"Rockabilly really is a boys' club," says Kevin Patey, the Raging Teens' singer and rhythm guitarist who invited Griffin to join the band six years ago, when she was 18. "And yeah, there's a novelty element to it. I can shake and dance, but no matter what I do, they're all looking at Amy. The guys want to date her, and the girls want to be her. The thing is, Amy's not just a good player for a girl. She's a great guitar player."

For her part, Griffin takes the distinction in stride. "I've gotten better," she says, "but I'm not a crazy wonderful player. I mean, it's nice to get the attention. But it's like, if a guy really excelled at being a seamstress, he'd probably get a lot more attention, too."

The Raging Teens' sophomore CD, "Rock 'n' Roll Party," was released this month on the Rubric label. Ever faithful to their beloved music's roots, the band traveled to Los Angeles to record at rockabilly revivalist Deke Dickerson's home studio, where tracks were laid down in four days, in mono on vintage equipment. Tomorrow they'll celebrate with an all-day blowout at the Middle East, beginning at noon, featuring '50s-style DJs, 15 local rockabilly bands, and a handful of New England's original rockabilly players including Rick Bounty, Ricky Coyne, and Ernie Hamel.

"I would drive for six hours to see some of these bands," Griffin says. "It's kind of like a family thing." That's part of the reason she fell in love with rockabilly - when most of her peers were turning on to hip-hop - at first listen. "It's authentic," Griffin says. "It has a lot of heart, and I love the immediacy of it. I'll steal a line from Kevin - it's the soundtrack to a good time."

A pianist since the age of 6 (Griffin has toured as keyboardist with Patey's wife, Mary Lou Lord), she wasted no time honing her craft. Griffin got her first guitar at 15, joined a psychobilly band called the Uglies at 16, and started playing lead because she wasn't, she says, a very good singer.

When Patey met her, Griffin's equipment was shoddy, and so was her sound. "She was like a diamond in the rough," he says. "I lent her my guitar and my equipment, and sure enough she could play. She's progressed so much; she's really developed her own style, a more melodic style than most. A lot of people who play this kind of music mimic a lot. The music is kind of remedial, you know: You can stick to basics. She can bang out hard riffs like anyone. But she plays very intelligently and puts a lot of thought into it. She pushes the boundaries."

Being surrounded by guys all the time isn't a problem for Griffin, who works by day as a courier in Boston. "I'm pretty easy-going," she says. "I've mainly had guy friends all my life. And everyone is encouraging and accepting." Or, as Patey says, "She's one of the guys. But she's the most important guy in the band."