The late '80s and early '90s was an exciting period for American rockabilly revivalists. Acts like High Noon, Go Cat Go and the Dave and Deke Combo were bristling with ideas and toured incessantly at home and abroad.

Of those revivalists acts - indeed, the only one which still performs regularly today - Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys have come the closest to some measure of national awareness, with a nearly decade-long stint with HighTone Records, TV appearances, occasional performances on the Grand Ole Opry and years of hard touring.

In early June, the band released their latest album, "It's Time!," their first album for the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Yep Roc label following nearly a decade with HighTone.

"This album came together easier than 'Night Tide' did," says Williams in a telephone conversation from Anaheim, Cal., referring to the group's last album.

"I had a difficult time writing the songs for 'Night Tide,'" continues Williams, who, somewhat in contrast to his public image as a raconteur and bon vivant, comes across as surprisingly soft-spoken during the interview, frequently taking time to consider his responses before answering. "We were in one of our many transitions musically as a band. We were caught in the middle of trying to do stuff that fit in with what we had been doing and had become known for and still wanting to step out a little bit more and take some left turns along the way. And also just the personal situation I was in in my life."

"(The new one) just felt more natural. We were fired up about it. We were working with a new label, (and) we felt like we were finally starting to click with our current lineup. It was kind of a cool situation where we had Wally (Hersom, the band's former bassist) on the other side of the board, somebody who came from our background."

Born in 1964, lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Robert "Big Sandy" Williams grew up in southern California, the son of an Oklahoman father and a second-generation Mexican-American mother. From his father, he developed a love for country, rockabilly and western swing. From his mother, he inherited a fondness for R&B, doo-wop and blues.

After learning to play guitar in his late teens, Williams began performing in two '80s bands - first in the Moondawgs and then in Robert Williams and the Rustin' Strings. The latter band also included bassist Wally Hersom, who would join Williams in the Fly-Rite Trio following the demise of the Rustin' Strings; even recording the Fly-Rite Trio's first album, 1990's "Fly Right," in his small studio.

Unlike every one of the band's releases since 1992's "On the Go," the new album was recorded live in the studio, with former bassist Hersom returning to handle production, just as he'd done on the band's very first album. Williams says that the new album was recorded live in the studio in order to re-capture some of the spontaneity that was heard on the group's early records.

That meant playing musical chairs - literally - on some numbers, with guitarist Ashley Kingman playing electric bass on the Elvis-esque "Chalk It Up to the Blues" while steel guitarist Jimmy Roy moved over to guitar, for instance. On other numbers additional musicians were brought onboard, including Dave Alvin accordionist Chris Gaffney (who appears on "Bayou Blue") and Bill Bateman and Gene Taylor of The Blasters (who both guest on "You Mean Too Much to Me").

"This one was completely live. We hadn't done it in a while. When we hooked up with HighTone and Dave Alvin (who produced 1994's "Jumpin' From 6 to 6" and the following year's "Swingin' West") we had the option of fixing parts (with overdubs). It's nice to have that option, but sometimes I think it took away the feel of what we were doing."

Considering that the band has been around for nearly 15 years now it's perhaps surprising that they haven't yet released a live album. Williams says that it's been seriously considered recently and that it'll probably happen sooner rather than later.

"It looked like we weren't going to be doing anything else with HighTone, so we thought we'd put out our own live record. We were set to do that, but then we started talking with Yep Roc, and we thought it wouldn't be a good idea to put out a live album as a first record with a label. We did actually record a couple of nights at the Doll Hut here in Anaheim. That's in the can, and we might do something with that down the line."

Yep Roc has developed a reputation for signing acts covering a range of musical styles, including Caitlin Cary, Jason and the Scorchers, Nick Lowe, and Los Straitjackets (with whom Williams toured in 2001 as a guest vocalist). The band's current contract calls for three albums.

"The last record, 'Night Tide,' was just a one-off," says Williams, explaining that it was the result of a one-album deal with HighTone that was signed after the group's original contract had expired. "The original contract had run its course. They had done for us what they were going to do - and vice-versa - and we don't feel like it ended with any bad feelings. It was just time for a new start. We were talking to Yep Roc, and they were really excited about the possibility of working together."

