Dirty River Boys

The Dirty River Boys are putting El Paso back on the music map, something not done since pop artist Vikki Carr and the progressive country band Applejack. They are doing it from the vantage point of their adopted home base, Austin.

The first two who got together, four years ago, were Travis Stearns and Nino Cooper, who met in the electric/electic music scene that is El Paso. An occasional gig kept them together, whetting their aspirations, until Marco Guiterrez joined in, and thus the trio was born. In the three years that have followed, the Dirty River Boys have relocated to Austin, added Colton James, or C.J., to the group, recorded an EP and a full CD, toured nationwide, appeared on national television, including the “Concrete Cowboy” series, taken on professional assistance, co-written with icon Ray Wylie Hubbard, and given new meaning to “outlaw music.”

And therein lies description of this group, one that defies genre titles, and goes beyond the usual superlatives, “awesome,” and “incredible.” Outlaw music it is.

OK, “outlaw music” may sound very 1970s, but this foursome draws its impact, its inspiration from the giants of that previous “we’re not mired in the mold” music.

Guiterrez explained that the folk/country/bluegrass/acoustic/original/rocky sounds come from a mix of their influences. “We came from pretty different spectrums and have some middle ground. We had the intention of being another fully electric band. Then we all decided to sing, and to keep it acoustic, and it was so comfortable, we just stayed with that.”

Guiterrez’s influences range through the alternative country scene, he said, such as Ryan Adams and Whiskey Myers, and “the music that is lyrically drive… that’s my music.” Cooper cut his teen on the likes of Chuck Berry and Keith Richards. “Some of the old school, I liked the punk and the blues and guitar to B.B. King and then Dylan became an influence.” Catching on to the combination of influences now?

“I didn’t listen to a lot of blues, but Metallica, the 80s drummers… that era of rock and showmanship got my attention,” Stearns added. Then, James, always in his cowboy hat and chewing on a toothpick on stage, rounds the variety out with his music inspirations. “Everybody I liked is already dead. I’m real fond of the high-lonesome sound, the old country.”

It was on a very early road trip from El Paso to Austin, then on to a side gig in New Braunfels when the original trio met up with James. As he explained it, “I was floating around without a band. I played the guitar and bought an upright bass. Their tour manager set me up to play with them one night.”

Stearns said they looked James up on the Web and “When we saw a picture of him on his tractor, holding a whiskey bottle, that was cool. Then, he came in and played a 90-minute set with us. We just winged it together.” The next day, James joined them again at another show. “He played perfectly inside our style, he had all the gear. He was definitely a go.”

Now, with all the experience and always-expanding fan base, and their increasing songwriting and song-sharing talents, which includes switching off on instruments mid-show, The Dirty River Boys have a relentless schedule. They travel, they arrive early, they set up, they wait until their turn to play, they wow the crowds at every stop, they work their merch tables and meet the public, and they still make time to be as down-to-earth as they were on Day 1 of the band.

And they do it all from a van, which carries the four band members and two supportive staff, and which pulls their box trailer of equipment.

The Dirty River Boys played, recently, the Dia de la Toadies Fest in Fort Worth, and will be at the Yonder Mountain Harvest Music Festival in Arkansas, in mid-October. For that one, they plan to arrive early, play their set on Oct. 17, and hang around as long as they can and still make their next stop.

“We’re in this — quote Texas Red Dirt Scene unquote — so much, it is always exciting to get out and see different people. Not just those on the Texas scale, but also on the national scale, plus our friends like Turnpike Troubadour and American Aquarium and Justin Townes Earle, we want to see and hang out with them all.”

The difference for this band, they said, when they play a festival is in the sound system. And for that reason, “festivals can be amazing or difficult,” the four men agreed.

“We are at the point where we run with our own sound system, and with the cahon and the upright bass, and mandolin, and that is difficult to do at a festival. It’s in the sound check,” Guiterrez continued. “You have got to make it sound good. That first 20 minutes of seeing us for the first time will be the yes or no for them, are they going to be fans or not.”

Stearns added, “Without the proper sound, it (The Dirty River Boys band) could sound like mud, and with the right sound, like the Rolling Stones.”

Cooper added, “Our show is so passionate. If we had the electric bass, an electric drum set, it would be so easy to set up and get it right.”

The sound folks at the Toadies fest got it right for the band, sounding good!

This band is one who connects with the crowd, often drawing additional energy from those standing way-down front. How do they do that? Guiterrez said, “You just have to be yourself, be personable, and you have to make them riled up and even be silly if it helps. Tell them to jump up and down and yell into the mic.” Stearns said sometimes it’s easier to connect, “It depends on the crowd. We know that they come in to have fun, and they want to have fun, and sometimes it’s up to the opening act to get them into the spirit.”

The Dirty River Boys laughed when asked if they are being considered, as Zane Williams calls it in his new song, an “overnight success.” They are still, often when double-billed, the opening act. “But that’s good, we have a huge crowd in front of us opening for someone else. It’s pretty cool, and sometimes I feel like we steal the crowd away,” said Cooper with a smile.

And, like the influences on each of them that they now meld into a cohesive, unique sound style, the four musicians also have had different “aha” moments when they felt like it was really working.

For Guiterrez, “We were at the Blue Light in Lubbock. The show was our first-ever sold-out, and during our set, I kind of backed off the mic. I heard the people in the crowd singing, and that was something special. They knew our songs.”

James said his mindset remembers, “You are not a band unless you have a van. It’s not good showing up in three or four vehicles. When we got the van, we were real.”

Stearns said his ‘aha’ moment was on Nov. 10 (and he definitely remembered the date). They were opening for Willie Nelson, getting to bring out Willie Nelson. And, they had won the Austin City Limits “Live Band of the Year” award, “It was like we won a million dollars. At the moment, it was real. We were real kings that night,” and then he laughed and said, “but we were back to being fools the next day.”

That show wasn’t without problems. “We had five songs to show what we were all about.” Then a voice mic and a guitar mic went out. “I ran over to Nino’s mic to sing. We had the most technical difficulties a band could have in a 30-minute set, and it was a nightmare, and we pulled it off like nothing had happened. I felt professional that night.”

The Dirty River Boys are a force in today’s music… a force that has looked back into yester-year’s music to become the leaders they are today. They are living and working their dream — to make music the center of their lives — and they are doing it with a panache and power and professionalism that other bands can only emulate, never surpass.

The Dirty River Boys will be playing at the Harvest Festival on Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Ark., on Thursday, Oct. 17; Smitty’s Bar & Grill in Denison on Oct. 18; and the Ranch Bash back at Panther Island Pavillion in Fort Worth on Oct. 19.

Dirty River Boys — DirtyRiverBoys.com

Yonder Harvest Music Fest — http://yonderharvestfestival.com

For too many photos of the Dirty River Boys, click these two links:  Dirty River Boys at Toadies ;  Dirty River Boys at Smitty’s