The guys in Boy Named Banjo look like the cover of either a bluegrass or men’s outdoor fashion magazine as they collect in front of a laptop to do an interview.

They’ve absconded out of their Nashville, Tenn., hometown and about two and a half hours west to Harris, Tenn., to work on some new tunes.

It almost seems like a given that anyone born and bred in Nashville would have a natural penchant for the life of a song spinner. Not necessarily, they say, though banjo player Barton Davies does concede, “You’re surrounded by a lot of people who are good at music.”

The band will play Friday at Notes Live. Jason Wulf will open the show.

Growing up, Davies was inspired by a few musicians, including the folk rock band The Avett Brothers and banjo player John Hartford. And then there was his banjo-playing dad, who taught his son how to play. When Davies met guitar and harmonica player William Reames in high school, a fledgling band was born.

The two would hang out in the parking lot after school and write songs “probably about some girls and having fun, going out to the lake or river and having a big time. At that time you write what you know, what you’re liking. We had it pretty good back then,” Reames said.

After adding another bandmate to their duo, fellow classmate and mandolinist Willard Logan, they began performing as an acoustic string trio and in 2012 released an album, “The Tanglewood Sessions.” But by then it was time for college and they headed off to pursue various degrees, but kept performing when they could. After graduation, bassist Ford Garrard and drummer Sam McCullough joined the band and they decided to give it a real go.

“I don’t think any of us were thinking we were going to be professional musicians when we graduated,” Davies said. “Even though I didn’t study music in college, it was a great experience. The band was taking off and we said let’s do this.”

In 2014, they dropped “Long Story Short” and found themselves playing at Dierks Bentley’s short-lived Seven Peaks Festival in Buena Vista. And last year they sent “Dusk,” their first major label effort, out into the world.

“Dusk is a big theme, sunsets, being in love and falling in love at night, heartbreak, the sun setting on relationships and things of that nature,” Davies said about the album.

Davies and Reames are married now with kids, so the nature of their songwriting has naturally evolved from those freedom-filled days of writing tunes in the school parking lot.

“Post-COVID we wrote a lot about soaking up the moment and enjoying the little things and being out in nature and with loved ones,” Davies said.

“Having a new little one in the world is a big moment. Giving life to someone else is impossible to ignore. A lot of songs are about being away from family and home and life on the road. Those are also the people who keep you doing what you’re doing.”

Contact the writer: 636-0270

What: Boy Named Banjo, with Jason Wulf

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Notes Live, 13141 Bass Pro Drive

Price: $20; 719-309-9840, notesbar.com

Americana band Boy Named Banjo will brings its quintet to Notes Live on Friday. The group’s roots go back to the high school days of Barton Davies and William Reames as they hung out in the parking lot after school and wrote songs.

Courtesy of Red Light Management