These LoCash Cowboys have high expectations

January 19, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

In the mid-’80s John Mellencamp had us spelling with his hit single “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”

With the same mind-set, rising country-music act LoCash Cowboys soon will release its new single “C.O.U.N.T.R.Y.” The act returns to Rootstown for a Saturday show at the Dusty Armadillo.

“It’s a fun-filled thing I came up with years ago, and it’s kind of a country chant,” said singer Preston Brust, calling from Louisville, Ky. “C-o-u-n-t-r-y, that’s kind of like part of the hook, and that became the name of the song — spelling out the word country. It’s one of the most fun songs we’ve ever written. It’s one of those songs we didn’t think about it a lot. It’s not really deep lyrics, but it’s got country roots, and it talks about our country and how much we love country music and how much we love the country lifestyle. That’s what it’s all about for us.”

Formed around the mid-’00s, LoCash Cowboys, which includes Brust and Chris Lucas, slowly has been making a name for itself around the Music City. At first, the duo turned heads as songwriters. In fact, the act co-wrote Keith Urban’s new single, “You Gonna Fly,” which is rocketing up the country-radio charts.

Excitement abounds for the LoCash Cowboys, who over the past year have watched its hard work open plenty of doors around Nashville. Not only did the band make its Grand Ole Opry debut last spring, but this year the group is planning on releasing its brand-new CD, “This Is How We Do It.” Brust also hinted the act soon will announce another major country artist has recorded one of its tunes.

“It feels like we have our foot down on the pedal,” Brust said. “We’re going to give it a go and have a good time.”

Expectations are high for “This is How We Do It,” which was written in a Rascal Flatts-meets-Montgomery Gentry style. Brust said the material has its own feel, except for the band’s ballads, which feature harmonies that find LoCash Cowboys straying into a Little Texas vibe.

As for the band’s name ... where exactly did that moniker come from?

“I grew up in Indiana, and I was in a big crew of guys,” Brust said. “It was like a gang, but it wasn’t. We never had the courage to really commit a crime or anything, but we were called the LoCash Money Boys. And it was fun. We had a Farrah Fawcett poster hung up in a secret clubhouse. And then it became a phrase. Anytime something cool would happen for next to nothing, we’d say, ‘Man, that was so LoCash.’ When I met Chris in Nashville years later, we wanted to be different, so we became the LoCash Cowboys.”

That story makes sense except for one thing: the Farrah Fawcett poster. Just exactly how old is this country singer?

“I’m in my 30s,” Brust said, laughing. “But we love Farrah Fawcett from back in the day. I can see it vividly in my mind right now. It’s great.”