Donna the Buffalo stampeding into the capital city Thursday

HARTFORD » Donna the Buffalo knows a thing or two about rhythm.

Cajun, zydeco and old-time rhythms. A bit of reggae rhythm. Various guitar and fiddle rhythms. The rhythm of traveling by bus year after year for more than a quarter-century now, criss-crossing America — and especially the East — and returning to the same places (and occasionally new or slightly different places) over and over again.

All with a warm, soulful Lowery organ washing over it all.

Well, it’s September again and the relentlessly touring, jammin’-andgroovin’ Americana band from the Finger Lakes region of central New York is back Thursday night for a late-summer visit — this time coming to play at Infinity Hall in Hartford.

As usual, the hall will be full of members of “The Herd,” Donna the Buffalo’s loyal legion of longtime friends, fans and dancers.

Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $29-$39, available in advance at 866-666-6306 or infinityhall.com. Infinity Hall is located at 32 Front St. in Hartford.

Could it really be possible that you STILL haven’t heard of Donna the Buffalo? (Or “Herd of ’em?” as the ubiquitous DTB bumper stickers ask.)

Well, if you are the kind of person who values traditional roots influences fused with a highly danceable groove, you might want to get to know the band from Trumansburg, New York, just outside Ithaca.

For 28 years now, Donna the Buffalo has offered a colorful, eclectic mix of old-time bluegrass, Cajun and zydeco, folk, reggae, dusty Americana and San Francisco organ jam-band rock ’n’ roll. All of those influences go into what they do — but it always comes out as a warm, spicy, dance-till-you-drop vibe all its own.

While Donna the Buffalo, as much as any band out there, boogies to its own beat, chances are that if you like The Grateful Dead or Rusted Root or Leftover Salmon or Railroad Earth, you will probably love Donna.

With roots deep in oldtime fiddle music and traditional zydeco — both very percussive — but a groove that owes just as much to reggae and psychedelia, Donna the Buffalo is one of the more danceable roots rock/Americana groups in America.

As often is the case, members of The Herd, the far-flung, committed legion of Donna the Buffalo followers who have been known to follow the band almost anywhere, are likely to turn out. It’s probably a good idea to get your tickets in advance for this one.

So who is this Donna the Buffalo?

Well, it’s not a “who.” It’s a “what” — a really good band.

And there is no Donna. The name is a play on “dawn of the Buffalo.”

The woman in the accompanying photo is Tara Nevins, a talented, down-home fiddler, vocalist and accordion and scrub-board player who founded the band more than 2½ decades and 10 albums ago with guitarist and vocalist Jeb Puryear.

While Donna the Buffalo has gone through some personnel changes in recent years, its creative core — Puryear and Nevins — remains intact, surrounded for several years now by a stable, nicely locked-in collection of fine bandmates.

Puryear and Nevins have been joined on stage for the past few years by Dave McCracken on keyboards, Kyle Spark on bass and Mark Raudabaugh on drums.

Nevins and Puryear both are prolific songwriters. They have made music together for more than 25 years — and play like it — and have known each other for more than 30. Together, they have written more than 180 Donna the Buffalo songs.