Fortunate fans to hear Dusty 45's new album

The Dusty 45s you'll see at the Yakima Sports Center tonight are still going to be The Dusty 45s, those foot-stomping, stage-strutting rockers led by cock of the walk Billy Joe Huels.

All of that is still going to be there. But -- and this is where things get interesting -- Huels is also promising a new side of the band. The Seattle-based Dusty 45s, darlings of the Northwest roots-rock-rockabilly scene, have, well, they have matured, he says.

I know, right? Say it ain't so.

But fret not, longtime fans; maturation has been kind to the Dusty 45s. Their new album, "Fortunate Man," which is due for release later this month, is as strong pound for pound as anything they've done previously.

The album's 10 tracks remain true to the band's established roots-Americana sound. But, while they still wear their influences on their collective sleeve, The Dusty 45s have created an identity of their own with this release. They are, in other words, less and less like a retro novelty act and more like a true creative force.

"It's definitely an evolution from the more nostalgic feel (of previous albums)," Huels says. "A little more of my personal heart is on this."

Songs like "A River From My Eyes," for instance, is nothing if not a classic country ballad. But it's also unmistakably The Dusty 45s, from Huels' voice to the toe-tapping bass. That voice, by the way, is sounding better and better with the passage of the years.

"I think it's just maturity," Huels says of the singing. "It's just having done it and having that confidence."

The band expects to play the new album in its entirety tonight at the Sports Center, 214 E. Yakima Ave. So you can hear it for yourself before it's released.

"It's a really nice mix of all the American roots influences -- early rock, a little country twang, and some ramped-up rock 'n' roll," Huels says.

-- Pat Muir