Only in the Midwest can you interview an artist and hear a train with blaring sirens ramble by in the background.

And only in America’s heartland will an artist pause during an interview because his coon/hound dog mix is lapping water so loudly it drowns out the person’s voice on the other line.

So was the case during an interview with the Indiana-based indie group Chamberlain, whose Hoosier agrarian roots run as deep as the state’s fertile soil.

According to lead singer David Moore, Chamberlain began under the guise of Split-Lip about eight years ago, when most of the band members were fresh out of junior high.

Moore, guitarist Adam Rubenstein and drummer Charles Walker, three of Split-Lip’s founding members, are components of Chamberlain’s current lineup. The band’s initial stage also included bassist Curtis Mead and guitarist Clay Walker.

Split-Lip shed its tough guy moniker after the guys matured and fine-tuned their musicianship by touring the United States coast to coast. Moore referred to Split-Lip as a “pre-pubescent” band.

Chamberlain’s former incarnation released only one album, “For the Love of the Wounded” on the independent Doghouse records.

After shifting its name to Chamberlain, the group released its second album on Doghouse, “Fate’s Got a Driver,” and took a brief hiatus to evaluate the band’s future direction.

Mead and Snyder left the band a month after they recorded the new album “The Moon My Saddle,” which hits stores this month. The two members were replaced by rhythm guitarist Stoll Vaughn and bassist Seth Greathouse.

Moore cited differences in regard to the band’s musical docket as the reason for the departure of the band’s two long-standing members.

“We had a different agenda,” he said. “It was a difference of musical opinion and direction.”

Unusual services

Moore’s major influences include the songwriting of folkie heavyweights Bob Dylan and Tom Waits.

“I don’t think there’s a bad Dylan record,” Moore said after christening “Desire” and “Blood on the Tracks” as his favorite Dylan albums.

“Once I found Dylan and realized that music had that kind of power, as far as language goes, that’s what I’ve been drawn to,” he said.

He was also affected by the indigenous music of the prairie land: country, gospel and bluegrass.

“[Country music] is where my heart’s at,” he said.

Moore and drummer Chuck Walker were involved in a bluegrass side project called Chevy Downs. Though the band hasn’t toured lately because of lineup changes, the members are seasoned road warriors.

Moore recalled an incident involving the band unknowingly walking into a brothel in the Czech Republic.

The story goes that the band wanted to stop for drinks after a show in the Czech Republic. Moore and crew stopped at a small, unmarked building, and upon their entrance were flocked by about 15 prostitutes.

“About half the ladies came over and surrounded us,” he said.

“It came down to [the band] drinking a whole lot of bad red wine,” Moore said. He made it clear that “no one partook in the services offered.”

Family services

Moore, who is responsible for all of the band’s lyrical content, said good lyrics are fundamental to skilled musicianship.

“So much has been done musically, but there’s still a lot of places to go lyrically,” he said.

Moore said lyrics are Chamberlain’s sounding board.

“The lyrical content is the cornerstone of the band,” he said.

“Most of [our] songs are about basic human experiences: heartache, mortality, fear and confusion,” Moore said.

Besides being influenced by Dylan’s picturesque poetry and prose, Moore’s favorite poets include Dylan Thomas and e. e. cummings.

“When I was young, I thought I would become the next great American poet that came from Nowhere, Indiana,” he said.

His parents supported his youthful visions of success and continue to do so. Any time the band plays in its home state, Moore’s parents and other family members are there dishing out support. He said his family stays for the longevity of Chamberlain’s gigs, even though it may mean staying awake until the wee hours of the morning.

“A lot of the time, we’ll headline a show and won’t get done until 2:30 a.m.,” he said.

“They’re troopers,” he said. Since Moore has a large family, friends of the band joke that Chamberlain is destined to have a good crowd when playing southern Indiana because most of his family will show up.

“Sometimes I think they’re more into it than I am,” he said.

Family values are still at the heart of this Hoosier. With a coon dog, a girlfriend of nine years, a supportive family and a rock ‘n’ roll band at a man’s side, who needs basketball?

Chamberlain is the opener for Ames’ favorite psuedo-psychedelic Celtic band The Drovers, who perform at The M-Shop Saturday night.

Celtic services

Drover bassist David Callahan, who also shares vocal responsibilities with violinist Meritt Lear, said this past summer was hectic for the band.

Members kept themselves busy by writing and rehearsing songs for an album that is slated to come out sometime this winter, though no songs have been recorded yet. Callahan said he doesn’t know how to categorize the songs that will be released on the new album.

“I’m so close to it, I don’t know what style it is,” he said.

Callahan said he is not sure why the new record isn’t out yet.

“I don’t know why I’m making all these excuses,” he said.

One reason for the holdup is the band’s previous distributor went bankrupt. The Drovers are currently shopping for a new company to put its goods into stores.

Callahan said the void of distribution may be ameliorated by the band selling its wares at shows and from its Web site.

He said the band will probably start recording soon because its studio isn’t heated and won’t keep out the Windy City’s bitter chill. This will be the first album that The Drovers have recorded in its own studio.

He said Drovers guitarist/keyboardist guru Mike Kirkpatrick has finally amassed enough equipment to record the next album in the confines of his basement.

Having its own studio is an asset because some bands tend to compromise on their recordings because of limited studio time due to tight budgets.

“Sometimes your performance isn’t the best you’re capable of,” Callahan said. “But it’s no big deal to have your own studio anymore.”

The Drovers was founded as an Irish traditional band by Sean Cleland, who plays the Irish fiddle.

The band “started as a casual get-together of musicians who played Irish music,” Callahan said.

Since its inception, the band has strayed from its Irish roots with the addition of new members not trained in Irish music.

After The Drovers settled into a steady lineup, the band took advantage of each members’ talents rather than trying to mold the band into an Irish folk band.

The Drovers members are more than musicians, they’re actors. Well, sort of. The band appeared in Ron Howard’s “Backdraft,” which was filmed in their hometown of Chicago.

The band was also cast in director Michael Apted’s thriller “Blink” which starred Madeleine Stowe, and contributed to the picture’s soundtrack.

Last year The Drovers contributed to “Inner Flame,” a tribute to singer/songwriter Rainer Ptacek, who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The album also featured Page and Plant, Emmylou Harris and PJ Harvey.

Chamberlain and The Drovers play two M-Shop shows at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday. The first Drovers show will be acoustic and the second electric. Tickets are available at the Memorial Union Ticketmaster at $6 for students, $7 general admission.