Lost Traveler Band

This weekend we caught up with West Butler and Patrick Owens, who we first heard last year at Tootsies in Nashville. The two have joined with bassist Quinn Messer and guitarist Drew Smith and formed the Lost Traveler Band - a group that combines their country background with classic rock songs. Or at least that's what we heard from their myspace page. The site contains several live songs from a show in Minot, North Dakota. We knew that West and Patrick played a wide repertoire of songs - some originals - and the Lost Traveler band exceeded that. They cover Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, The Outfield, and they even made Journey listenable -- that may even have been my favorite. Drew Smith's vocals are similar to West Butler's - deep classic country - so each song was quite different than the original. What was most impressive was the guitar playing - particularly in Runnin Down A Dream. The band is based in either Nashville or Muscle Shoals, but they advertise that they travel coast to coast. I can't wait until they come east.