Wylie’s Wild West Singer Builds New Sound Based On Country Music’s Honky-Tonk Roots

Has somebody ever told Wylie Gustafson, the fearless leader of Wylie and the Wild West Show, that he’s a bit out of style by country music standards?

Gustafson, who lives in LaCrosse, Wash., doesn’t don the standard flashy country uniform - striped collar shirt, exceedingly tight jeans and a stylish hat. Rather, he wears a simple suit accented by a bolo tie.

Further, the lanky singer doesn’t have the cliche mud-flap haircut (short in front and long in back; consult Billy Ray Cyrus). Instead, Gustafson’s curly mop and horn-rimmed glasses bear a striking resemblance to pop-rock singers Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello.

Then there’s his music, a cross-pollination of western swing, honky-tonk, 50s rock, cowboy music and the Austin and Bakersfield sounds. What’s more, Wylie yodels. Definitely un-cool to the Garth-loving hat-act fans.

Yeah, Wylie, who plays the Rodeo Restaurant and Country Club on Friday with the Wild West Show, is not with the trends.

Yaaahooooo!

The last thing country music needs is for someone to trot down that same barren path.

“There’s a side of the country music business that kind of makes me embarrassed to be a part of because a lot of it is very superficial kind of cookie-cutter, cheeseburger mentality,” Wylie said by phone while on tour in Nashville last week. “There’s not a lot of creativity going on with a lot of the songs.

“That side of it is something that we never really bought into, the part of it where you’re writing a hit song just to get on the radio.”

Fortunately for Wylie and his cast in the Wild West Show (guitarist Ray Doyle, drummer Kenny Griffin and bassist Mike Fried), they haven’t had to surrender to the latest fad to further a career in country music. As Nashville keeps churning out new acts quicker than an assembly line, Gustafson is relieved he hasn’t become engulfed in the Nashville sound.

“We’re just trying to do our own thing,” he said. “I think there’s room enough in country music right now for a band like us just to stick to our roots and play the type of sounds that were reminiscent of ‘50s, ‘60s and, even earlier, ‘40s country music. At the same time, we want to take it in a new direction. We don’t want to be a retro band.”

There is room for Wylie and the Wild West Show, as indicated by the strong sales of the band’s two independent albums, “Wylie and the Wild West Show” and “Get Wild” (selling over 80,000 copies combined in this country), profitable national and international tours and dozens of appearances at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

“Being different is where we found our success.”

Gustafson’s first flirtation with country music occurred when he was child on his family’s Montana ranch.

His father, a country-folk musician, gathered the family together in the living room to sing old country songs together.

Gustafson taught himself to play guitar by studying the chords of Buck Owens and Charley Pride. He even learned to play every Hank Williams Sr. song on a greatest hits compilation.

Wylie and the Wild West Show are presently pursuing a record deal with Rounder Records, a reputable independent label known most recently for its Allison Krauss records. If Rounder signs the band, the label will most likely release the quartet’s third album, “Way Out West,” which was recorded by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel.

As music has proven over the years, trends are cyclical. They don’t endure. Many country-fied ears are still begging for traditional roots music. So could the current crop be on the verge of spoiling?

“There’s kind of a revival right now of roots country music,” Wylie said. “We’ve been doing it for a long time. There’s some bands in Nashville that are getting picked up that are real roots-oriented country bands. That’s a good sign. Hopefully, we’ll be part of the next wave that brings back traditional country music.”

Aside from Wylie and the Wild West Show’s Spokane date, the band will also perform Saturday at 1 p.m. at the LaCrosse Centennial Festival and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Klondike in Laclede, Idaho.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WILD MUSIC Wylie and the Wild West Show perform at 9 p.m. Friday at Rodeo Restaurant and Country Club, 5908 E. Broadway. Tickets are $10, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets, by calling 325-SEAT and at the door. You must be 21 to attend.