The John D. Hale Band lives to defy the country music establishment.

John D. Hale and his co-conspirators in the John D. Hale Band (JDHB) have a loud, clear message for the Nashville country music establishment.

Unfortunately, that message can't be printed in the pages of this newspaper. But think about Johnny Cash's famous ad flipping the bird to the camera during his 1990s career revival, and you get the picture.

"We don't listen to radio," says Hale as he sits at a small table in an office with rough wooden walls, built in a barn on his family's 5-H Ranch. "You can't, it's just pitiful."

Hale's lead guitarist, a large man named Smooth Roose who works on the farm, is even more blunt.

"Every country song that comes out now just makes me want to throw up in my mouth," Roose says.

John D. Hale Band members, from left (Submitted photo)

A sign on the door of the office warns visitors against the use of profanity on the premises. The joke becomes obvious when you walk inside and talk to Hale and Roose. They don't shy away from four-letter words, and the JDHB's music is no different.

In the tradition of outlaw country, the band's attitude is one that says "this is us, and we don't care what you think."

Change the musical style and the country twang, and you have a purist punk band. Check out the song at the top of the "online music" section of the band's Web site, "Out Law Groove" and the attitude is obvious:

"They don't play Willie,

They don't play Merle,

These new radio heads ain't never heard of Steve Earle."

That's the JDHB, and those are some of the only lyrics from "Out Law Groove" this newspaper could print. Hale and Roose tell a story that they once played the song for a Nashville record company executive. They never heard back about a deal.

The JDHB style is a mix of folk, traditional country, bluegrass and rock 'n' roll. On the band's newest album, "One of a Kind," some pop hooks are present in the songwriting, but not in the studio approach. This is not the studio pop on today's Top 40 country radio, but more akin to the Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash of old, mixed with modern underground country like Cross Canadian Ragweed.

So it's doubtful you'll ever hear the JDHB on radio, that is unless you listen to XM satellite radio or 94.5 FM.

"One of a Kind" was anointed as No. 17 out of XM's Channel 12, X-Country, as one of the top 50 albums of 2006. And the band gets frequent play on 94.5, a station that mixes alternative country with popular contemporary and classic hits.

Traveling band

Galen Stevens, 94.5 program director, said his station gets several requests for JDHB songs -- and CDs. A concert was recently held in Poplar Bluff, Mo., the station's base city, at a venue that normally sees crowds of 300 to 350 people on a good night. JDHB brought in more than 500, Stevens said.

But those Southeast Missouri appearances are rare. The JDHB usually travels for its shows. For the next two months the band will go to Texas for two rounds of gigs -- one acoustic and one plugged in.

"I try to keep it kind of limited," Hale says of home gigs. "We try to keep it to probably six, seven, eight times a year, just so you don't get yourselves burned out at home."

"Yeah, it seems like we get in trouble when we play at home," says Roose, who will later tell a story about being scolded by a bar owner for "selling too much beer."

"There's some places we're not welcome back," Roose says, not because of the band's behavior, but because the crowd gets too rowdy. When the JDHB plays, the crowd listens -- and they get down.

For the band, home is the hilly country north of Cape Girardeau, where livestock dot pastures for miles. The band practices in a barn at 5-H, where statues and cutouts of camels dot the place famous for its exotic animals. Dusty amps are tucked into a corner and busted or near-busted drum heads are strewn about. Judging from the equipment, the members of JDHB -- Hale, Roose, bassist and Hale nephew Cody Phillips, drummer Jay Cagle and guitarist/drummer Chris Brotherton of West Plains, Mo. -- probably get a little rowdy when they play, whether a crowd is present or not.

'Cubicle country'

As Roose gets out an acoustic to play lead on the original "Who Knows What Tomorrow Brings," Hale is surprised the guitar has no broken strings. The guys confirm that, yes, they like to rock, and they have a tendency to break strings in rock-band style.

"John breaks strings, I lose picks," Smooth says.

The band isn't really sure what's behind all the success they've seen -- playing capacity shows, opening for acts like David Allan Coe (twice) and climbing high on XM's Americana station. Locally they think 94.5 FM played a big role since the CD's release in March, as did word-of-mouth.

"For the first six, eight months, it was nobody in the crowd but our friends," Hale says. "Now you don't know half the people."

Despite the success, Hale says the band won't become part of the Nashville establishment unless it happens on the band's own terms. Most of what comes out of Nashville today is cookie-cutter pop that is shoved down the throats of radio listeners, Hale and Roose say. Roose calls it "cubicle country."

"Whether it's a good song or not, if you feed something to somebody enough, they like it," Roose says.

"In our genre, everybody writes their own songs, and you might put a cover on an album, but it's more a respect type of thing," Hale says.

Roose and Hale say people can connect with their songs -- gritty tunes about the bright and dark aspects of life, including love, murder and transition.

"He kills his wife in every song," Hale's wife Liz jokes. "If I ever cheat on him, I know what's going to happen."

Going underground

Stevens said it seems more fans are turning to the type of underground country the JDHB performs, but the change is slow.

"I think it's going to be a long time before they get the recognition they deserve," said Stevens, a fan of the genre. But out of every five requests calls to his station, Stevens says two are for alternative country acts. But his station is still in the minority in playing the music, a "red ball" in a sea of "white balls," Stevens said.

Country might be on the cusp of change, but Hale and Roose don't really care. They just play the music they play -- honest songs about love, death and restlessness -- seeking to make a "good living" out of it, but not seeking stardom. But if the country revolution comes, they'll be ready for it.

"About every 30 years country music changes," says Hale. "And it changed about 30 years ago."

And if you see the JDHB, just remember you'll hear originals, not covers.

"If somebody comes up and says 'play Skynyrd, they'll probably get cussed," says Roose.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182