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Steamboat Springs — Troubadour and acoustic guitar artist Danny Shafer is returning to Steamboat Springs with a different kind of sound.

Shafer has brought his unique blend of country and folk-oriented Americana to stages across Colorado for years, but he'll have something new for local fans Saturday night, when he plays at the Old Town Pub & Restaurant on Lincoln Avenue. His band, The Unknown Americans, has a new bass player who Shafer said is not afraid to pound the strings.

"Jon's bringing a lot of heavy-hitting - he's laying down a really strong bass line for us," Shafer said of Jon Van Spriell.

Van Spriell has played under his own name for several years. He joins The Unknown Americans to replace Kort McCumber, whose busy schedule made it hard to continue with the band.

Band members chose the name The Unknown Americans to represent the voice of the proverbial "common man."

"I truly relate to that name. When we walk out on stage, we are like everybody else," Shafer said. "Nobody's out in front, nobody's in the back. Everybody is equal."

In addition to Shafer and Van Spriell, the Unknowns feature Jason Pawlina on the drums.

"I think the band is a little bit heavier sounding now, and a little more rockin'," Shafer said this week. "We're really a song-oriented band, but we're still able to move a bar, get up and get rowdy: We're hitting the road with a bunch of new material."

While Shafer previously described the band's sound as a mix between Lyle Lovett, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, he said the newer version compares better to "what the Drive-by Truckers might sound like if they were acoustic."

After the Truckers played in Aspen two weeks ago, the Aspen Times said the band "sang of whiskey, Johnny Cash, guns and damnation. With plenty of cussing thrown in."

That kind of atmosphere could fit the bill just fine for Saturday's show at the Old Town Pub.

"The pub is always a total blast," Shafer said of the Sixth Street and Lincoln venue. "The folks have been great to us over there, and it's a loose and down-home kind of night - the Steamboat locals are killer. We really like playing there."