Rock 'n roll. Barroom country. Full-tilt southern boogie. Greasy blues. Honky-tonk. 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 Wood River, Illinois, Quarter Draw Band consists of five Southern Illinois 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 its 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 the Rolling Stones to the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, the Allman Brothers to Tennessee Ernie Ford, Elmore James to Bobby "Blue" Bland, George Jones to the Grateful Dead. *** Victor Kreuiter, who plays keys, sax and blues harp, calls it "rhythm and Midwestern," and Jones thinks of it as "a big musical jambalaya." Guitarists Claude Crisler and Marty Richter and drummer Hank Burge 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." *** QDB's debut CD, "For Sale By Owner," is available on CD Baby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/quarterdraw), or on iTunes. *** Work is well under way on a second full-length album, with the band already featuring songs like "Highway Glide," "Goodbye Cowboy" and "Factory Boots" in live shows. *** THANKS FOR THE PHOTOS: Joanna Kreuiter, Dan Williams of dw-studios.com, Cindy Richter, Aaron Perlut, Carrie Zukoski
