Picture this: four young men crossing into Iowa. One is a toothless guitar player. The two others are battling brothers known to throw an occasional punch toward one another. The license plate on the van reads Arkansas, “Land of Opportunity.”

No, it’s not a remake of Deliverance but a band from Little Rock, Ark. Only don’t let the members of Ho-hum fool you. These good ‘ole boys are nothing to yawn at.

Having just completed its debut CD, Local, Ho-hum is traveling the country introducing itself and its music to anyone who’ll listen. Which brings us back to crossing the state line.

“Anytime we cross into a new state, we yell, ‘New state!'” bassist Rod Bryan said. “Iowa is our 16th state, and we’ll be driving a new van.”

For the past four years, the members of Ho-hum have honed their songwriting and live performance skills in Little Rock and clubs throughout the South. To call Local a debut album seems odd to a band that has recorded hundreds of songs. It’s more like a greatest hits collection that no one outside of a small circle has ever heard.

“Over the years we’ve stockpiled a lot of songs,” Bryan said. “We, along with the record company, whittled it down to what we wanted to put on the record.”

Let’s say that again. Record. Yep, just like you remember. Round, hole in the middle, vinyl. “They mastered the whole album on vinyl,” Bryan said of producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. “There’s things you can do on vinyl that you just can’t do otherwise.

“I used to listen to a lot of records,” he added. “It’s like, nostalgic.”

The foursome, made up of drummer Dave Hoffpauir, guitarist Kevin Kerby, singer/guitarist Lenny Bryan and his brother Rod, met in a more conventional way: the matchmaking ability of Mom.

As any mother would, Mom Bryan was bragging about the musical prowess of her sons to then-waiter, Hoffpauir. So she set them up. Add Kerby, stir and let chill.

What doesn’t fit in to the rock-and-roll lifestyle is Ho-hum’s image. “Kevin’s not really toothless,” Rod Bryan said of the guitarist’s grin. “But he’s got gaps you could floss with quarter-inch cable.”

Then there’s the courtesy photo. “Oh, you mean the firehose picture?” Bryan asked. (Yep, that one.) “We make fun of ourselves more than people make fun of us.”

You can join the boys for a beer and a laugh when they play at People’s Bar and Grill tonight. Opening up is the always-entertaining Johnny Socko.

Show time is set for 9:30 p.m., and cover is $3. And ya’ll don’t forget your ID, ya hear?