California vibe infuses Dawes

Since its inception in 2009, the California four-piece Dawes has been permanently stamped with the Laurel Canyon label. That subgenre, named for a Hollywood Hills neighborhood that was an artistic hub in the ’60s and ’70s, was coined to describe artists like Joni Mitchell, Love, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

The group is as laid back as the mythologized era their music evokes: Listening to their songs, you can practically see the late summer sun setting behind California mountains, while bohemians and hippies dance slowly on a sprawling lawn.

But sticking with that Laurel Canyon sound was never a deliberate stylistic choice.

“That’s always a reference we’re flattered by, but we’ve never understood,” said Wylie Gelber, the band’s bassist. “We happened to record our first album in Laurel Canyon, but that’s because it was a free studio, you know?”

Dawes is putting on a free concert in Liberty Lake’s Pavillion Park on Saturday night, a stop on the band’s ongoing tour supporting its fourth studio album, “All Your Favorite Bands.” The band’s songs, written by front man Taylor Goldsmith, feel almost like short, wordy stories: The lyrics, like those of Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen, inspire images of hopeless romantics, barroom philosophizers and long freeway drives with no clear destination.

“They’re definitely from a personal place,” Gelber said of Goldsmith’s lyrics. “There are certain songs on there that people think sound like such a dark breakup song, and in (Taylor’s) mind it wasn’t necessarily that. With most musicians and records you love, you’ll never really know exactly why that person wrote that song or what the hell it’s about, but if that’s what connects with people, that’s great.”

Although the production and arrangements of Dawes’ albums are precise and glossy – there rarely seems to be a note out of place – Gelber says the band tries not to fuss too much over minute details in the studio.

“We want to make sure that the overall feel of a song is right for everyone, but we sort of delegate it out to each other,” he said. “We never get caught up in, that was the wrong passing note on the bass, or that was the wrong lick coming out of the solo. We leave that stuff to chance, essentially.”

The tracks on “All Your Favorite Bands” were consciously written to be performed live and were, in a couple of cases, the products of in-studio jamming. For instance, the album’s 10-minute closer, “Now That It’s Too Late, Maria,” was originally a short, shuffling rock tune, but it transformed into something slower and more rambling when the band went to record it.

“The main thing we’ve heard for years is people would buy the album, then they’d come to the show and say, ‘You sound so different live,’ ” Gelber said. “We’re not trying to do that, but you go into a studio sometime, and our tendency is to pull back and be as minimal as possible. … With this one, we arranged them all live, so they’re already at a place that’s good for a live show.”

And while Dawes continues to grow into a well-oiled live act, they aren’t moving away from Laurel Canyon anytime soon.

“We want every one of our records to keep growing and changing,” Gelber said. “I don’t expect any extreme deviation, but we’re hoping to progress and take forward steps on each new record to keep things interesting.”