The cover of the debut recording from the Desert Nudes features three smiling gents in cowboy hats and promises “songs of hydration, vigor, horses and wide-open spaces.” The three cowpokes are André Bohren, David Pomerleau and John Paul Carmody, but in keeping with the tongue-in-cheek presentation, all three have stage names beginning with “Danny.”

Bohren and Pomerleau are known commodities in these parts due to their long tenure as drummer and bassist respectively for Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes. Carmody is a part-time resident of the city and harmonically complements the long-time musical pardners exquisitely. All three play guitars on the record, with Pomerleau on acoustic bass.

The songs do indeed traverse the western plains via such iconic songwriters as Marty Robbins and singers like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Classics like “Home on the Range” and “Blues Stay Away From Me” share the musical grasslands with two originals, one each from Bohren and Pomerleau.

Upon close listening, the album has some instrumental nuance, but like most great country music, it’s all about the singers and the songs. The three vocalists take turns on lead, but it’s the harmonies and the interplay between their voices that is spellbinding.

On “Prairie Fire,” the singers reach time and time again for a crescendo that makes the all-encompassing energy of the fire of the title feel palpable. “Don’t Fence Me In” sounds like the wide-open grazing lands of the west referenced in the lyrics with the singers’ voices rising and falling before some plaintive whistling adds a bit of folksiness to the proceedings.

Though packed with great songs and performances, the standout number for this writer is “Ghost Riders of the Sky.” A cowboy’s nightmare of dispossessed souls and marauding herds of cattle, the song evokes the mysteries of the west complete with a sterling electric guitar solo and the background sounds of a roundup.

The love these musicians have for these songs is self-evident in the production and a great listen whether you are “drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds” or drinking that “cool, cool water.”