By Ronald Sitton

LITTLE ROCK (Sept. 17) - Dubbed the "Kings of Little Rock Honky-tonk" by local musician Kevin Kerby, The Salty Dogs are promoting their new album "Autoharpoon," a 12-song compilation of new and used cuts that fits like your favorite T-shirt.

The band's second full-length offering provides another welcome reprieve from the slicked-up Nashville sound dominating the country music airwaves. Brad Williams provides lead vocals, plays lead guitar, acoustic guitar and mandolin, and writes the vast majority of tunes played by The Salty Dogs. Bart Angel plays drums and percussion, pairing with Mike Nelson on bass to form a formidable rhythm section. Local legend Nick Devlin rounds out the quartet on electric guitar, lap steel and autoharp. Angel and Devlin often provide backing vocals.

An independent label out of Colorado that that focuses on traditional country, country rock and a couple of bluegrass bands, Big Bender Records picked up The Salty Dogs in February, providing full distribution so that country music fans can grab the album at Best Buy, Sam Goody's and iTunes. Of course, the album can also be found on the band's Web site and MySpace page, or by e-mailing Miles of Music.

However, don't think the band intends to change to attract the major record labels.

"I think if the opportunity came available where we could do something else, we'd have to think about it long and hard," Williams says. "I don't see us beating any doors down (to land a contract from a major label)."

Reinventing an old sound

Described anywhere from "Grand Ole Opry-style Country" to "a natural heir to the Bakersfield Sound" to "Traditional Country & Western with a hip flavor," the band reminds listeners of how good country music could be before Garth Brooks and others turned the genre into a pop-music playground. Yet, some critics of The Salty Dogs contend the band's influences are too apparent.

Courtesy of The Salty Dogs

On Stage - Brad Williams (left) and Nick Devlin (right) perform during the Memorial Day Weekend.

"The hardest thing to do is to do anything simple," Angel says. "It's a lot harder to make this sound new and fresh. I'm not sure how far to get away from the Bakersfield Sound without becoming a completely different band or Nashville act. If you want to stay traditional country, you've got to stay traditional country. What do we do, put a tuba in the band?"

Williams agrees.

"I don't see how a band cannot reflect its influences," he says. "Someone's subjective view will compare to something else."

Williams should know, as he's often accused of mimicking Dwight Yoakam (though he doesn't wear the skin-tight jeans). Yoakam faced similar criticisms from people who thought he sounded too much like Buck Owens when singing the Kentucky bluegrass sound.

"I think ultimately it's a compliment," Williams says. "I do respect Dwight Yoakam. In the same sense, it's not that you're trying an impersonating act."

"I'm tired of hearing it," Angel interjects. "I'm sure you are."

"That's a lot of people's frame of reference," Williams continues. "I take it with a grain of salt. You do want to be known for what you do."

Williams notes his influences came from the bluegrass and gospel music he heard growing up in Marked Tree, where he was raised listening to Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, Jimmy Williams and Sun Studio artists including Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.

"Every time I write a song, I write it as a bluegrass tune," he says, somewhat to the surprise of Angel. "To write a pop song, it's hard for me to do."

Williams' songwriting skills might be genetic. His grandfather, Roy Wagner, passed away in the '80s, but not before he had written a bunch of songs, some funny and some with a Gospel influence. Williams found the words to "Holding to my Lord" and wrote the accompanying music. His mother, Virginia Williams, provides background vocals on the track that appears on "Autoharpoon."

"I know it means a lot to her and a lot to me," he says. "We have three generations in the song."

The opening track, "Starting now," features Elvis' drummer, D.J. Fontana, known for his instantly recognizable intro to "Jailhouse Rock." Williams contacted Fontana and asked if he'd be interested in recording.

"(Fontana) said, 'Let's do it,' and set aside a date," Williams says. "We went to Nashville with a friend to record it. After two run-throughs, he knocked it out. He was in and out in an hour."

Not that Angel needs to worry about losing his place in the band. Though he grew up listening to Kiss and Cheap Trick on his own and Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings through his parents, he owns a peculiar style in that he stands to play his drum kit. While his kit may not be as big as Johnny Cash's drummer, W.S. Holland, Angel still gets a full sound.

Cash's influence can be felt in a few different ways. Williams' family would often talk with the Man in Black when he came back to Marked Tree in Northeast Arkansas' cotton country. The band dedicated its first full-length album, "The Salty Dog and Friends," to Cash.

