DG’s Taphouse will host an evening of free music featuring Christopher the Conquered, Gloom Balloon, The Hudson Branch and The Kickback on Oct. 27. It will be a night of firsts and lasts. 

The show will be the first Ames appearance for The Hudson Branch, a Chicago-based alternative pop quartet, whose influences range from Wilco to Bill Withers. It’s also their first stop on their longest tour to date. According to bassist Matthew Boll, prior to this tour the band would have been more likely to play a house show at The Pink Lady.

“This is our first longer national tour that we’re playing mostly venues,” Boll said. “[In the past] we did a lot of house shows, and they’re just so different than other shows. There’s no stage, really, and you just play in a house with a bunch of sweaty drunk people.”

The band was formed in 2008 by two sets of brothers, Matthew and Jacob Boll and Corey and Cobey Bienert. Prior to that, the brothers had collaborated on many different musical projects, but The Hudson Branch was the one that stood the test of time.

“We all just kind of played on each other’s projects here and there,” Boll said. “Six years ago we all got together and formed this one, and it’s the one that’s stuck. We kind of knew what we were doing right away, and it’s been that way ever since.”

In 2009, the band released their debut album “Tightrope Walker.” A follow up, “World Kid,” was released in 2012.

Later that year, the band played their largest show to date, opening for synthpop legends New Order at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. Boll says that while opening for such a well-known band was an amazing experience, it was not as life changing as one might expect.

“The weirdest thing about it is the day after, things just totally went right back to normal,” Boll said. “It was like we were on this huge mountaintop, but we still [had to] make records and play shows. Not that we don’t love doing that but there was no big revelation of us as the next big thing.”

The band’s latest album “Kina Ze Swah” was released earlier this year. Though the title may seem to hint at a world music influence on the album, Boll says the name came serendipitously when lead singer Cobey Bienert was recording rough vocal ideas in the studio.

“It’s complete gibberish. It doesn’t actually mean anything in any specific language,” Boll said. “It just kind of became the theme of the record. You can take these things that are fairly meaningless and give them a lot of weight and a lot of meaning. They are what you make them.”

In April, the band played a show in Chicago with Des Moines’ Gloom Balloon. The unrestrained approach to music and live performance made a strong impression on The Hudson Branch.

“They’re just the most fun dudes,” Boll said. “The way that they approach playing and writing music is just so refreshing.”

According to Gloom Balloon’s Patrick Tape Fleming, the feelings of admiration are mutual.

“[They’re] awesome dudes who are breaking out,” Fleming said. “[They’re] handsome men who make beautiful music.”

Following their appearance in Ames, the band will join fellow Chicago band The Kickback on a two-week West Coast tour.

The show will also be the last chance for Ames residents to see Iowa’s Christopher the Conquered and Gloom Balloon for quite some time.

In November, Christopher the Conquered will depart for a month-long tour of Italy. Frontman Chris Ford is also one of two members of Gloom Balloon. As such, Gloom Balloon will be on a brief hiatus while Ford leads his trio around Italy.

In an email to the Iowa State Daily, Fleming implied that this might be the last Ames show ever for Gloom Balloon, though he declined to offer any details or clarification on the matter.

If the chance to see touring acts and send off local favorites isn’t enough to convince music lovers to attend the show, Fleming has a pitch that is hard to deny. 

“It’s free, ‘The Bachelor’ is not on yet and “Monday Night Football” will be on in the bar,” Fleming said.