Beachwood Sparks:

Two hours late for sound check, the members of Beachwood Sparks amble in through the back door of Athens, Ga., bar Tasty World, clad in worn-out T-shirts and blue jeans, each carrying his own equipment from the back of the band’s aging Ford Econoline van. It’s just after happy hour on a Tuesday night and the place is almost empty. Bar owner and local scenester Murphy Wolford gets up from reading the latest issue of Athens’ free weekly, the Flagpole, to greet the band.

About an hour prior to Beachwood Sparks’ arrival, the pretty blonde bartender, Robin, plays a CD of the group’s Sub Pop label-mates, The Shins, who are headlining tonight’s show. When it ends, she puts on the Sparks’ second album, Once We Were Trees. The spacey opening twang of "Germination" fills the room before segueing into the heavily psychedelic echoes of "Confusion is Nothing New." Even though there are only a few people in the club, all of whom are either tucked away in corner booths or lounging quietly on wooden barstools, there is a definite anticipation permeating the humid air.

"This is going to be one of the best shows of the summer," says Wolford. "This and Sonic Youth. It should be pretty packed tonight."

After a few more songs, Robin decides she’d better turn off the Sparks’ CD since the band might show up at any minute.

"I don’t want to have it playing when they get here," she says as she begins to smile, "That wouldn’t be very cool."

It’s about two hours until show time. The soundman frantically begins setting up microphones on stage. Bass player Brent Rademaker rides his skateboard across the hardwood floors of the club, coming to a stop next to singer and guitarist Chris Gunst.

"Do you want to get changed for the show?" Rademaker asks him.

"No, it’s too hot here," Gunst says of the Georgia weather, which is a far cry from the climate of Southern California, where the band was formed in late 1999 by L.A. indie rock veterans Gunst, Rademaker, pedal-steel and keyboard player Dave Scher, and drummer Jimi Hey, who was replaced by Aaron Sperske for two years before returning for the band’s latest EP and current tour. From the beginning, the quartet’s members were interested in playing country, which they felt was the "white man’s soul music." As Beachwood Sparks, they brought their experimental and punk rock tendencies to this traditional southern genre, and when blended with the influence of early ’70s California-country groups like The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, a new sound was born.

Seattle’s Sub Pop, the underground label that launched bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney in the early ’90s, signed Beachwood Sparks shortly after its inception. The band has come to appreciate its relationship with the idealistic record company over the past few years.

"It’s really great to be involved with people you can relate to on a friendship basis and still get things done," says Gunst, "I don’t know of any labels that can get you to the level Sub Pop can that aren’t weird. First and foremost they’re about music. Money doesn’t matter to them."

Sub Pop representative, Steve Manning, offers his view of the label’s relationship with Beachwood Sparks over the phone from his Seattle office.

"We hate them. They’re not very clean people," says Manning in a whisper, "Seriously though," he continues, "everything’s been great. The band seems to be content."