SOUTH HAVEN � Deep in the heart of Tempe, Ariz., when desert rock was coming into its own 15 years ago, Roger Clyne and Aaron Beavers were among those who paved its way, cheering each other on as they laid the path.

So when the two take the stage with their own bands � Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers and shurman, respectively � at McCool�s tonight, it�ll not only be a reunion, but a chance for the two good friends to show each other how far they�ve come.

With the Peacemakers� first live release in several years, �Live at Billy Bob�s Texas,� due out July 5 and shurman�s first full-length release, �jubilee,� continuing to make its way up the Billboard charts, there�ll be a lot to celebrate.

Beavers, for one, can�t wait.

�I�m so excited, I can�t take it,� Beavers said from Los Angeles in his last few days before hitting the road again. �This is the last time we�re going to get to play with (the Peacemakers) for a long time, and we have more fun with them than anyone.�

Clyne and the Peacemakers launched the first leg of their summer season June 2 in Eastern Tennessee. Staring down 35 appearances in 27 days, the first day�s always the bluest for Clyne, who misses his wife and kids before he even gets on the bus. Nevertheless, summertime is the time to make hay, and he and the band are looking forward to coming back to Northwest Indiana.

�When we got the invitation to McCool�s, I remembered it being this place with black walls, proper for putting on a show,� Clyne said. �We had a good time last year (Clyne first played McCool�s April 17, 2004), so we said, 'Let�s go back.� �

Along with one or two new songs, the Peacemakers have dusted off a few more of the old Refreshments tunes and put them in the mix � including the theme from Fox Television favorite �King of the Hill,� according to Lynn Brackpool, public relations for the Peacemakers.

�There�s a couple more � no giant raising of the dead, but I love playing our old stuff, like 'Dolly,� � Clyne said. �It�s part of our history.�

Clyne and the Peacemakers made history this year, too, as the first rock act to ever record at seminal honky-tonk Billy Bob�s Texas in Fort Worth.

The desert rock sound doesn�t lend itself to one genre, so the folks over at Billy Bob�s were a bit perplexed when the Peacemakers took the stage.

�Billy Bob�s has recorded artists like Willie Nelson and David Allen Coe, so when we played, they asked us, 'What is this?� and we were like, 'We don�t know,� � Clyne said. �It�s just a mobile fiesta we do here.�

Having Billy Bob�s record the Peacemakers meant entering a joint venture with the Smith Music Group, also out of Fort Worth. It was a move Clyne would�ve otherwise been wary of if it weren�t for Smith seemingly being on the same page when it came to making and marketing its music.

�We sat down for drinks with them, and they seemed to be the right kind of people telling the right kind of lies,� Clyne said.

Never lost touch

Born in Tyler, Texas, Beavers met shurman drummer Damon Allen when they were 14, and Beavers� family moved just outside of Atlanta. The two became fast friends, but went their separate ways after high school, when Beavers ended up in Arizona and then Hawaii.

He and Allen never lost touch, though.

�Damon was in L.A., and he told me I had to come out there,� Beavers said. �So I did, and we would go watch these bands, but after coming from Tempe with Roger and Brian (Blush, formerly of The Refreshments) and P.H. (Naffah, of the Peacemakers) and all those guys, I was like, 'This doesn�t even compare to what I saw coming out of Arizona.�

�I can remember going to see Dead Hot Workshop with Roger and thinking these guys were going to be huge.�

Dead Hot never made it out of Arizona, but Clyne�s band, The Refreshments, did.

After enjoying some success, however, a label reorganization forced Clyne and his band to take back their music and start producing it the way it needed to be produced: by them and for the fans.

The lessons Clyne and his bandmates learned have served as a compass for Beavers, Allen and the rest of shurman as their record, �jubilee� has shot to No. 1 on the alt.country charts and their debut video for first single �Drownin�,� shot by renowned director Nathan Cox, gets heavy rotation on CMT. And all within the span of about four months.

�A lot of things I knew going into this, in terms of setting up the contract with the label, were because of these guys,� Beavers said of Clyne and Naffah. �Because of their friendship and guidance, we went into this like, 'We�re not getting screwed again,� even though we�d never been screwed in the first place.�

To support the effort, Beavers and the band also are embarking on a grueling schedule of 13 weeks on, two days at home. If it were up to Beavers, he�d do more if it was humanly possible.

�Right now, we�re trying to get in front of as many people as we can, because if it�s 10 people or 10,000, it takes the same amount of sweat and spit,� he said. �But this is what we�re meant to do.