The new album features a song, "When my blood runs cold," that emulates the Cash sound. The Salty Dogs recorded the song for the soundtrack of a Kelly Duda documentary about Cummins Prison, where Cash played in the early 1970s.

"Autoharpoon" also showcases the vocal talents of Devlin on Mickey Newberry's "Why you've been gone so long?" (the song made famous by Johnny Darrell). One of two cover tunes on the album, the song often appears in The Salty Dogs' live show, as does Steve Davis' "Take time to know her," made famous by Percy Sledge.

"We play it off the cuff," Williams says. "I thought it was a great addition to the record. It's still one of my favorite songs."

In an effort to keep reinventing the music, Nelson adds synthesizers to a few tunes, much to the chagrin of some critics. Williams scoffs at their queasiness.

"This record is still staying true to country music, but trying to think outside the box," he says. "I don't think it changed the style of music."

Branching Out

Courtesy of The Salty Dogs

The Salty Dogs - (left to right) Brad Williams, Bart Angel, Mike Nelson and Nick Devlin.

Williams, Angel and Nelson also play in Big Silver, which Williams describes as "Beatles post-Rubber Soul." Between the two bands and some occasional back-up duty for singer-songwriter Amy Garland, each knows what the other will do in almost any situation.

"We get kind of rougher pop with (Big Silver) and traditional country with (The Salty Dogs)," Angel says. "It's kind of a blessing. I approach the three situations differently. It's nice -- as a drummer, I have to approach them differently. It's nice to do that stuff."

Those who've followed the band know that it started as "a lark" to enter The Arkansas Times' Musician Showcase. Big Silver won the showcase in 2000 and The Easys, a pop-rock band led by Big Silver's Isaac Alexander, took the title the next year. Williams and company decided to do "something directly opposite, over-the-top country" in 2003 to make fun of themselves.

"We put together enough songs for a 30-minute set list," Williams says. "We kind of played the role as much as possible, including wearing too much cologne."

According to Angel, guitarist/vocalist Chris Lipsmeyer came up with the name "The Salty Dogs."

"He was going to be a member, but life in general sidetracked him," Angel says. "We kept the name though he didn't stay with us."

As fate would have it, The Salty Dogs won the Arkansas Times Musician's Showcase, the accompanying recording opportunity and the moniker, "Best Original Band in Arkansas." They made an EP, "King of Broken Hearts," and could have been content stopping there. But they enjoyed playing country music more than they realized.

"I don't consider it to be a lark now," Williams says. "I don't think anybody would consider it that. I don't think we have the same motive as during the Times' showcase."

Angel agrees that the band started taking its task more seriously following "The Salty Dogs and Friends," which featured guest appearances from some of their favorite musicians and friends in the Little Rock music community. He credits the continued improvement to Williams' songwriting.

"The more he writes, the better he gets," Angel says. "One of the things people say, we're playing this music that's old in a sense, but we keep it fresh and inject new energy."

The Salty Dogs have opened for Junior Brown, Moot Davis, Hank Williams Jr., Pete Anderson, the Gourds, Old Crow Medicine Show, David Rawlings and the Legendary Shack Shakers. Their rise into the country music consciousness means most shows are played at night, which made their "unofficial" album release at North Little Rock’s William F. Laman's Public Library that much more interesting.

"Amy Brower was doing a summer concert series at the library," Williams says. "She thought it would be cool if we did it. It was a good show. It was a venue where people actually listened and it was the first time we played the new songs. It was pretty cool."

"Brad brought a bubble machine," Angel interjects. "I thought that was kind of cool."

"My daughter got to come to the show," Williams says.

"We got home at a decent hour," Angel adds.

The Whitewater Tavern hosted the official release party. Compared to the library gig, the official release party did not start on time and featured a lot more people and about three times the sound, Williams says. Dan McCorison, a singer/songwriter from Nashville, opened the show with Devlin. All in all, the result was the same: happy people listening to quality country music with good lyrics and little pretentiousness.

If anybody's wondering if The Salty Dogs accept tips at their shows, they do. And they prefer Old Spice cologne.

Catch The Salty Dogs live at the Old State House Museum with Charlotte Taylor on Oct. 4.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the September 2007 Little Rock Free Press.