Chevy Downs, 19Clark25
Spin Nightclub
Friday, Sept. 14, 10 p.m., $5, 21+

Tim Jones and David Moore were, and are, two of Indiana’s brightest and best songwriters. Their bands, Old Pike and Chamberlain, were big deals during the Clinton decade, complete with major label deals and world tours. It was a godsend when the duo recruited a bang-up group of musicians (including Indy vets John Byrne, a pedal steel phenomenon, Seth Greathouse on mandolin and banjo, bassist Jason Brammer and Andrew Snyder on drums) and set out to become the Midwest’s best alt-country outfit.

When Chevy Downs plays at Spin Nightclub this Friday, expect a full house. With all the band members involved in other projects and spread across the country, a Chevy Downs show is a rare occurrence. The dreamy, melodic playing of Byrne is worth the price of admission alone.

A few months back, I ran into Jones, who spends most of his time in Los Angeles as a ringleader of the insurgent singer-songwriter scene in the L.A. nightclub Hotel Café. “I’m trying to get the singer-songwriter scene back to where it was back in the early days,” he says. “I wanna make it dangerous again, not this pu**y James Blunt sh** we got today.”

Jones’ other great passion is alt-country. “All I gotta do is write one song that blows up,” he says. “One song, and I’ll be set for life.”

If anybody from this town could write a bazillion-selling hit for the likes of Toby Keith, it would be Jones. And most of his best songs are Chevy Downs’ songs.

“All The Landlord’s Children,” released a couple years back, is chock full of great tunes like “Jesus Heal My Hangover,” “Hey Louise” and the perquisite drinking opus, “Whiskey, Cards and Women.” Live, these songs hit hard with the help of the stellar stop-on-a-dime playing of the assembled talent, and they go perfect with a cold beer and a shot of Southern Comfort.