Nina Gerber honors her inspiration with verve in Aromas.

In 1975, a young Nina Gerber was performing with her brother for a group of chicken farmers in Sebastopol, California. “When we finished up,” she remembers, “my brother said, ‘There’s this woman playing next door. She’s really good. We should go hear her.’”

That player was the Kate Wolf, a Sonoma County-bred singer/songwriter whose influence on folk music remains prominent three decades after her passing.

“That was when I was first blown away by music,” Gerber says. “I decided I wanted to be a professional musician and I wanted to work with Kate Wolf.”

Three years later, Gerber achieved her goal, becoming Wolf’s accompanist on mandolin, guitar and harmonica, and worked with the legend for eight years until Wolf’s death in 1986.

These days, Gerber shares stages with songstress Chris Webster, whose voice and energy herald a directness and purity that is compelling. “When you cut your musical teeth playing with Wolf, you’re gonna grow to love beautiful ballads,” Gerber says. “Chris and I like a lot of the same music, and we play loads of other stuff, but both of us love ballads.”

The result is a folk power duo displaying soaring, emotive vocals from Webster and tight, precise lead riffs by Gerber, which embellish and enrich rather than overlay, reminiscent of Mark Knopfler’s ace guitar work. They gather a sweet, funky, bluesy folk groove of originals, some covers, and those soulful ballads.

“Chris is an amazing singer, and the combination of her musicality and her being a good person made it easy for us to become a duo,” Gerber says.

The two women have played the 100-year-old Aromas Grange twice.

“We love playing there,” Gerber says. “It’s a sweet room with excellent acoustics and a great community feeling inside.”  

Chris Webster and Nina Gerber 7pm Friday, Sept. 22. Aromas Community Grange, Rose Avenue and Bardue Street, Aromas. $20. 726-3609, brownpapertickets.com.