David Mayfield isn't a comedian, but sometimes he likes to play one on stage.

He's been called the Zach Galifianakis of folk music (and not just because he sports a huge burly beard). He's a showman who's not afraid to crack a joke or throw his body around before wailing away on his acoustic guitar, flying up and down the fret board
with ease.

To Mayfield, a concert is not just about the music - it's a total package that should leave audiences with something memorable to take away.

"When I was ready to do my own project, I definitely said, I'm going to take it very seriously, but I'm going to take the comedy very seriously," Mayfield says. "I'm going to take the entertainment aspect of it and make it more than just standing there with a guitar and singing a song."

Mayfield, 29, has emerged as one of the preeminent artists in the neo-folk rock scene coming out of Ohio today, which includes bands like The Black Keys and Mayfield's own sister, Jessica Lea Mayfield.

His guitar abilities have won accolades from fellow musicians Scott and Seth Avett of The Avett Brothers, who performed on his 2011 release, The David Mayfield Parade. His travels have led him from concerts in small churches scattered around the country to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

In addition to his own songwriting credentials, Mayfield has gained recognition as a successful producer, garnering a 2009 Grammy nomination in the Southern Gospel category for his production of Barry Scott's album, In God's Time.

He is a man of the road, living out of his 1991 Ford 15-passenger van for months on end. He's gone through three vans in six years. Last month, we caught up with Mayfield while he was trying to find a parking spot on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood before performing a solo show later that night, opening up for Kim Deal of the Pixies.

His current musical incarnation, the David Mayfield Parade, features a revolving cast of musicians that differs from show to show. The perpetual lineup changes has both pros and cons, Mayfield says, making for an unpredictable musical experience.

"The show is constantly different," he explains. "But there's always this feeling that everything might fall apart at any minute because there's all this nervous energy feeding off of itself."

Mayfield got his first tastes of the nomadic lifestyle as a child. He performed with his family's band, One Way Rider, which consisted of his mother, Valerie Fay, his father, David Lee, and his two sisters, Jessica Lea and Amanda Lynn. The family toured the country together for years, playing at bluegrass festivals, church outings, weddings - any place they could find a concert.

"It wasn't like my father went to work all week and brought home the paycheck," Mayfield says. "The whole family went to play the strawberry harvest festival, and we got paid 500 bucks. That's what we lived off of. It was equally earned by the entire family, and it really brought the family together."

His very first show with the family band was as a 12-year-old at the town hall in Shalersville, OH, where he played bass. Mayfield says he was dressed in denim from head-to-toe and sported a mullet. He made a cheat sheet of brightly colored paper laying at his feet to remember the chord progressions in the songs.

Mayfield says being in a touring musical family was "surely a strange life." The children were home schooled as they moved around on their 1956 Flex tour bus.

"Early on, I always felt like we were some kind of bizarre circus, and entertainment was the sole purpose of us being there," Mayfield says.

Those experiences gave Mayfield an early appreciation for showmanship - if his dad was tuning his guitar during a show, Mayfield would tell a joke or flail himself around on stage. And, Mayfield says, the camaraderie of his family created an environment in which they were all working together to survive.

His motivation to tour and perform has waxed and waned throughout his career, but with the notoriety he has built in the last few years, it's fans that keep him on the road.

"Now I come to a place and there's a good crowd, and they're wearing T-shirts with my face on them," Mayfield says. "They're invested enough in my show that I owe it to them to show up and do a good job. It feels like there's more on the line than when I could show up and nobody knew me."