story by Melanie Falina

By appearances alone, one might think this three-piece band would hit the stage and play a typical rock gig. Yet The Steepwater Band, who began their trek in the blues genre, continues to glide over the muddied waters of the murky business side of the music industry while remaining true to their sound, which is anything but "typical" rock and roll.

Having recently been crowned the 2005 TwangOff competition champions, vocalist and guitarist Jeff Massey is humbled by the win and the experience. "They start out with 27 bands," he explains. "You go and play like a short 40-minute set, and they judge you by stage presence, how the crowd responds to you, and your material. You'd think by the name it's only country bands, but there were all different kinds of bands there: roots-rock, country, bluegrass."

MASSEY'S INNER VIEW "There's not one song we do onstage that we don't like or we're unsure about. If we're not feeling it, we don't play it."

In their second year of festivities, the TwangOff competition pits acts together in a battle-of-the-bands sort of arrangement who are judged by an array of record company executives, press, national acts, and other music industry personnel. "But I kind of take it with a grain of salt," Massey adds. "It's hard to say whose band's better. A lot of the bands we went up against were really good."

Like the competition itself, The Steepwater Band's sound is also eclectic. Having been called blues, country, roots-rock, and psychedelic, Massey doesn't disagree with any of those genres being ascribed to their sound, but insists that their solidly planted blues roots have given birth to a unique sound.

"The band we played in before Steepwater was kind of a straight blues band. We were way into blues and we were trying to learn Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker songs like right off the records. We learned a bunch of blues covers and we just started writing songs based on that blues background, you know, in Chicago and going to blues clubs. Now we just write songs and we don't really question it too much," insists Massey. "A lot of [our material] has got a blues foundation to it, but you can't really call us a blues band."

The group is well respected for their improvisational ability, but it's a skill Massey doesn't give much credence. "When we play live we improvise a lot, but we're more about writing good songs and not just jamming to jam. You've got to have a decent guitar in there first. You can feel when it's right to do that and when it isn't."

With three releases now under their belts, The Steepwater Band simply wants to keep doing what they're doing. "We just want to be working," Massey continues. "We've been around for awhile, but now I feel we've got kind of a rebirth going on. Becoming a three-piece again…we're having more fun than we have in a long time. You can get caught up in the business crap and if you're doing it for any other reason than [because] you want to, then that's not fun. We like what we do right now. It's cliché but true: you don't want to compromise because what's the point then? There's not one song we do onstage that we don't like or we're unsure about. If we're not feeling it, we don't play it."

The Steepwater Band :: with Frank Bang's Secret Stash and 8th Grade:: Double Door :: April 16.