While some musicians are just now latching onto the idea that older can be better, regional bands say they’ve known that all along.

J.D. Wilkes, frontman for the Dirt Daubers, says the band’s eclectic rockabilly sound is in keeping with the grand tradition of regional music.

“Western Kentucky gave birth to bluegrass music, and we’ve got a lot of bragging rights,” he said. “It’s just awesome that another generation is coming to appreciate the roots of rock ’n’ roll and pop music.”

Wilkes observed that musicians worldwide have jumped on the “roots music” bandwagon in recent years. “It’s a very hot trend now,” he said. 

The interest in the past isn’t confined to rock musicians. Josh “JP” Patterson of The Great Gatsby Jazz Funk Odyssey says the band’s look and sound harkens back to an earlier, classier time.

“Basically we’re taking history and we’re revising it. (The region’s music) is based on bluegrass and country roots, but now we want to integrate soul into what we’ve taken from here,” Patterson said.

While it could be argued that artists always draw from those who came before them, Wilkes believes other factors may be responsible for musicians’ increased interest in the past.

“It’s a combination of the recession and a return to do-it-yourself music, and a rejection of consumer culture,” he said. “And just a yearning, a basic human yearning for something that rings true.”

Other local bands agree that the urge to create something genuine fuels their music. “We try to stay away from trite, useless music,” said Chris Black, singer and guitarist for Paducah-based Oh Yeah Dakota!

Band members say they feel more of a kinship with older music than mass-produced pop. “It’s all pretty much a throwback,” Black said of their style.

The members of Oh Yeah Dakota! agreed that their approach sometimes backfires with audiences. The band describes itself as “super middle class,” claiming their idea of nice clothes is a pair of cargo pants. “It alienates the button-up and polo crowd,” bassist Josh Cornelius said.

Still, the success of regional acts like The Dirt Daubers — set to have played about 200 shows on stages worldwide by the end of 2012 — proves that locally grown music has a chance to find its niche. “There are new bands, like Pokey Lafarge in St. Louis ... playing antiquated American roots music to audiences of thousands every night. ... It’s becoming mainstream again,” Wilkes said.

This weekend’s events should be a treat for those who like their music with a touch of nostalgia and a lot of local flair.

Oh Yeah Dakota! and The Great Gatsby Jazz Funk Odyssey, along with Hardn’ Souls, will play at their CD release party at 9 p.m. Friday at JP’s Bar and Grill, 119 Market House Square.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, The Dirt Daubers will perform with the local purveyors of “honky-tonk mayhem” known as The Solid Rockit’ Boosters at Maiden Alley Cinema’s 11th Birthday Bash and Costume Contest. For The Dirt Daubers, the show at Shandies, 202 Broadway, will offer an appropriate sense of homecoming.

“(We) started upstairs at C.C. Cohen’s,” he said. “Playing your own hometown and having people come out and dance and have a good time, it’s like going home again.”

Call Laurel Black, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8641.