SPOKANE — Krist Novoselic knows the majority of people who are going to Republic Brewing tonight will be there to see him.

They know little to nothing about the band he’s playing with, Giants in the Trees. The simple fact is that for fans of Novoselic’s previous band — landmark ’90s grunge trio Nirvana — the chance to see him in an intimate setting like the the Big Dipper in Spokane (where he played last night) or the small town of Republic, north of that city, is impossible to ignore.

Novoselic, 52, is OK with this. Because as Giants in the Trees is finding out, curiosity may bring the crowds in, but the music makes them stick around.

“It seems like people are into it,” Novoselic said in a recent phone interview from his home in Wahkiakum County, in the southwestern corner of Washington. “We get good applause. I appreciate that people stick through all the songs they’ve never heard before. When I go see a band, I expect to see songs that I like of theirs. With this band, we’re asking a lot more. Here’s this whole new band, so I appreciate people coming out and sticking around.”

Novoselic said he “fell in with” these musicians in Wahkiakum County, all fellow Grange members, and what began as a jam session last spring turned into something more.

“We had a good connection right off the bat. We didn’t waste any time,” he said. “We started to put songs together. We had musical ideas. It just felt right.”

The band features Novoselic on bass and accordion, vocalist Jillian Raye, drummer Erik Friend and Ray Prestegard on guitar and harmonica. They first performed together last summer in a benefit show for Skamokawa Grange. Since then, they’ve gigged here and there, playing clubs in Olympia as well as Portland and Eugene, Oregon; and they’ve been working on an album with Jack Endino. (Novoselic calls the Seattle producer “the godfather of grunge” for his work with Mudhoney, Soundgarden and Nirvana.) A single, “Sasquatch,” should be out soon, with the self-released album to follow soon.

Judging from the music that’s available — mainly clips online — Giants in the Trees plays Northwest indie pop rock that’s flavored with generous doses of roots and Americana music. While the band’s description of itself on Facebook seems whimsical (“The band is not offended by terms like schmaltz. On the other hand, there are heavy groove numbers, screaming slide guitar and accordion”), Novoselic said they’re serious when they say they’re “inspired by the environment and culture of the Lower Columbia River.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do is present that image to people, so people can get an idea of where we’re from and what we’re about,” he said. “It’s roots and Americana, through a modern lens.”

They bring together a host of different sounds. Raye and Friend once played electronica in a band called Laser Trash. Prestergard, Novoselic said, is a skilled guitarist who plays box and slide guitar. And “I do my thing on bass,” he said. “And this mix just comes together … you get this roots sound.”

Wahkiakum County hugs the Columbia River in southwestern Washington, bordered by Pacific, Cowlitz and Lewis counties, and Oregon to the south. It’s rural, home to one incorporated town, Cathlamet, and roughly 4,100 people who work in fishing, timber and agriculture. Only Garfield County in Eastern Washington has fewer people.

“There are a lot of trees. There’s a lot of clear-cuts, too,” Novoselic said. “That’s just what it is. That’s our life and our culture. We know loggers. We know farmers. We’re Grangers.”

Performing live, whether it’s at the Grange hall or in an local bar, is something that thrills Novoselic and his colleagues.

“We get great energy off the crowd. That’s the magic of rock ’n’ roll: It’s a reciprocal relationship,” he said. “When the crowd is hot, and the band is hot, then you make this moment. It’s an experience.”

Novoselic, of course, knows all about that rock ’n’ roll magic. As the founding bass player for Nirvana, widely regarded as one of the best rock bands in history, he saw the world from the stages of tiny bars and huge stadiums with bandmates Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl. They sold more than 75 million albums and scored hit after hit with “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come As You Are,” “In Bloom,” and “Heart Shaped Box,” among many others. At one point, the band’s breakthrough album, 1991’s “Nevermind,” was selling 400,000 copies a week.

Since Cobain’s 1994 suicide brought an end to Nirvana, Novoselic has continued playing music. He released albums with the bands Eyes Adrift (2002) and Sweet 75 (1997). His last record was released in 2008 with the punk band Flipper. He guested on Foo Fighters’ “Wasting Light” LP in 2011, and he’s been known to sit in with the Filthy Friends, a Portland-based supergroup that includes Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney and Peter Buck of R.E.M.

“It always seems like I fall back into it,” Novoselic said, calling music a habit. “I still play fingerstyle guitar and accordion, and I play bass when I can.”

He stays busy in other ways. He is master of the Grays River Grange and chairman of Fair Vote, a national election reform group. He and his wife grow food on the place near Deep River.

After all this time, music remains something he enjoys. And while the industry has changed dramatically since Nirvana, he’s happy to keep at it, playing with friends and meeting fans new and old.

“We can survive if we find our niche,” he said, “and a lot of that is keeping it local.”