The Mavericks to open for country legend Dwight Yoakam at Alliant Energy PowerHouse

Not every band's moniker is apt. However, The Mavericks always live up their name. In an era when many recording artists pay attention to trends, The Mavericks don't care about what's popular in the country music world.

The bro-country wave was never an option. The group, which formed in 1989, has thumbed its nose at convention throughout its respectable career.

"We have always done our own thing," drummer Paul Deakin said. "It's not as if you could ever pigeonhole us. We've never been this straightforward country band. We've never been a straightforward anything. We continue to make music that is interesting for us and hopefully is interesting for the fans."

The Mavericks' amalgam of traditional country with elements of rock, pop and Latin, found an audience during the early 90s. The band, which was formed by Deakin and dynamic singer-songwriter Raul Malo, broke through with 1994's terrific "What a Crying Shame." The album yielded four singles, the title track, "O What a Thrill," "There Goes My Heart" and "I Should Have Been True" that landed in the country Top 40, and more chart success followed with 1995's "Music for All Occasions."

"It took a little time but we found an audience," Deakin said while calling from Nashville. "And we just went on from there."

The Mavericks, who will open for Dwight Yoakam Friday at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse along with 49 Winchester, were close to infallible during the '90s. 1992's underheralded "From Hell to Paradise" turned ears with the Latin flavored title track and the visceral "End of the Line."

The Mavericks tapped into some of that '90s sound with its latest project, "Moon & Stars," which dropped in 2024. The Mavericks' new material is upbeat, breezy and eclectic.

The playful "A Guitar and a Bottle of Wine," the catchy "The Years Will Not Be Kind,“ which was written by Malo and Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, and the clever "Overnight Success" each recall the Mavericks salad days back in the Clinton era.

Even with 10 albums prior to “Moon & Stars," the Mavericks continue to craft vibrant and compelling material. "We are driven to create," Deakin said. "We're not just about the past."

But the Mavericks have a storied past to explore. There's nothing wrong with dusting off tracks from an album, such as 2015's "Mono." The project, which is one of The Maverick's finest records, was actually recorded and mixed in single channel audio. Who else records in that fashion? The album takes fans back to how music sounded more than a generation ago. "Mono" sounds rich and full, unlike flat downloads.

"How an album sounds matters," Deakin said. "We love that sound. When you listen to those albums from a half-century ago, they still sound great. Everyone in our band listened to those old Beatles albums, which still sound incredible today. They were mono albums. It was easy for us to embrace that style of music."

The project after "Mono" was "All Night Live: Vol. 1," a 16-track concert document, which is not necessarily in vogue.

"We don't care that a double live album isn't what the masses are looking for," guitarist Eddie Perez said. "We're doing what we want to do. Not only did we decide to go with the double live album, we went all out focusing on the cover and the whole package. It made me nostalgic (when working on that project). I thought back to my childhood when Kiss put out live albums. Live albums are fun. But this is what you get when you do it yourself."

The Mavericks, which also include keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden, engage the audience each show.

"We're going to hit the fans with everything and just have a good time," Perez said. "We will go all out. I play the same way that I did when I was a kid back when you played a show for $20 and a coke. We're not youngsters anymore, but I think we all play like we did when we were kids. I still feel like I'm 13 when I was playing guitar to Chuck Berry songs or Kiss songs. We're all like that."

It's obvious that the members of the band are close friends. Their camaraderie is evident onstage. "We really enjoy each other's company and that means a lot," Perez said. "And the other thing is that we're all old school."