Dead End Armory’s sound an eclectic infusion

California, South Dakota, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Basically, every corner of the contiguous United States is represented by the four members of Dead End Armory, who one by one have ended up here in Maine, bringing with them a wide array of musical interests and backgrounds.

One reviewer called them “Willie Nelson meets the Pixies,” but guitarist and former South Dakotan Mike O’Connor, not surprisingly, said there’s way more to them than that.

“We’re not quite as edgy as the Pixies, and I hate to put the word ‘country’ to our sound, because we’re not a country band at all,” said O’Connor. “Wes [John Wesley Hartley, singer and guitarist] is from Austin, Texas, so he’s got a bit of a country twang to his voice, but he’s also influenced by a lot of indie bands, like the Replacements and Built to Spill. Me, I grew up on the Rolling Stones.”

The band’s shimmery guitar riffs, steady, driving rhythm section and Hartley’s distinctive, high lonesome vocals are available for your listening pleasure on its new EP, “8 Moons are Out,” released into the wild today by Cat and Mouse Records, the label run by Hartley and solo musician Steven Williams. A CD release party is set for tonight at the Space Gallery in Portland, and the band has shows scheduled through the rest of the summer into the fall, including nights at the Lompoc Cafe in Bar Harbor.

Dead End Armory formed last fall, shortly after O’Connor purchased the Portland eatery and music venue Acoustic Coffee, which hosts weekly open mike nights and features a slew of eager up-and-coming performers. Drummer Chris Dibiasio stayed on as manager at Acoustic Coffee after the ownership change, and regular customer Hartley would often perform his original songs there.

The way O’Connor tells it, it was just a matter of time before the three started to play together.

“One day the three of us were playing around and that was kind of that. Leslie [Deane], our bassist, came by a couple weeks later and joined in, too,” said the 41-year-old O’Connor. “I’ve never played in a band before. Everyone else has been in and out of bands, but this is a first for me.”

Over the past few months the band has traveled up and down the state playing gigs, including one at the Montville Grange, as part of the Neck of the Woods concert series held there semiregularly. That series is organized by Waldo County songwriter Orson, who also records on Cat and Mouse Records, along with 10 other artists, including Dead End Armory, blues and gospel influenced troubadour Moses Atwood, the literate rock band Line of Force, and acoustic wild man Paul Bishop Brown, all of whom are regulars at Acoustic Coffee.

Between Portland and Waldo County, it looks like we’re seeing a little scene emerge, doesn’t it?

“There’s stuff happening, and it’s grown beyond just singer-songwriters,” said O’Connor. “We’ve had several bands spawn out of it, including ours.”

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/deadendarmory. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.

Supporting acts:

Sarah Theriault-Cotton, soulful queen of open mike nights at Soma 36 in Orono, just put out “Higher Criticism in Low Light,” a collection of some of her newer songs. Also in new album news, the Bay State’s brand new “Live at Piano’s (NYC)” seven-song EP is only $5 and can be purchased by going to www.purevolume.com/thebaystate. They’ll also play a show at Ushuaia in Orono tonight, with local upstarts Seal Man Investigation. Finally, if you were hoping to score tickets to see Buckcherry at Ushuaia next week, well, think again – the show sold out two weeks ago.