Six Mile Grove will perform Saturday, March 28 at the VFW in downtown Austin for a homecoming concert.

The band recently signed with Eclectone Records of Minneapolis to release their new album “Steel Mule.”

“Eclectone Records and Six Mile Grove share a common goal of creating honest, story-driven Americana music,” said lead singer and songwriter Brandon Sampson. “The collaboration with Eclectone allows us to focus on songwriting, so we can continue to make music together for a long, long time.”

“The folks at Eclectone are great supporters of what we do and are very effective at letting the music world know about it,” Sampson said.

Plans for 2009 include European and national radio and press promotion, attendance at the 2009 Americana Music Festival, and regional/national and international touring exposure for the band..

The Saturday concert will be held from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday.

Admission is $5 at the door.

Six Mile Grove will be performing songs from their newly-released album “Steel Mule,” with tracks from previous releases and a Johnny Cash song or two.

Six Mile Grove was founded in 1997 by brothers Brandon and Brian Sampson, Barry Nelson and Dezi Wallace in Lyle.

The band started out in the late 90s playing venues such as The Fineline Music Cafe, Lee’s Liquor Lounge and O’garas, and often functioning as a local opening act for larger bands such as G. B. Leighton, Martin Zellar and The Honeydogs.

In recent years the band has toured with Bob Wootton (Johnny Cash’s lead guitarist) as his backing band and opening act. The tour included a performance at the annual 2005 “Cash Only” Johnny Cash tribute show, hosted by the Cabooze.

Wootton calls SMG “the best thing to come along in the music business for quite a while.”

SMG’s friendship with Wootton eventually led them to Nashville, where they found their home in the “Americana” genre, first as members, and then as participants in the annual Americana Music Conference hosted by the Americana Music Association.

Singer Brandon Sampson debuted acoustically in October 2007 at the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville in addition to attending the AMA conference with fellow bandmate Dezi Wallace.

Six Mile Grove describes itself as an Americana band with “roots generations deep in the cornfields of southern Minnesota.”

They have toured across the United States from the heart of New York City to the hills of Fairplay, Colo., Kentucky Headhunters, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Gear Daddies.

Their current album “Steel Mule” is charting and receiving airplay on Americana and Country radio stations in the US and Europe.

For more information, visit their Web site at www.sixmilegrove.com.