Head bangin' with a twang

Every song the Xenophobes play starts off - and stays - all out. And in decibel levels appropriate for a larger venue than drummer Fil Corbitt's garage.

Chris Stehman, sporting the best pompadour since Little Richard circa 1962, stands astride his blond upright bass, slapping and pulling the strings.

In a performance-worthy rehearsal, singer/guitarist Austin Barnett punctuates "16 Tons" with jumps and yells out the words:

"You load 16 tons and whaddaya get? Another day older and deeper in debt.

"St. Peter don't ya call me 'cos I can't go -

"I owe my soul to the company store."

Tennessee Ernie Ford would probably appreciate his signature song played very, very uptempo by a psychobilly band in the new millennium.

"Xenophobes are a little more melodic, well, we're less unmelodic than other bands," Fil with the rockabilly sideburns said. "Our music morphed into more metal and punk."

It morphed into what Fil calls a mix of punk, hardcore and '50s rockabilly.

The Xenophobes are 2007 Douglas High graduates Chris and Austin and Douglas senior Fil, who started playing together about four years ago.

"I got a new guitar and Fil got drums and we said, 'let's start a band,'" said Austin.

Besides playing in the garage, the Xenophobes performed about 22 dates in Reno this year, they perform at Comma Coffee in Carson City on Nov. 10 and play at the Injected Art Halloween Bash in Gardnerville on Oct. 26.

Austin said he's influenced by psychobilly band Sasquatch and the Sick-a-Billys and local bands Fatality and Cobra Skulls, but most of what the Xenophobes play is their own compositions.

Original songs include "Peg Legged Bridge," "Don't Breathe In," "Crossing County Lines" and "Virginia City Harker." They found the name, "Xenophobes," by going through the x's in the dictionary.

Austin, Chris and Fil use their artistic skills to print the band's logo on T-shirts and create designs for stickers and other merchandise. Fil's dad Mike Corbitt is a graphic designer who helps make the band's signs and CD art.

"We adopted the Neighborhood Watch sign and made it our own," said Fil.

Whether people like the band's T-shirts or their music, the Xenophobes are seen and heard.

"We went to a Stray Cats concert up at the Lake a few months ago and we saw a few Xenophobe T-shirts in the audience," said Mike Corbitt.

He said the band got the idea to play "16 Tons" from listening to his old records.

"They listen to everything from jazz to metal," said Mike. "Everything but Emo."

Xenophobes play 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Halloween Bash at Injected Art, 1516 Highway 395 in Gardnerville. They play with Gardnerville band, Buster Blue, 7 p.m. Nov. 10, at Comma Coffee, 312 Carson St., Carson City.

Go to Myspace.com/Xenophobes to find out about the band's shows in Reno, Carson and Lake Tahoe.