Rare is the kid who thinks his parents' record collection is cool. But Marcy Playground's John Wozniak dug into his folks music and came up with some gems: Ry Cooder, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young.

He probably would have discovered these musicians even if it weren't for his parents' eclectic tastes, but because Wozniak (who goes by Woz) was listening to all this music before he entered kindergarten, he got the idea early on that he could write songs that sounded this good. He made his first recording at 20, self-producing a disc he titled "Zog BogBean" after recording it in his bedroom studio with a former girlfriend.

"You never make the decision that you will make a living at performing. That's the risk. Most musicians don't make a living at it. They suffer the musician's fate, poor and living in your mom's basement," Woz said in a phone interview Monday.

Woz was calling from the back of his tour bus en route from Utah to Montana, where Marcy Playground is playing Friday night at the Railyard Ale House.

Woz's theory is that musicians are risk takers willing to suffer in order to create. He and his bandmates hit it big early in their career with the radio-friendly "Sex and Candy," which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1997. The band's self-titled debut album went platinum and produced two more singles before its run ended, including "Sherry Fraser" and "Saint Joe on the School Bus."

Even though they fell off the map after their sophomore release "Shapeshifter'' didn't chart, Marcy Playground has been touring steadily since the 1990s. Highlights of their live show include the jam leading into a fan favorite, "Secret Squirrel," and of course their hit "Sex and Candy,'' where Woz said he usually brings a few audience members on stage for a singalong.

"We keep things fresh so we're not just playing the same notes over and over," Woz said.

The rock trio took its name from the Marcy Open grade school in Minneapolis where Woz lived until his family moved to Philadelphia when he was 9. They're a three-piece including Woz on vocals and guitar, Shlomi Lavie on drums and Dylan Keefe on bass.

Making shows memorable is a priority, Woz said. His most memorable show was one he didn't watch. Woz said he saved up nickels in a Cracker Jack box until he had the $5 to buy a ticket to a Fleetwood Mac concert in 1977 in Minneapolis.

"It was rain-delayed, so the concert didn't start on time. I was 5 or 6 at the time and it was past my bedtime. When they went on stage, I fell asleep and I slept through the whole thing."

Marcy Playground's latest release, "Leaving Wonderland ... in a fit of rage," came out in July and included 12 songs that Woz originally wrote for a solo project. Inspired by literature, including the essays by one of his favorite humorists, David Sedaris, Woz said he pens lyrics sort of like he used to write poems - creating vivid pictures by flexing his imagination.

"I like to write. It's interesting and it's a way of putting pictures in people's heads."