Over the last five years, the Iowa City-based band High and Lonesome has spent approximately 750 nights entertaining audiences throughout the Midwest.

It was about halfway through the journey when all of the long nights began paying off.

High and Lonesome was tabbed “the best live band this state has produced in the last decade” by former Des Moines Register music critic Pat Beach, just one of a host of accomplishments.

“We have established our identity on stage,” lead singer and keyboardist David Zollo said.

High and Lonesome originated in Iowa City and consists of guitarists Ruairi Fennessy and Darren Matthews, drummer Jim Viner and bassist Dustin Conner.

Once establishing a reputation in Iowa City, the five-piece band began to spread out to larger cities such as Des Moines and Chicago.

Zollo said High and Lonesome’s sound comes from a variation of ’60’s and ’70’s influences, including the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix. The band is also influenced by Muddy Waters and other blues and folk musicians.

“We are a rock ‘n’ roll band that just happens to be influenced by those types of music,” Zollo said. “Our roots are in rock, with a mixture of American blues and country. Everyone in the band brings a different influence.”

Since 1993, High and Lonesome has released three records, including “Alackaday” in 1993, “livefromgabes” in 1994 and “For Sale or Rent” in 1996.

But perhaps the band’s biggest success is “The Morning is a Long Way from Home,” the most recent album released by Zollo on his own Trailer Records.

Rolling Stone gave “The Morning is a Long Way from Home” three and a half stars, while Familie Magazine called it a stunning debut. The album succeeded in Europe and was even released in a German edition.

High and Lonesome has not let success stop them and is working on a new album tentatively titled “Has-beens” or “Neverweres.”

The album is expected to arrive in stores by the end of February and is said to contain styles found on all of the band’s albums, with the addition of more instruments.

“The first two records are longer with more improvisation, while the latest release focuses more on songwriting,” Zollo said. “We found a nice common ground on this record.”

Zollo gives songwriting credit to all the band members on the new album. He said that on the first album, the band achieved this sort of writing, but on the second studio album, he wrote the majority of the material.

“[It’s an effect of] getting to know each other musically,” he said. “Playing on stage for as many hours as the group has; it allows us to appreciate everyone’s contribution.”

High and Lonesome will play at People’s Bar and Grill Friday at 9:30 p.m.