Vincent and Big Bend rock and dress in synch

Chet…Chet Vincent and the Big Bend Brillobox 4104 Penn Ave. Saturday, 10 p.m. 412-621-4900 Tickets $6

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The musicians of Chet Vincent and the Big Bend never step onstage without their cowboy garb.

“There’s something about the Western motif that seems right for us. It was a very natural form to adopt,” said Vincent, singer/songwriter and Big Bend frontman. He and his bandmates will be performing at Brillobox Saturday.

“We don’t wear 10-gallon hats or rhinestones or anything like that,” said Abe Anderson, drummer for the Big Bend. “I like the idea that there’s some sense of community. You see a lot of bands that just come on stage and jam for 45 minutes. I think having some sort of theme really helps people focus and pay attention.”

An affinity for cowboys isn’t the only thing that should prompt you to see Chet Vincent and the Big Bend live.

“We all get very into it. The sound is very full and [the live show] is thrilling in that way that seeing music performed by people who are passionate always is,” Vincent said.

The Big Bend is Chet Vincent’s backing band and is a four-piece amalgamation of Vincent’s more devoted musical friends, comprised of Anderson, Andy Voltz, Daniel Dickison and Tad Wissel.

“As you get older, people’s priorities change. Before, they might have been playing music as one of a hundred other things they’re doing,” Vincent said.

A group of artists, which included Vincent and Anderson, bought a house in Pittsburgh to facilitate practicing music while other housemates came and went. The Big Bend consists of those who stuck around and committed to making music.

“People that play in bands after college are a minority,” Anderson said. “[The Big Bend] is sort of the all-star cast of musicians that we’ve played with in Pittsburgh.”

Vincent began playing the guitar while in high school. He took lessons for one month, but after he broke his arm, Vincent progressed on his own. Eventually, he connected with other artists at school and started performing with various bands. To teach himself guitar, he played along with Beatles albums. Vincent’s other influences include singer /songwriters like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. His own aesthetic is a blend of country, rock and folk music.

In 2007, My Idea of Fun, an artist collective based in Johnstown, Pa., released Vincent’s debut album, The Wakes.

“They were all really accommodating and are all very enthusiastic about what they do,” he said.

The Wakes is an alternative country album intricately knit with lyrics sung in Vincent’s deep baritone vocals. Previously, Vincent released two EPs with The Wakes, the Washington, D.C.-based band for which his album was named.

“The studio is a little bit tense, which makes it exciting in a way that maybe live shows aren’t,” Vincent said. “It’s a different experience because you’re not actually playing songs, you’re playing parts of songs.”

The songwriting process is sporadic for Vincent: He has no formula for composing music. The songs on The Wakes are primarily his concepts, but his sound is always cultivated by the creativity of his backing band.

“The Wakes was more my vision, but that is always influenced by the [backing] band. I’m not going to tell someone to drum a different way or play a different style of lead guitar. The way [my band] sounds changes my vision for each song,” Vincent said.

Vincent played his first live show on New Year’s Eve at Pittsburgh’s First Night. Pressed to find a last minute act, an event coordinator asked Vincent’s friend Ethan if he knew any bands that would be willing to pull a set together. Lying, Ethan said he played in a band. He managed to pull together a group of musicians, including Chet, to play some covers up on stage.

“It was a surprisingly huge crowd, which is completely terrible for your first show, to have that many people there,” he said. “I’m sure it was completely terrible, but it was the most fun I ever had. I remember that being the first moment where I was like, I know why people like to do this now.”

Now, Chet Vincent and the Big Bend are veterans when it comes to performing live and concentrate on creating a sound that’s as electrifying as possible.

“For the last year or two, being onstage has just been really fun for me. I’m not nervous that it’s not going to go well anymore,”Vincent said. “Now playing live is just a chance to show off what we do. It’s the way music’s meant to be played.”