Interestingly, Williams says that at one point while on HighTone the band had been courted by Sire Records, a label which had a unique history of signing interesting country acts but not being quite sure what to do with them once they had them under contract. In the case of Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys, Sire wanted to release an album of Bob Wills covers, an idea which the band wasn't terribly keen on.

"We'd met with them a few times; one time in New York and another time in L.A. We started to get a funny feeling about it because (they had) some concepts for our first record, and that was one of them. It didn't seem like that was a good idea, particularly for a first album with a label. I don't think they knew exactly what we were about as a band."

In April, Williams performed a rare solo show at the annual Viva Las Vegas rockabilly festival, where he regularly also acts as one of the festival's three emcees. Backed by L.A. doo-wop trio the Lonely Blue Boys, Williams performed a set of material primarily derived from his 1998 solo album "Dedicated to You."

"It was great. I was really surprised by the response we got. It's not something I do all the time, though it's something I'm starting to do a little more often. I recorded the 'Dedicated to You' album a few years back and never really got a chance to perform that material. It's only been in the last year that I've gotten together with the Lonely Blue Boys."

In late April, Williams traveled to New Orleans' Ponderosa Stomp roots music festival where he was coaxed onstage with two of Elvis Presley's original sidemen to perform a few numbers.

"The setting was so much different than Viva Las Vegas; just regular people there soaking up the music. I had just gone there to hang out, (but) I got called up on stage, and I found myself up there with Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana. Paul Burlison was up onstage, too. It was dreamlike. I still feel like I'm a fan more than anything else, and to say those guys are legends is an understatement. We did 'That's Alright, Mama,' 'My Baby Left Me' and 'Lonesome Train.' To be backed up by Scotty and D.J. and singing Elvis songs is pretty mindblowing."

In contrast to many performers who never look past the usual album/tour/album/tour cycle, Williams comes across as someone with the mind of a chess player - thinking six moves ahead and bristling with ideas and projects for the future.

One idea which Williams is currently mulling over is the concept of a tour including all of his past and present bandmates from the Fly-Rite Trio of the late '80s and early '90s to the Fly-Rite Boys of the present day, which also includes longtime guitarist Ashley Kingman, drummer Bobby Trimble (the only remaining member from Williams' Fly-Rite Trio days), bassist Jeff West and steel guitarist Jimmy Roy, a British-born musician best known for his previous work with Ray Condo's Ricochets.

Williams took a small step towards this idea last year when he reunited the original Fly-Rite Trio - himself, Trimble, Hersom and guitarist T.K. Smith - for a performance at the Green Bay rockabilly festival.

"It was a little funny going back to it. It was sort of a messy situation at the time. When T.K. left, he kind of left us hanging. It took me a little while to feel comfortable with being back together. It kind of felt like rehashing stuff we'd done before. There's a lot of people who used to come out to shows who don't really come out anymore. And now when I run into them around town they say, 'C'mon man, you've gotta do that Fly-Rite Trio stuff again.' And I was reading some of the things Phil Alvin had said about the Blasters reunion - he didn't want to turn his back on the guys who are with him now."

"But I think now I feel okay with going back. I can have fun with it now. I think we've grown since then. When we were up there on stage it felt great. And we've reincorporated some of those songs back into our current lineup. Lately I've been thinking about doing a package show of all of the material that I've done with all of the different players we've had in the band."

"I (also) have an idea for a garage/soul kind of (band). Our drummer Bobby and I have been talking about doing a trashy kind of soul band. There's other things. For instance, a singer/songwriter sort of thing. Maybe focus on the songwriting a little more than we have been."

Williams is currently planning on doing some writing with former Bellfuries leader Joey Simeone, who left Texas for California following that band's breakup last year. During their brief existence the Bellfuries had developed a dedicated following owing to Simeone's remarkable vocals and songwriting, which brought a melodicism to rockabilly that it had rarely seen since the heyday of the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. Combined with Williams' own clever writing it could well be an unbeatable combination.

"I'm so turned on by what he's done in taking rockabilly to a different place. I'm hoping that hanging out with him will rub off on me a little bit. I had a long conversation with him last night. I guess he's been listening to our stuff for a while and - it's kind of funny - I guess we're sort of feeding off each other right now."

"He knows all these other chords that I haven't even thought of."