The Good, The Bad and The Reggae Canadian group creates sound of the Wild West Indies

If you’re looking for a band with some giddy-up, here’s the quartet for you.

Described as “dreadlocks meet stetsons,” Reggae Cowboys, who will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth, come riding down from Canada armed with a blend of reggae, blues, country, R&B and jazz.

Garbed in Western gear, the Cowboys may seem like a novelty act, but they come with a serious historical message.

As Elena Oumano wrote in the Village Voice, “The Reggae Cowboys’ spin on America’s fondest myth is all its own: irresistible loping rhythms and lyrical themes that subvert the romance by speaking to the plights of Native Americans and African American slaves.”

First in the Reggae Cowboys’ evolution was co-founder Bird Bellony’s interest in the Old West, where one out of every seven cowboys was either black or Latino. While he was growing up in Dominica, British West Indies, two of his brothers worked as projectionists at the local movie theater, and he fondly recalls watching many old Westerns.

“[Our band] is just a fun take on the whole Western thing,” explained Bellony, who goes by the stage name of Stone Ranger, from his home in Toronto. “We all grew up with Western themes. It’s part of my culture, it’s part of your culture, it’s part of everyone’s culture.”

The group’s Web site (www.reggaecowboys.com) includes a section on black cowboys, and many of these same people are enumerated in the title track of their 1996 debut album, “Truth to Tell.” Bronc buster Jesse Stahhl is featured on the cover of their second release, 1999’s “Rock Steady Rodeo.”

The Old West isn’t a new theme for reggae, dating back to the Bob Marley hits “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Buffalo Soldier.”

Bellony, a professional musician from a young age, had played rock ‘n’ roll, jazz and zouk, a distinctively rhythmic music tracing its roots to the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. He knew what he wanted when starting Reggae Cowboys in 1993.

“I wanted a rock ‘n’ roll band, with a reggae edge,” said Bellony, the band’s songwriter, lead guitarist and vocalist. “I wanted bass in the reggae style. I wanted to throw in chords where [reggae] guys usually go chomp, chomp. I wanted to throw in guitar lines on top.”

Bellony was the only professional musician in that initial lineup, which also included his childhood acquaintance, Aljernon Rabess (“Click Masta Sync”), the group’s co-vocalist and rhythm guitarist. That didn’t deter him from realizing his concept.

“As a producer, I knew I could get the sound I wanted out of them,” he said. “If you know someone’s weaknesses, you don’t go about writing complicated arrangements. If you have the will, you can make it happen.”

The current lineup, together since 2000, also included Londoner Iain Green (Hitman I) on drums and Trinidad native Keith Evanson (Marshall K) on bass.

“We’ve been on the road all the time, and progressed quite a bit,” Bellony said. “It’s a nice sounding band. I’m really happy with the players right now.”

The band’s next album, “Let’s Ride,” is complete, and Bellony expects it to be released perhaps this spring by indie label Tumbleweed Records.

“We don’t have record-company pressure, so it becomes fun to go into the studio and make something with a slightly different sound,” he said.

Bellony said a typical Reggae Cowboys audience can be composed of people ages 6 to 75.

“It’s getting wider and wider all the time,” he said. “Kids will come up to me and say, ‘I don’t like reggae, but I love you guys.’ And that’s really cool.”

Tickets for the Reggae Cowboys, with opening act A Mixed Bag, are available at Wild Rufus in Camden, Grasshopper Shops in Rockland, Ellsworth and Bangor, Mr. Paperback in Belfast, Music Gallery in Waterville, Music Bar in Bar Harbor, Karma Rama in Rockland and the Grand box office at 667-9500.