If you’ve been holding your breath for a Wilco/They Might Be Giants tour, you’re in luck—Reed Appleseed inhabits both artists.

The D.C. band’s second EP drops this Saturday with a release show at Pie Shop, and it’s chock-full of heart-felt strumming and smart lyrics. Here’s a nugget from “The Tangerine Song,” a saga of a tune with a country-western sensibility, gratifying key change and touch of psychedelia:

“You were talking behind my back / I was standing behind the rack / Of the guns at the grocery store / We were gearing up for the war/ When you noticed I was there / I threw my produce in the air.”

But for all his wit, lead vocalist and guitarist Reed Doherty says he’s wary of overdoing it. He looks to country legend Hank Williams—who mastered the art of melancholy charm with songs such as “There’s a Tear in My Beer”—for lyrical guidance.

“I want [the music] to be taken seriously,” Doherty says. “I’m not trying to be a court jester; I’m trying to write non-generic lyrics and honest lyrics.”

Doherty, 29, grew up in a small town in Michigan and ventured to the D.C. area in 2013 by way of San Diego. After dropping out of college to pursue music, launching now-defunct Michigan band the Delightfuls in the process, he headed west with his brother, where they lived and worked in a youth hostel. Six months later, they were traveling up much of the West Coast with a group of international travelers they’d met.

Though busking would seem a natural fit for a presumably carefree, 20-something traveler with guitar chops, Doherty was writing music he didn’t want to perform.

“I lost a lot of self-confidence when I moved away from home, and it inhibited my openness to even trying to make music with other people,” Doherty tells DCist via email. “All the traveling was very much an adventure that I embarked on because I was going through a life crisis in my stiflingly small hometown. And I’m a stronger, more confident, and more accepting person today.”

Now a talent buyer and host of open-mic nights at Bloomingdale bar Boundary Stone, Doherty is a member of four bands, including queer country outfit Drew Beckman + the Boundary Boys. He and bassist Nick Fliakas formed Reed Appleseed in 2016 and employ a rotating cast of musicians for their live shows and recordings (vocalist Vaniah Holtz, drummer Dave Lage and guitarist/keyboardist Stephen Baker can be heard on this EP).

With The Tangerine EP, they’re not shooting for a concept album or even a particular genre, Doherty says. “I just try to write music that I like, with simple harmonies that feel good to sing.”

It’s that approach that makes the alt country-leaning recording effective, blending well-articulated, relatable concepts with a kind of sonic ease. Indeed, the record’s most effortless song, “Together,” may be its best. On it, Doherty summons Tame Impala with high-altitude vocals as he momentarily scraps the cerebral for the purely sentimental.

“I hate to see you go / I love you so, I love you so.”

Reed Appleseed will perform at Pie Shop, 8 p.m. Saturday, $12.