The band Poacher is a rock ‘n’ roll diatribe, charging guitar and bass with a swift beat out to grind an ax. Made up of veteran Starkville rockers Ben Hodge, Ed Dechert and Scott “Scooter” Thomas, the power trio deals its tunes out heavy and sweet.
Founded two years ago by the Starkville musicians, the band began with learning Dechert’s songs. Quickly, the members felt allured by the purposeful sounds the trio created, said bassist Ben Hodge.
“We started playing together and said, ‘This is too good to not be more serious about this,'” Hodge said.
The band’s chemistry has given way to an album two years in the making that will be released this weekend at Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern. The first song the band learned wound up on its current album,  +/- . Releasing an album on vinyl was in the mind of the band since its inception, according to Thomas.
“Ed was all about pressing vinyl from the get-go,” Thomas said.
As quirky as vinyl may seem to some, across the nation more and more indie bands are turning to pressing records instead of CDs in hopes that the attraction of LPs will spurn the sale of their music. Poacher is no different, with album art by local artist Ming Donkey; the album, from the cover to the last note, is totally local.  For bassist Hodge, vinyl offers more than just a casual listen.
“What’s cool about vinyl is it’s like a trophy. You can go to a show and see an awesome band and come back with a piece of vinyl to show your friends,” Hodge said. 
Cool records and great music can only go so far, said Thomas. What all bands need is support, he said, but in a place like Starkville, it’s an uphill battle for local bands to get a crowd.
“Oxford is kind of a music town. We’re fighting here against the dollar-you-call-its,” Thomas said. “The people that like music are the ones that’ll dig deeper to find it, and those are the people that will love us. I don’t think there’s a shortage of good bands, but I think there’s a shortage of good listeners.”
Poacher’s sensibility for music goes beyond being mere fans, Hodge said.
“The thing we have going, we don’t pander any songs. We play the songs the way they need to be played,” he said.
For the band members, who all have regular day jobs (day gigs in musician parlance), Poacher is a crusade, trying to convert the masses with its brand of indie rock.  The band hopes to be undeniable in its approach to playing live, Thomas said.
“We’re trying to have a good time and make people like us, sure, but if they don’t like us they aren’t going to deny we are having a good time,” he said.
Poacher takes the stage at the Dark Horse Saturday night. The band’s album will be on sale for $15 with a digital download for those who want their vinyl portable; just the download will cost $5. Opening for Poacher will be local duo/femme fatales Sarah Ulmer and Courtney Kinzer. Come early, stay late and get a listen of some of the best in local music.