It's not so much where The Goods' music takes you, it's how it takes you there. With its seemingly free-form journeys to the beyond, this Rochester jam band plays with an impressively precise approach, like surgeons in space. However the trio's technical proficiency, though impressive, never gets in the way. The Goods transcend the awe that fans often can't get past. In other words, The Goods are so good, you don't know it. You're too busy chomping on the groove, wrapped up in the music's flight.

The trio formed just more than two years ago after guitarist Miles McHugh and bassist Ben Schiavone's cover outfit, Five Spiced Fingers, went south. They bumped into polyrhythmic wunderkind Jeff "Woody" Woodruff. Woodruff was banging around in different jazz and rock outfits, including a stint on the road with bluesman Chris Beard. Woodruff majored in music at Fredonia and flirted openly with assorted African and Latin beats. He wasn't an ordinary drummer. And that is the root of The Goods' unique sound and hip-shake appeal.

"In my drum beats," Woodruff says, "I try to maintain a nice groove and keep it simple, but at the same time introduce different elements and stuff you don't hear every day." Speaking of stuff you don't usually experience, Woodruff often plays with three sticks.

The other band members don't have sheepskins nailed to their walls, but they clearly know their instruments inside and out. Besides, the band exhibits a level of spontaneity that can't be taught.

"I'm not educated at all actually," says Schiavone. "[Woodruff] is the only learned one here. The spontaneity comes from the same way I learn, which is trial and error. It lends itself to a lot of mistakes that all of a sudden, that's what you meant to do."

"Happy mistakes," Woodruff says, before McHugh jumps in.

"The saying is, if it sounds right, it is right," he says.

Still, you've got wonder - does knowing too much get in the way of doing something impulsive?

"Much of my drumming comes from instinct," Woodruff says. "Despite my educational background and training in percussion, I think the music that we play in this band is more of a feeling, or more of an approach to the groove. There is that cognitive aspect, but I also like to go with the instinct of what we are playing."

Each Good is wise to follow his instincts - or maybe it's more of a collective instinct, because it's not clear where the music originates from. But on stage, though the band is unbelievably wired tight and in the pocket, there is a sense of freedom and possibilities. This is where The Goods take the road less jammed. The songs are all grounded in a three-way groove, but each player has a sub-agenda (for lack of a better term) that has the listener's eyes and ears ping-ponging back and forth between them. There isn't a lot of flash, but this is a particularly fun band to watch. McHugh is a slick and fast guitar player before he even plugs in the effects. His sound is created, manipulated, and dressed up through a pedal board that looks like the dashboard on Air Force One.

"He's got more shit," says Schiavone. "A Moog, pedals. It looks like ‘Riverdance' when he plays."

Schiavone is a solid player that locks in with Woodruff; a commendable feat, as it's often unclear which of Woodruff's long limbs holds the downbeat.

Woodruff himself is one of those rare drummers who is helping to elevate music listeners' perception of the drums. His job isn't merely to keep the beat, he's an integral part of the music. You know, an instrument.

The band has enough material to begin work on its second album, even though its debut "The Specimen Rhythm" just landed a few months ago. The trio seems to be growing tighter as a unit, as well as friends. Its members seem to have somehow dodged the threat of impending implosion that hangs over most band's heads. Still, there's still a little creative head-butting.

"Yeah," says Schiavone. "But it's all pretty passive aggressive.

The Goods

Opening for Joan Osborne and Southside Johnny

Sunday, May 10

Highland Bowl, South Ave

2 p.m. | $15-$20 | lilacfestival.com

wearethegoods.com