The members of Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters, a Gainesville-based band, has decided to kick off their fifth U.S. Tour in their own backyard.

Friday, the band will launch its tour with a 9 p.m. performance at The Monkey Barrel, 115 Washington St. in downtown Gainesville.

For those uninitiated in the Drifters' experience, Moon describes their sound as "textural."

"Our sets are short and sweet — road-worn and road-tested. Rough around the edges, and falling apart at times, but only instantly, like the old boots you can't seem to abandon," said Moon, who formed the band in 2008.

"You walk into a dirty bar in the West Texan desert, and all of a sudden, you spot Hank Williams Sr. You notice there's a menacing look in his eye as your acid takes hold, and then realize it's only a mask ... and the introspective nightmare that follows as he steps toward you.

"We're a mixture of noise rock, no wave, classic whiskey-soaked country and psychedelia all rolled into a bearded collection of young men who will be as quick to leave your city as we were to arrive."

The band consists of guitarists Moon and Chris Cooke, Jacob Smith on lap steel, Charlie Bennett on bass and Marlon Rhine on drums.

The group's tour will take them all over the country, including stops in New York City, Chicago, Houston and Albuquerque. The tour also coincides with the group's release of their third EP - "Snowed in Sessions."

"It was recorded during the snowy Georgian December of 2010 at our home studio. The EP is made up of four cover tunes that we rearranged and loosely recorded," Moon said.

"The whole thing will be available to download for free online (on our website) during the duration of our winter tour. We are currently doing pre-production for our next full-length, which we plan to begin recording once we return home from this tour."

Moon and his "loud, dark, but honest" band are set to stop drifting in March, when the tour wraps up in Knoxville.

To download the Snowed in Sessions, click here.