If The Wallflower’s latest single, “One Headlight” sounds familiar, or their video to “6th Avenue Heartache” has somebody in it that you may think you’ve seen before, you probably have.

The 26-year-old frontman, with hollowed cheeks and a cleft chin, whose raspy voice slides from octave to octave with ease, in none other than Jakob Dylan. Son of ’60s folk legend Bob Dylan.

But, no matter how cool your parents may have been while you were growing up, it seems no child wants to emulate them. Not even a celebrity’s kid.

“I never thought it was inevitable,” Dylan said of his career choice. “I just thought of it as joining a company. You do this, then you get paid. I just want to feed myself.”

That analogy, of joining a company, is far from inaccurate, though.

Formed in the early 1990s, The Wallflowers released a self-titled debut in 1992 on Virgin Records.

Though the freshman effort drew much critical acclaim, sales numbers didn’t follow suite.

Fast forward four years. Now signed to Interscope Records, the Flowers have not only become critics’ darlings, they have the record sales to back them up and the number one video on MTV for the week of Nov. 14.

But success hasn’t come easy to the group.

After the mutual break-up with Virgin, word got around that the group had been dropped, making it difficult to get resigned. Then, to add insult to injury, the group’s line-up changed.

“It didn’t matter to them,” Dylan said of Virgin’s response to their record. “They wanted a record that was more commercial.”

Dylan added that the trouble the group experienced after losing the label, including the eight months it took to sign on with Interscope, led to the band’s change in members.

Now, with original Wallflower Rami Jaffe on keyboards, Greg Richling on bass, Michael Ward on guitar and Mario Calire covering drums, The Wallflowers have a record they are proud of in Bringing Down the Horse.

“We made the record we wanted to make,” Dylan said. “We didn’t have goals of selling more records. It really just evolved by spending time listening to more and more music.”

What Dylan and crew weren’t prepared for, was the visual aspect of modern music — the video.

“I don’t have that problem yet,” Dylan said of women mobbing him on the streets. “No Beatle mania here.

“But I thought, ‘Wow, I made a rock video,'” he said. “It’s not unbearable to watch, especially with the fast cuts. But it’s hard to watch when it’s 30 seconds on your face.”

While having your face plastered all over the small screen and having a music icon as your father are things most can’t relate to, influences are.

“I had older brothers and I would listen to whatever they did,” Dylan said. “They turned me onto the Clash and Elvis.”

Touring isn’t something in the blood though. Dylan said the night- after-night shows have more than once been performed “on auto pilot.”

“I want to go home,” he said whimsically. “I’ve spent the last six months touring consistently.

“But, if you’re willing to play ball, you can earn the merits of a Neil Young,” Dylan added.

Or, how about a Bob Dylan?

The Wallflowers open up for Blues Traveler tonight and tomorrow at Stephens Auditorium. Showtime is set for 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $20.50 at the Iowa State Center Box Office located at Stephens or call 233-1888 to charge by phone.