E-Mail This Article to a Friend Good fellas In and out of the spotlight with the Sadies BY KURT B. REIGHLEY

Unless they’re working the casino circuit, most rock bands play only one show a night. Not the Sadies. On their last swing through New England several months ago, the Toronto quartet opened every gig with a full set in support of their fourth album, Favourite Colours (Yep Roc), then returned to the stage to accompany the headliner, alt-country siren Neko Case. They also played a pivotal role as Case’s backing band on her debut for Epitaph’s Anti imprint, the live album The Tigers Have Spoken. And when they return to town this Tuesday, they’ll play an opening set of their own tunes before joining the new Jon Spencer/Matt Verta-Ray project Heavy Trash at T.T. the Bear’s Place for a headlining set.

"I really enjoy doing double duty," says Sadies singer/keyboardist/guitarist Dallas Good. "[On the last tour] it gave us an opportunity to do what we do, and it enabled us to be completely warmed up by the time Neko hit the stage."

No question Case was happy with the results. "The Sadies are the best live band in the world," she argues over the phone from the road. "That’s one big reason I wanted to make a live record. We’ve been looking for a new excuse to work with each other for years." In addition to a pair of Sadies/Case co-writes showcased on The Tigers Have Spoken — a girl-group homage ("If You Knew") and the title cut — the two camps recorded several more songs for Case’s forthcoming studio album, which is due later this year on Anti. "We’re all in love with each other," she admits.

Playing a supporting role is hardly an unfamiliar one for the Sadies: they’ve recorded with Mekons/Waco Brothers frontman Jon Langford and blues madman Andre Williams. It’s something that comes naturally to Dallas and to his brother, singer/guitarist Travis Good, since they grew up performing with a number of other relatives in the Good Family, a well-known band on the Canadian bluegrass circuit. Margaret and Bruce Good — the brothers’ mom and dad — sing and play autoharp on one Favourite Colours cut, "A Burning Snowman."

As Dallas explains, growing up as part of a musical clan imbued them with "a certain ingrained knowledge of traditional country and western music, especially bluegrass. That’s something that my brother and I take for granted, and it’s been a great asset for the two of us."

It also gave the brothers realistic expectations when it came to the business end of music. "I had no delusions of grandeur," Dallas continues. "I never thought, ‘Oh, all I have to do is write a hit single and I’m going to be rich.’ I realized, at a very early age, that it doesn’t work that way . . . with the exception of a few people who operate in a world that I don’t ever want to understand anyhow."

The Sadies first emerged as a band, with bassist Sean Dean and drummer Mike Belitsky (as well as Neko Case singing background vocals), on 1998’s Precious Moments. They followed up in 2001 and 2002 with Tremendous Efforts and Stories Often Told, as their sound evolved from something resembling the surf-rock stylings of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (Dallas briefly played with Shadowy Men drummer Don Pyle in a band called Phono-comb) to the rootsier, alt-country they’re now associated with. The rapid-fire guitar runs of the instrumental "Northumberland West" that open Favourite Colours establish the band’s bluegrass credentials; "The Iceberg" is a more ambient, textural piece that brings to mind Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. Although instrumentals remain a Sadies specialty, the new album is full of vocal numbers like the harmony-filled psychedelic country rocker "Translucent Sparrow." Dallas and Travis have very different voices, but they blend well. "I definitely believe that there is something genetic about family members being able to sing together," says Dallas. "It’s common sense; chances are you have similar vocal cords. Even if I’m singing out of tune, Travis will go out of tune with me."

But the brothers step aside on the jangling final cut, "Why Would Anybody Live Here?", to back alt-rock eccentric Robyn Hitchcock. Like the Band back in Dylan’s "basement tapes" days, the Sadies are equally at home holding their own as an opening act and backing up a headliner. "It’s not exactly an opening slot," Dallas says of the current tour, "because we have the headlining sound check. Plus, it’s a great opportunity for us to play large venues and to reach a bigger audience, which is really our only goal at this point. We just do what we do as well as we can."

The Sadies open for and back Heavy Trash this Tuesday, June 14, at T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street in Central Square; call (617) 492-BEAR.