Quarter Draw Band plays Americana ⦠a rootsy blend we call Rhythm & Western.

11 MP3 Songs
BLUES: Rockin' Blues, COUNTRY: Country Rock



Details:
Country. Blues. Barroom rock. Full-tilt southern boogie. Honky-tonk. Blue-eyed soul. Twang. Americana. Roots music. If the Quarter Draw Band was a dog, it would definitely be a tail-wagging, beer-lapping, two-stepping mutt.

Based in Southern Illinois, Quarter Draw Band consists of five musicians who have been around the block a few times -- or maybe a lot of times. Between them, they've been in dozens of bands, dating back to 60s - country bands, blues bands, lounge bands, hard rock bands, horn bands, psychedelic bands. Bass player Jody Jones, for example, played in a country band in England - and in what may have been the only heavy-rock band cover band in the Persian Gulf in the '70s.

On their debut album, "For Sale by Owner," QDB's material veers from curb to curb like a 2 a.m. drunk leaving the corner tavern. It ranges from twangy two-steppers like "Heartache" to Southern-fried rockers like "Gatlinburg;" from cinematic boogie tunes like "B-Movie Love Affair" to suds-soaked odes to booze and jukeboxes like "Beer Dreamin'."

And on any given night, the band might cover material from Elmore James to JJ Cale, the Beatles to Tennessee Ernie Ford, George Jones to the Grateful Dead.

Victor Kreuiter, who plays keys, sax and blues harp, calls QDB's music "rhythm and western," and Jones thinks of it as "a big musical jambalaya." Guitarists Claude Crisler and Marty Richter round out the group; all the members write and sing.

"When someone brings in a new song, we've pretty much given up trying to decide if it's a country song, or a rock song, or a blues song," Richter said. "If we like it, we go with it, especially if it's something that makes you want to hit the dance floor, or drop a dollar in the jukebox."