Another ‘Damn’ Record

The first time the members of Damn Arkansan got together to make a record, it was a hodgepodge of sounds.

The followup to their selftitled debut, “Brave Mistakes,” featured a band finding its style but lacking a certain cohesion.

With the third effort, “Save Yourself,” which will be released Saturday night at the Smoke & Barrel Tavern in Fayetteville, the musicians hope they’re now executing what they already know how to do.

“We made some bold choices on this record,” says Will Eubanks, who plays bass guitar and is among the band’s three vocalists.

The quartet abandoned the stripped-down, live sound found on “Brave Mistakes.” Instead, knowing what themusic should sound like, the band layered on extras such as strings, horns, bells and a host of other sounds.

“We threw everything at this record,” says Eubanks, who produced the EP alongside guitarist and vocalist Drew Walls. “It’s a not-afraid-ofanything record.”

It may help the band shed some of its reputation as analternative country band, although Walls isn’t exactly sure where that came from.

Damn Arkansan was once referred to in the press as a blend of early Little Feat and the 1990s alternative band Pavement. That sounds about right to Walls. But press him on some of the band’s other favorites, and the alt country elements come into sharper focus. Walls credits The Band, Wilco and Dawes as influences for his songwriting.

So too is life an influence.

Walls says the band’s first three releases, all EPs, follow a similar narrative. They are all about 20-somethings finding their way, or at least trying to find their way. The songs explore balancing a work life with a social life or their own life with that of a significant other. Those things don’t always work: Walls, for instance, went through adivorce since “Brave Mistakes” was released in early 2012.

And today serves as the last day at his office job - he’ll be pursuing music full time, coinciding with the release of “Save Yourself.” Some of the songs on that album are 10 years old, and Walls says this album concludes that chapter in the band’s existence.

“It’s offloading eight years (of life),” he says.

The narrative does change for Damn Arkansan with the release of the record and the members’ new lives. Walls and Eubanks will team up with banjo player Joe Sundell for a yet-to-be-named roots music project. Drummer ChrisFletcher remains in this area, but guitarist and vocalist Caleb Rose recently moved to Little Rock. And while the story and sound changes, Damn Arkansan will continue to exist much as it has, Walls says. The band will gig at least once a weekend - it’s booked solid through September - and already has a couple new tracks in various stages of the recording process.

The band will hold a listening party for the album in addition to Saturday’s live set. After the set of opening act Family History concludes, Damn Arkansan’s new album will play as the band sets up equipment. Live versions of many of the songs will follow.