Ken Schles

Cowboy Mouth Deep Ellum Live, 2727 Canton St, Dallas. 8pm Fri-Sat. Tickets $18.50; 214-526-8077

You're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh darn it, Cowboy Mouth likes you. Coming to a revival tent near you is the only band in America that's a perfect cross between Bob Patterson and Hootie and the Blowfish (who gave the Mouth their big break, inviting them to open on Hootie's '95 world tour). Self-empowerment meets college rock, and both win.

A Cowboy Mouth show is a nonsecular religious experience. Drummer/vocalist Fred LeBlanc prowls the stage, preaching empowerment and heating up the crowd -- "ARE YOU WITH ME?" he shouts (it's the title of their '96 major-label debut); "YEAH!" answers the cheering audience, fists pumping in the air -- then LeBlanc jumps behind his drums to pound out an anthem heavy with Cowboy philosophy: have fun, be glad to be alive, don't worry about what others think. Cynicism dare not show its face on this stage.

New Orleans native LeBlanc was the founding drummer for drunken barnburners Dash Rip Rock (now simply "Dash"). He formed Cowboy Mouth in the early '90s with fellow local rock stars John Thomas Griffith, formerly of Clash-wannabes Red Rockers (anybody remember their big hit, "China"?) ; Rob Savoy of the zydeco-rock band Bluerunners; and Paul Sanchez of the perfectly '80s Backbeats, whose lineup included a very young Vance DeGeneres in a skinny tie. There's more new wave than Neville Brothers in Cowboy Mouth, but the Big Easy influence is still obvious, and delicious. When this band throws a party, laissez les bon temps rouler.