Nothing irks Dave Insley more than being told he is “way too country” to play in a country bar.
“Are clubs like Mr. Lucky’s or the Handlebar J saying I am too country to bring in 150 people who are going to have a good time and buy a lot of beer?” wonders the longtime Valley musician who has spent two decades performing in his hometown.

Insley’s conundrum is shared by several local bands who are playing original, honest-to-God country music but can't land gigs in the Valley’s country bars.

Instead, local groups such as Tramps & Thieves, Dave Insley and the Careless Smokers, The Cartwheels, Maricopa County Prison Band, the Steve Larson Band, Cheetah Palomina, Busted Hearts, Flathead, Shooter and Heather Rae and the Moonshine Boys — all heavily influenced by classic country — are popping up in East Valley rock clubs.

“When we’re up there, we’re not faking it,” says lanky, heavily tattooed Scott Hinkle, frontman for Tempe’s Cheetah Palomina. “People can tell when it's from the heart. Playing this stuff appeals to a rock crowd because rock music was born out of country music at its basic level and people appreciate that. It just feels right.”
Andy Jensen, of the scruffy, Gram Parsons-inflected Tramps & Thieves, values the opportunity to play for different audiences and to make fans out of non-country listeners.

“At a show we played last weekend at Yucca (Tap Room), a guy introduced himself to me after the show,” the bassist says. “He explained how he was really a fan of R&B and rap, but that he had a great time watching us play — he liked the songs — and even bought a CD. It’s sort of cool that we can reach people like that, you know?”

Insley, whose classic baritone is ready-made for country music stardom, might endure a few shouts of “Play some Skynyrd!” in a rock club, but that’s better than the alternative.

“They’re not going to yell out for a Garth Brooks song!” he says, laughing. “But they will in a country bar.”
Which leads to the question: If these country bands are playing in rock clubs, what passes for country music in the Valley’s country bars, where urban cowboys wear belt buckles the size of hubcaps and couples line dance in painted-on Wranglers while the jukebox pumps out the latest mainstream Nashville efforts.

“It's just pop — Britney Spears in a cowboy hat,” Hinkle laughs. “These Nashville guys, they look like they just hopped off of a tractor but nine out of 10 of them have never even been in a field.”

Meanwhile, the Valley’s twang underground will continue to swell in rock clubs for fans who appreciate the original country sound.
“I'll be doing this forever — writing songs, playing,” Insley concludes. “But I am not going to alter my music to make somebody like it. I'll play where I am welcome.”