The bar is dim and full of people with their hands around pints of beer, absorbing the kind of music that neither encourages one to aggressively jump up and down, nor yell obscenities.

Instead, there is dancing, albeit drunkenly, as one woman gets carried away and stumbles into a chair. The music is familiar, a jazzier cover of Sublime’s “Doin’ Time,” and the fans who have not been compelled to dance remain in their seats, sipping their drinks and bobbing their heads.

The band playing is Bonfire, a group of four guys who add a mix of soothing, acoustic ballads and vibrant, uplifting jams to the energetic din of Folsom’s Streets of London Pub.

“I had four teeth pulled out, so I’ll try my best for you,” Bonfire’s lead singer and acoustic guitarist, Bryan Nichols, 21, tells the crowd as the band launches into a more mellow, romantic song.

Bonfire will be performing at noon today at Serna Plaza for free, and again on September 22 at 7 p.m. at the Crest Theatre.

The name Bonfire seems to fit the band’s style of music perfectly, evoking a night of fun and relaxation at the beach.

“We feel that it kind of sums up our music pretty well – having a good time with friends – that’s the message we try to send with our music, a positive message,” 21-year-old lead-guitarist and singer, David Breisacher said.

Along with bassist Justin Vance, 20, and drummer Tyler Pierce, 21, the band mainly plays a combination of acoustic rock and reggae. The vocals are often calming and gentle; the melodic guitar riffs soar and are richly textured. Both elements are strengthened through the band’s solid rhythm section. Their sound is further accentuated by the occasional use of percussion instruments like the djembe, a hand-drum; the congas and the cajon, a wooden box that Pierce calls, “the coolest instrument in the world.”

The resulting sound is a blend of Jack Johnson, 311 and John Mayer. While these are among the band’s main influences, they also cite Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Daft Punk and Pink Floyd.

Bonfire originated with Nichols when he started playing acoustic guitar and met Breisacher during high school. “We started hanging out a lot and I started teaching him guitar, and then he just took off by himself, learned how to play guitar faster than anybody I’ve ever met,” Nichols said.

The two jammed together acoustically at the end of their senior year of high school, starting Bonfire with a changing line-up of bassists and drummers until they ended up with Pierce and Vance.

Vance recruited Nichols to play bass when they ran into each other at the gym.

Bonfire’s first full-length album, “Enjoy the Ride-,” was released in August and features a mix of upbeat, summertime jams like “No Worries” and “Hold Me Down,” along with gentle and heartbreaking love songs like “Caught in a Net” and “Maybe.”

Aquatic-themed tracks like “Oceanview,” “Seaweed” and “Loverfish” evoke the band’s love of the beach, and it is no surprise that wakeboarding and skimboarding are among their many hobbies.

Much of the album emits a care-free attitude, with the title “Enjoy the Ride-” tempting listeners to go on long road trips, blasting the album as the soundtrack.

Three of the four members attend Sierra College and all four of them work on the side. Vance and Nichols work in construction, Pierce is manager of Alonzo’s Pizza Depot in Citrus Heights and Breisacher works at Scott’s Seafood Grill and Bar in Folsom.

The band plays shows whenever and wherever they can, usually frequenting coffee shops, colleges and high schools like Casa Roble and Laguna Creek. They try to incorporate more bars into their gigs, but Breisacher explains that this is problematic since their fan base is largely under 21.

The most unusual gig Bonfire has played was at a birthday party for a family friend’s daughter.

“We got paid, though, and that little girl loved us,” Nichol’s proudly states. And for an unsigned, local band, any gig helps. The band relies on word of mouth and www.MySpace.com/bonfiremusic for their promotion. The popular website has helped the band track how well they are doing; the band gets over a hundred plays a day.

“We’d like to see how far it can go, see how well our new CD sells,” Breisacher said when asked about the band’s future. “We would love to be signed.”

Pierce said he sees, “Millions of dollars, fast cars.”

Nichols retorts, “Fast cars? I’d rather get a Volkswagon bug-It would be super nice-looking but it would go really slow.”

Karen Balmes can be reached at [email protected]