For one Sacramento band, the music of the past is not to be forgotten. The foundations of rock and R&B are of theutmost importance in everything it creates. That band is Cuesta Drive, and it will play its style of a “new take on classic rock” at noon today at Serna Plaza.

The members’ love of music is as impassioned as their critiques of it.

“Everything we play is something that we would listen to -music that we like and that is not around right now,” Mike Camilleri, 24, the band’s rhythm guitarist and percussionist, said. “The music from the ’60s and ’70s -classic rock and R&B -that’s real music. It takes a lot of talent to do and it’s great to listen to. And now it’s just (about) what you look like or you’re trying to reach specific people.”

Their main critique of modern rock revolves around the current trend of dressing up, costuming the music and making more of a fashion statement. “We’re definitely strong opponents to the whole emo craze,” Camilleri said.

“We’re about the music, man,” bassist Tim Diedesch, 23, said.

The band’s sound reflects its own influences, ranging from Santana, Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin. The resulting sound is an amalgamation of classic rock, funk, blues, Latin rock and reggae.

Formed in 2005, Cuesta Drive consists of Camilleri, Diedesch and Dane Drewis on vocals and lead guitar. All three jammed together while going to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. They named the band after the street that Drewis lived on while in San Luis Obispo, where the band practiced in Drewis’ garage.All three moved back to their hometown of Sacramento after Drewis had graduated from Cal Poly and Camilleri and Diedesch decided to transfer to Sac State. Going through a changing lineup of drummers, the band is currently performing with Keith Dailey, a drummer who answered the band’s ad on Craigslist and is still in a “long-term audition.” “I’ve been with them for a week and I’m amazed,” Dailey said. Their last drummer quit a month ago.The band usually plays gigs around the Sacramento area, including Powerhouse Pub, Marilyn’s and Crawdads River Cantina. The members frequent their old college town of San Luis Obispo as well as in San Francisco, Chico and Lake Tahoe.

Cuesta Drive’s biggest performance was at radio station KZZO 100.5 FM, The Zone’s Exotic Ball at Cal Expo, a booking that the band received as a prize after winning a Battle of the Bands contest last year.

Most of the sets feature plenty of cover songs. The band’s favorites include Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” Guns & Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine” and Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell.” While these covers are enjoyable and attract an audience of a wide age range, Cuesta Drive is not a cover band. The 2005 album, “Where the Palm Trees Grow,” features eight original tracks that are implemented into the band’s shows.

The album provides a dynamic sound of smooth vocals, textured guitar riffs and a rhythm section that gives the music a jazz or funk edge. The band is not afraid to explore the soundscape with lengthy solos such as with the song “Smooth it out,” featuring a jazzy saxophone number.

Overall, the album’s sound positions the band in a time warp. It employs classic rock and funk styles but infuses them with modern-themed lyrics. The title track has the vocal and lyrical stylings of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but has a searing guitar solo reminiscent of Santana.

The songs on “Where the Palm Trees Grow” revolve mainly around topics like women and being young – evolving from life experiences.

“We don’t have that whole Bob Dylan social responsibility,” Diedesch said.

“Yeah, we haven’t got politically active yet,” Drewis said, laughing.

There is only one dark-tinged track on the album dealing with a girl’s depressing behavior, a song contributed by Drewis’ sister.

The songwriting process begins with either Drewis or Camilleri coming up with a guitar part and then adding lyrics.

“(Camilleri) definitely helps a lot with lyrics,” Drewis said.

The band acknowledges the work of the Beatles in formulating its songs and musical arrangement. When writing, Drewis said he often thinks, “If I were Lennon or McCartney, what would I do?” But while they look to Lennon and McCartney for inspiration, Drewis and Camilleri do not claim to operate like the famous songwriting partnership.

“I don’t think we’re worthy of that moniker,” Camilleri said. “We strive to be; we would love to be one day.”

The members of Cuesta Drive, though passionate about their music, have withheld from concentrating solely on that part of their lives.

“I still have some reservations about taking it to the highest level,” Diedesch said. Camilleri agreed.”It’s definitely all of our dreams to do something with music, but it’s kind of hard to put all of your eggs in that basket,” Camilleri said.

In the meantime, all three of the founding members work at Strings Italian Cafe on 65th Street and Folsom Boulevard, and Diedesch and Camilleri are working on their geology and English degrees at Sac State, respectively.

However, the hope for success still lingers for this unsigned band. Camilleri said financial stability is the key to choosing music over everything else. “If there was a sure-fire way to be successful and support a family on music, I would drop everything,” Camilleri said.

“If we did get a break, I’d be ready to go,” Drewis said.

Karen Balmes can be reached at [email protected]