When Altercana’s singer-guitarist, A.J., invited me over to the band’s studio to chat and have some beers, I was so excited. But after I showed up ready to party, he was all like, “Sorry, dude. I lied, we don’t have any beer.” Ye ol’ bait and switch – that dirty son of a gun! I thought I was going to be doing beer bongs and other silly stuff with the guys, thus giving me all kinds of crazy, funny rock and roll things to write about. But instead, we just sat around and waxed poetic about the band, its new recording studio and its new album.

Yeah, way to go, guys. If I were being interviewed for the cover of a magazine I would be sure to have all kinds of entertainment for the interviewer, i.e. booze, strippers, mechanical bull, Slip N’ Slide, fireworks, petting zoo, etc. (aspiring bands, take note). Ah, well, at least we managed some interesting conversation. They’re a pretty funny group of guys and they’ve got a great band.

In fairness, Altercana had literally just returned from spending the weekend at a music conference down in Dewey Beach, where the band played some shows and rubbed elbows with major playaz in the music biz – and one can only guess what sort of godless hedonism that might entail. They were a little tired as they’ve been busily recording their own material and many other bands at their studio, Nico Recording Company, as well as playing a ton of shows in support of their new album, Frequent Starts, released in April. A year in the making, the new disc represents the first truly collaborative effort by this roots rock four-piece, which was previously known as A.J. & Altercana.

After his previous rock band, Element, broke up, A.J. (Andrew Jacobs) found himself void of his songwriting medium, so he spent about three years playing acoustic shows on his own. The new songwriting was a bit of a departure from Element’s straight ahead rock sound, dabbling in acoustic and slide guitars and a more country-tinged overall flavor.

“I don’t really know how it happened,” A.J. laughs of his sudden change in musical direction. “I wasn’t really listening to country stuff or anything like that, and I didn’t consciously decide to start writing countryish songs. The songs just started getting kind of twangy.” By 2000, A.J. had written a large enough batch of new tunes to record an album, so he enlisted the help of Brett Alexander and Paul Smith of Badlees fame, who produced and played on what came to be Altercana’s debut album entitled Altercana Rock Recording.

The name Altercana is simply a combination of “alternative” and “ Americana,” a half joking nod to the two genres that meshed together to form the country rockin’ tone of the album. After the album’s release in 2001, A.J. planned to start playing some shows in support of it, and realized he wanted to play the songs live the same way they were recorded – with a full backing band. So he began what would be a startlingly easy task of recruiting some friends to play with him. He called up bassist Clayton Mars, guitarist Sam Gorgone and drummer Tom Chaffin, all of whom had spent years playing in local bands and just happened to be available to play.

“They came in, learned the songs, and we were like ‘OK, let’s just go out, play some shows and sell some CDs,’” A.J. shrugs. “And then I’d go back to what I was doing and they’d go back to what they were doing.”

But of course, we all know that’s not the way it worked out; three years have gone by now and Altercana is still writing and playing music together. Basically, they found that in addition to joining seamlessly, they were starting to write some good songs together. And so what was originally supposed to be a projected three-month project to support A.J.’s solo album turned into a full-fledged roots rock band. Good chemistry is good chemistry, and the fact that there’s none of that dreaded rock star ego on the table surely accounts for the excitement about playing together – and ultimately the band’s longevity. So four separate musicians became one solid unit, and A.J. & Altercana became, simply, Altercana.

The result? Raw, blue-collar crunch with just enough twang and two-step to dust the borders of alt country. There are no gimmicks. There are no frills. They’re simply not needed. The music speaks for itself: down-home, twangy rock and roll. It’s the sound of red dirt caked on Springsteen’s boots after a long walk through the heartlands. And you can’t get much more straightforward than that.

In the band’s online bio, Mars writes that Altercana’s sound is like “Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks climbing over the shoulders of Tom Petty and Bob Mould,” which rings pretty true to my ears. Mars later admits, however, “I was trying to make [the description] as Rolling Stone as I could … although I guess it’s more like Spin, which is even worse.” Heh, “climbing over the shoulders,” I like that. And it’s a pretty apt description of the Altercana sound: a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll and a lotta bit badass.

“It’s hard to put a stamp on what we do exactly,” Gorgone adds. “We all sort of have our own style, after years of playing, you know? But I think the common denominator is rock and roll, I think that’s something all of us have in us.”

They’ve got a pretty broad range of influences among the four of them, A.J. having an affinity for punk, Gorgone being into blues and ’90s alt rock, Mars being all about shoegazing Brit pop, and Chaffin, poor, poor Tom Chaffin, harboring a fondness for jam bands. Poor Chaffin, you ask? As the drummer and youngest member of the band, he is subject to the constant scorn and abuse of his bandmates. Young Chaffin’s self-esteem is persistently bludgeoned with tactless variants of his name: Tommy Lee. Tommy Lovebone. The Tommy Lama. Tom.gov. Tommy Chapin Carpenter. And the list goes on. In fact, each member posts his favorite Tom nickname (along with other miscellaneous favorites) in the bio section of the band’s website. But as cruel as it may seem to you and I, this is simply nature’s way. It’s a drummer’s job to keep the beat, and it’s the rest of the band’s job to … well, beat the drummer.

For information on Altercana’s new album, Nico Recording Company or favorite Tom Chaffin nicknames, log onto www.altercana.com.