The Steel Woods hooking listeners with debut album

Two sons of the South bond over a love of Southern rock, outlaw country, bluegrass, R&B and … fishing.

The result is the Steel Woods, fronted by Alabama-born Wes Bayliss and Rowdy Cope of Asheville, North Carolina. The genesis of the band is in Nashville where the pair met at a gig, liked what they heard from each other and eventually hired a manager.

“He (the manager) had known Rowdy for quite a while,” says Bayliss. “We put the band together with a plan, management and idea for the record (“Straw in the Wind”), which all came together at the same time. The three of us did a lot of fishin’, meetin’ and did what we could to make it a reality.”

Good things come from fishing together. “They really do,” Cope laughs.

The group visits the Madison Theater Friday to play tunes from the album, which in addition to more than a half-dozen originals, pulls offs the unlikely feat of covering both bluegrass master Darrell Scott (“Uncle Lloyd”) and Black Sabbath (“Hole in the Sky”).

That range reflects the backgrounds of the principals.

“My dad had a guitar in the closet, and once I pulled that thing out, I never put it down,” Cope says. “I loved Jimmy Page and Lynyrd Skynyrd. And coming out of Asheville, Warren Haynes (Gov’t Mule, Allman Brothers) was a hometown hero. (I remember) seein’ him and being like, ‘Good Lord.’

“I just decided, where do you go to be a musician? New York, Nashville or Los Angeles. I chose LA.”

In California, he played with Waylon Jennings’ son, Shooter, then moved to Nashville about 10 years ago. There, Cope met Jamey Johnson, the direct musical descendant of outlaw heroes Jennings, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, and played guitar in his band while writing the occasional song together.

Meanwhile, Bayliss grew up playing in his family’s gospel group, which might account for the multiple references to the devil on “Straw in the Wind.”

“I was raised in the church, and to me, that stuff is real,” he says. “It’s good to write about.”

Although “Straw” is the Steel Woods debut, it’s the work of mature musicians, who did a lot of living, playing and writing before joining forces. It would be unlikely that this verse from “Whatever It Means to You” could have been written by a callow youth:

“The stories told in all these songs

Don’t sound the same to everyone

Some you hear and some you see

And all that means is whatever it means to me

Not all are real, but all are true

’Cause all that means is whatever they mean to you.”

“We’re real proud of the record, we put a lot of hard work into it,” Bayliss says. “The goal now is to let as many people as possible hear it. We’re writin’ new music, lookin’ to the future, but there are still so many people who haven’t heard this one that I want to show it to.”

When the time does come for the next project, Bayliss and Cope can tweak the recipe used to make “Straw in the Wind” so appealing.

That starts with a fishin' trip.

Bill Thompson is co-host of “Blue Snakes & Banjos,” 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays on WAIF-FM (88.3)

IF YOU GO

What: The Steel Woods with Branden Martin

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, Madison Theater, 730 Madison Ave., Covington

Tickets: $20, $15 advance

Information: 859-491-2444; madisontheateronline.com; thesteelwoods.com

At Cincinnati.com: Watch the Steel Woods play “Axe”