Big Back Forty don't want to change your life. They just want to give it some good music. At least that's the way bassist Steve McGann tells it when he calls from a tour stop in Trenton, New Jersey, the day after the band gave a Philadelphia crowd "some good music."

"We want people to tap their toes and bop their heads to the music, and maybe the next day they'll have a catchy tune in their heads," McGann says.

Indeed, "Bested," the forthcoming album from this Columbus, Ohio-based quartet, is chock full of alternately twangy, crunching tracks that reveal a kinship with their Columbus country-rock colleagues, the Haynes Boys.

But where the Haynes Boys delve at times into their blues-rock encyclopedia, Big Back Forty explores the wide-open expanse of traditional country. OK, so the amps are probably a lot louder than Waylon Jennings ever cranked them. But you can hear the history they draw from in the soft weep of pedal steel guitar and the foot-stomp menace of deftly picked acoustic guitars. And singer-guitarist Sean Beal's dry, earthy drawl is a perfect complement to the music.

Although Beal grew up the son of a preacher who forbid his son to listen to rock æn' roll (ant thus made it inevitable Beal would seek it out), the atmosphere of "Bested" is somewhat incongruous for Steve McGann and his brother, Pat, who is the band's drummer. Both boys grew up worshiping at the ultra-hard rock altar of AC/DC.

"Pat and I are older now, so we'll listen to a lot more kinds of music and a lot of music that's good," McGann says. "When we were growing up, AC/DC were great, and I still love them. But we've realized that great music isn't just based on how loud the guitar is -- although I still really love hard rock."

What is perhaps most remarkable about Big Back Forty -- named, as you can probably guess, after their roomy, organic sound -- is that while each of the members hail from different geographical regions (none are originally from Columbus, but met there) and musical backgrounds, the band's sound is absolutely unified and focused. Given the relative newness of the outfit -- the band lineup was solidified in early 1996 when McGann's brother Pat joined on drums -- "Bested" sounds like a time-tested band that has logged a thousand dusty miles under its belt. Warm and self-assured, Big Back Forty establishes itself on record from the very first song, "Blood" and never looks back.

Although Big Back Forty is bound to be compared to the burgeoning alt-country or roots-rock field populated by the likes of Son Volt, Wilco, and the Jayhawks to name a few, McGann says he is at a loss to explain why that movement is resonating in a major way with the listening public.

"That's a tough one," McGann says. "People have always been doing this kind of thing, since the '50's. It's just called alternative-country now because what's on modern country radio is so terrible. Maybe people are just tired of what's been coming out. If we were together eight or nine years ago, I don't know if anyone would have been interested in us."

Jonathan Perry is a South Carolina-based music journalist who shares an apartment with his wife, cat, and enough record albums to make him wish he had his own big back forty.

All tracks above are from "Bested" courtesy of Polydor records.