When he’s not on stage tearing into his guitar to the screams of rabid fans, Dave Gutter occasionally throws on a smock and helps out at his father’s meat market in Windham.

For customers of Dave Gutter’s Meat Market (named after the father, not the son), the only signs that the man behind the meat counter is really a rockstar in disguise are the tattoos scrawling up his forearm and his brisk sense of humor.

“I started playing music when I was nine,” Gutter said. “I was playing bars before I was old enough to drink and then when I was old enough, there was no turning back.”

The family meat market will soon have to find new help as Gutter and his band, Paranoid Social Club, hit the road for their first national tour. Sponsored by Rusty Surfwear, “Paranoid,” onboard a 75-foot bus, will begin the tour in California, trek up the West Coast, diagonally across the country, then up the East Coast and ending with a final show in Boston.

“We’ve learned a lot,” Gutter said. “I’m actually glad that it’s not until now that we are starting to obtain national success because we’ve matured as song writers and as performers.”

For over three years, Paranoid has been playing the local music scene in bars, clubs and other venues across the Northeast to a loyal fan following. Gutter describes the music as “rowdy Rock ‘n Roll”, but refuses to “pigeonhole” Paranoid’s sound into any specific genre. Gutter did admit however that his own style comes from an eclectic mix of musical influences.

“The first albums I ever bought were ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince and Quiet Riot’s ‘Mental Health’,” Gutter said. “And I think that says a lot about Paranoid because my style is somewhat a hybrid of Prince and Quiet Riot. A mix between musical pop-sensibility and a little bit of soul with a trashy underlining.”

Like many a Rock ‘n Roll story, the grassroots of Paranoid started with just a couple kids practicing in their parents’ basements. Gutter and Paranoid bassist Jon Roods began playing together 20 years ago when they were both 11. In their early teens, they brought in drummer Matt Esty and formed the band “Aces Wild.” As more musicians joined the band (to eventually include keys and a full horn section), Aces Wild changed its name to the Rustic Overtones.

Shortly thereafter, the Rustic Overtones began playing at bars around Portland and producing cassettes of their songs. Brian James, program director for WCYY in Portland, got a hold of one of these cassettes, “Smile,” and started playing the Rustic song “Twenty Years” over the radio.

“It was great,” Gutter said. “At first, it was kinda like hearing your voice on the answering machine and then after that it was cool because you could see the direct response from being on the radio.”

Part of that direct response was a growing fan base which drew the attention of indie label Ripchord Records. And, as fate would have it, Rustic signed their first record deal with that label on the day Gutter turned 18.

From there, the Rustic Overtones went on to achieve national success, producing several albums and touring the country many times. During their time in the spotlight, they were also mentored by rock legend David Bowie. In 2001, Bowie worked with them in the studio, writing and recording tracks with the band for their album “Viva Nueva.” They attended celebrity parties together with movie stars and famous musicians.

“That was kind of like our heyday as Rustic,” Gutter said. “And the weird thing was that we were going to A-list parties with celebrities and musicians, but were still broke. We were still wearing Goodwill clothes at these fancy parties and coming back to Maine and working regular jobs.”

Over the years, Rustic changed its lineup many times with a final roll call of Gutter on guitar/vocals, Roods on the bass, Spencer Albee on the keys, Jason Ward and Ryan Zoidos on saxophone, Dave Noyes on trombone and Tony Mcnaboe on the drums with Paranoid drummer Marc Boisvert playing their last few national tours. But when Gutter and Roods tried to bring the group together to record another album, they found that few band members could commit the time and energy to the endeavor.

“Some of the other people in Rustic had passions elsewhere in jazz and pop music or were getting more serious with their girlfriends,” Gutter said. “But Marc, Jon and I still went to the studio everyday. That was our job at the time. Everyday we’d go to the studio and try to write a new song. And we got kinda stuck in that mode and just kept going.”

Seeing that Rustic was “winding to an end,” Gutter, Roods and Boisvert decided to change their name to Paranoid Social Club after the title of a song they had been working on. The trio then took the songs they’d written for the Rustic album and produced them independently as their first Paranoid album, “Axis II.” The title of that album came from a psychology textbook with “Axis II” being the category under which the mental condition of paranoia is listed.

Not long after the release of “Axis II,” James of WCYY began playing the Paranoid song “Wasted” over the airwaves.

“We had a single ‘Wasted’ that did very well,” Gutter said. “It was kind of a drinking anthem. (The song) peaked higher in New York than it did here, though it did well here too. We got some college radios spins and a buzz on that.”

The release of their next album, a dual-disc entitled “Axis III and I” (hypertension and depression in the textbook), brought them another hit “Two Girls.” and much acclaim. The double album rose in popularity to become the first independently produced album in the Northeast to break billboard charts.

And now, three and a half years since Rustic disbanded, Paranoid has just signed its first record deal with On-Entertainment and EMI. Their new album, self-titled “Paranoid Social Club”, will be released on August 23 and will included tracks from past albums Axis I, II and III as well as a few new songs.

“It’s kind of a retrospective,” Gutter said of the new album. “But for the rest of the nation, it will be an introduction.”

Before they head off to the West Coast, Paranoid Social Club will be playing their final show before the tour at the Big Easy Blues Club in Portland on June 24. And although Paranoid has many plans lined up after their national tour, Gutter says he will always come back to Windham and help out in the meat market when his father needs him. By that time, Gutter hopes that the town of Windham will finally recognize Paranoid Social Club as genuine musical phenomenon.

“We got the key to the city of Portland,” Gutter said. “But the true definition of success for me would be to get the key to the town of Windham.”

Dave Gutter, here on stage at a recent gig, also works in Windham at his father’s Dave Gutter’s Meat Market. Gutter occasionally helps out in the family meat market when he is not playing music. Gutter and band Paranoid Social Club will hit the road on June 29 for their first national tour.

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