Songwriting is a process that takes plenty of skill. Or plenty of beer, if you’re Barnyard Playboy frontman John Lyons.

“I’ll go out some night and get really trashed, just totally hammered,” he explained. “The next morning I am hung over and everything seems really funny to me. I take all this crap that I have floating around in the air and it flows together. Since I have such a bad headache I really don’t care — so I’m not thinking so hard.”

As the music industry continues to be flooded with different types of music, many bands combine genres in order to achieve recognition and uniqueness.

The New York band The Barnyard Playboys has done exactly that, fusing elements of country and punk to create its own individual sound.

“We’re kickin’ ass across the USA,” Lyons said. “I’ve been playing [punk] music for years, and then I started listening to country. I got bored with all the traditional music so I combined it and came up with a hard-core honky-tonk beat.”

The band describes its style as traditional country music mixed with rock from the modern alternative world.

Made up of Lyons, drummer Joe Baxley and bassist Adam Freeman, The Barnyard Playboys will make its Ames debut this weekend.

The Playboys came together from all around the country, including Michigan, Alabama and Los Angeles, which results in the variety of music styles found on the band’s self-titled debut record.

“We all knew each other in Oregon, and then we all moved to New York at the same time, so we hooked up there,” Baxley said.

The group released the CD on its own label, Atomic Playboy, which has helped The Barnyard Playboys gain attention from radio stations and other independent record labels around the country.

“We are hoping to stay together for about 10 years,” Lyons said. “We really don’t care about [fame] at all.”

Lyons takes influences from great country stars George Jones, Johnny Cash and Buck Owens and adds a little touch from his rock ‘n’ roll history, the group’s press release said.

The physique known as country-punk has grabbed the ears of all sorts of music listeners.

“We aim to entertain ourselves, but we end up entertaining everyone else also,” Lyons commented.

The Barnyard Playboys’ shows are described as captivating and almost cult-like among the alternative scene in New York.

“I love music, so I treat it that way,” Lyons said. “Nine out of 10 times our shows go really well.”

As can be expected, the Playboys bring in a large variety of people to its shows.

“It’s pretty bizarre,” Lyons said. “We have a big crossover of rock fans, country folkies. College students also like our shows. We are heavy without being Slayer. And girls can dance to our music; that’s important to me.”

The Barnyard Playboys will perform at The M-Shop tonight at 9. Tickets are $3.