By Andrew W. Griffin

pop writer

Hitting Texas radio in 2007 with the hilarious-yet-painful country-rocker "You Look Better on MySpace," the Fort Worth-based Zach Edwards Band is starting to make some solid inroads in the amiable-but-competitive Texas/Red Dirt music scene.

Making their first trip to play a gig in Oklahoma, the tight quartet featuring singer-songwriter-guitarist Edwards, bassist Forrest Johnson, guitarist Ian Willmore and drummer Sparky Sorenson were performing in front of a low-key family crowd at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar -- Grill on a recent Friday night.

With a classic country sound mixed in with some rock and pop rhythms and melodies, Zeb, as they sometimes call themselves, has been hitting the Texas honky-tonk circuit pretty hard, paying some dues and gaining a following of fans.

So, smiling out at the Moms and Dads and kids munching on chicken-fried steak and "Freedom fries," Edwards kicks off with "Git 'Er Done" a mid-tempo song having absolutely nothing to do with country comic Larry the Cable Guy. Yet, upon closer inspection it's not a rousing, raunchy anthem, rather, a surprisingly tender song about love and spending your days with that special someone.

"It's a good thing y'all aren't on the coast," Edwards says, noting the approaching Hurricane Ike to the Texas coast.

This may have gone over the heads of the Toby Keith fans in the audience, however, since when the song wrapped up, there was a clap or two. In fact, from this reporter's vantage point, they looked like they were in a bit of a stupor. So much for Friday night frivolity.

Edwards must have sensed this, since he and the boys then launched into a cover of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl." This is a tried-and-true song choice by bands from here to Kuala Lumpur. Audiences always love it, even when the line "making love behind the stadium with you" was countrified to "making love behind that old pump jack with you."

Zeb's guitarist Willmore, a very able country guitar player, starts playing the opening chords to Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance." He changes the lines referring to Indiana to Oklahoma, naturally. Then "Whiskey River" and "Folsom Prison Blues" get covered, quite ably I should add.

"Best of Me," another Zeb original, is similar in mood to "Git 'Er Done."

Covering Doug Sahm's "Who Were You Thinking Of," the Zach Edwards Band seems to be getting their stride as they play another original ? "Best of Me."

Coming from remote Big Lake, Texas, Edwards is clearly proud of the Lone Star State, as is evidenced in the songs on the independently released "Cowboy Crew" album. It was "Texas Women" that got Zeb some well-deserved attention on the radio dial.

And now, they're playing Toby Keith's, playing a strangely-subdued "Keep Your Hands to Yourself." Well, that's due to the management not wanting them to get too wild. This isn't the Wormy Dog Saloon, after all.