To some music aficionados, genres are defined for a reason and should never be mixed. For musicians Dave Gonzalez and Mike Barfield, those lines are a little smudged. Actually, they are more like the traffic laws in New Orleans — merely suggestions.

Dave Gonzales and Mike Barfield

Both are steeped in the tradition of country music, but neither seems to be satisfied with its simple beat. Instead, their new band, the Stone River Boys, blends ’50s R&B, funk, and country into what they like to call “country soul” or “country funk.” The Stone River Boys play Chickie Wah Wah tonight at 8 p.m., and iTunes actually classifies their debut album, Love On the Dial, as R&B, but  not many R&B bands employ a pedal steel guitar.

To Barfield, their sound is a natural development of the sounds they grew up listening to. “Radio back when I was younger was not quite as compartmentalized, and I think most musicians like a lot of different styles. People have the idea of it being more separate than it really is,” Barfield explains.

In the same breath he mentions James Brown, Charlie Parker, and Hank Williams, Sr. To further prove his retro leanings, some of his favorite artists today include the Dap Kings and Amy Winehouse (pre-tabloid firestorm, though) for their re-interpretation of older styles. “That might cause some stir in my band, but I like some of the things she’s done,” he says.

Before the Stone River Boys, both Gonzalez and Barfield, who were long-time friends, were delving into separate bands and sounds. While Barfield was doing more funk (“cracker funk,” he jokingly calls it), Gonzalez was leaning more country-soul with the acclaimed group the Hacienda Brothers. Before the tragic death of co-founder Chris Gaffney from cancer in 2008, the Hacienda Brothers were on their way to national fame. They had been nominated by the American Music Association for “Group of the Year” in 2007 and played Tipitina’s in 2005.

Barfield joined with Gonzalez for a benefit tour to raise money for Gaffney’s medical bills, but after the tour  Barfield and Gonzalez realized that they needed something to keep them going and that they had a good sound.

Both in mourning, they put to bed the Hacienda Brothers and formed the Stone River Boys. “We didn’t keep the name, not like some bands do. I think that would’ve made me feel weird,” Barfield says.

When it comes to their brand of country, though, don’t expect much Taylor Swift or Kenny Chesney.  “Country has a different meaning than it used to. A lot of people associate it with what is going on now, and we aren’t really a part of that mainstream scene very much. We are more retro than that.”