impact on you?

CF: I'd just dropped out of a private school and didn't have a job. John Derado hiring me at Front Porch changed my life. If he hadn't, I probably would be washing dishes somewhere right now.

Working there turned me on to the Americana music scene and this whole new world of instruments like the mandolin, dobro and bouzouki. There is a real "community vibe" at Front Porch between the musicians who work there, hang out there and who perform there.

Everyone shares things and jams together. It's like this big extended family whose bloodline is music. I just started wandering through folk music and reading magazines like Dirty Linen and learning so much about all these instruments that I play now and that are a big part of the Decemberists' sound.

Q: What people most influenced you while living here?

CF: John Derado who hired me. Jane and Paul Schreiner, who own Front Porch, and Chad Clifford (of the Crawpuppies) who works there and is a great musician.

I think the biggest thing was just growing up in Valparaiso, a small Indiana town where there is a lot of music and great musicians, but not a strong musical identity.

It's not like Nashville, where it's country, or Kentucky where it's bluegrass ... . In Valparaiso, you hear it all. We're close to Chicago, but we're not Chicago. Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana have a little of everything -- rock, country, blues, folk, bluegrass ... .

Being exposed to amazingly talented people like Jerry Short, Ron Buffington and Ron Barany opened my eyes and ears to blues, bluegrass and folk.

Their own music blew my mind, but then they also turned me on to some of their influences like Bill Monroe, John Hartford and John Prine. I grew up listening to groups like The Smiths, so I would never have become the musician I am were it not for all those great Northwest Indiana artists at Front Porch and some of the other area venues.

Q: You left the region in the late 1990s and moved to Oregon of all places. Why?

CF: I moved to Eugene, Ore., just kind of randomly. I was 25 at the time and had a little wanderlust, I guess. I remember leaving Front Porch wanting to focus on music and being a musician. People with that frame of mind usually move to New York, Los Angeles or Nashville, but somehow I wound up in Eugene.

I later moved to Portland, after I discovered it was a city with a great sense of musical community, sort of like Valparaiso.

Q: And fate brought you to join ranks with The Decemberists?

CF: Yes. There were tons of bands in Portland and because I played pedal steel, our singer Colin Meloy, approached me to do some recording with them.

He had this weird musical vision to use pedal steel, accordion, stand up bass, and acoustic guitar. If you saw a photo of us at the time, we looked like this weird sort of "country tango" band, but we were actually trying to cater to the indie rock audience.

Because I had a sense of "community" and a knowledge of so many instruments because of my life in Valparaiso, I fit right in with the Portland scene, and I easily got my head around what Colin was trying to do musically with the band.

That was back in 2001 when we made our first album, and now here we are on Capitol and touring all over America.

Get in touch

Old friends who want to touch base with Chris Funk can e-mail him via a link on his band's Web site, www.decemberists.com, where Chris hosts a tongue-in-cheek "advice column" using his online alter ego, "Crutchy McGee."

For more on Chris and his band, also log on at www.capitolrecords.com/thedecemberists.

ifyougo

The Decemberists with My Brightest Diamond

When: April 18 and 19, doors open at 5:30 p.m., show at 7

Where: Riviera Theater, 4746 N. Racine Ave., Chicago

Cost: $26, all ages

FYI: (773) 275-6800