As is the case with many folks, Saturdays often turn into running-around days for me.

That was the story last weekend as I scrambled to make it into Pittsburgh's Strip District in time to catch what I could of guitarists Bill Toms and Tom Breiding for their regular Saturday gig. Bill hadn't been there the previous week, but that was OK because I had the opportunity to meet Joey Murphy and write something up about her.

Since April, Bill and Tom have been doing acoustic shows at Leaf & Bean, kind of a neat setup where they play inside the cigar-coffee shop and put a few speakers outside the pump the sound into the street.

So I heard strains of their music as I hustled toward the venue after parking my van a few blocks away, and I recognized the tune they were doing as Tom's "You Don't Want to Lose Her." Cool! I've really liked that song since Tom demonstrated it to me back around '99, and I've learned it as part of an ongoing effort to play some music written by local artists I've met.

I walked into the shop with a smile, which got broader as I watched Bill and Tom launch into an extended jam on the song's E minor theme, with Bill picking out a riveting solo to raise the level of intensity.

"We never played it quite like that before," Tom told me enthusiastically after the show.

Hey, check it out for yourself. Head down to the Strip on a Saturday afternoon and see these guys (and have a cup of joe and a Montecristo No. 3 while you're at it.)

Then check out the sounds of Bill Toms & Hard Rain, when Bill and Tom strap on electric guitars and go to town with a full band.

I talked with Bill after the Leaf & Bean gig before he had to run to do another show that evening with Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers, a band he's been a member of for nearly two decades. You know Joe as a well-respected veteran of the Pittsburgh music scene - and from his friendship with a certain Mr. Springsteen, who produced the wonderfully titled Houserockers album "American Babylon."

But our conversation dwelt mainly on Bill Toms & Hard Rain and the imminent release of the band's fourth album, "The West End Kid."

"This is more of a rock record than we've been doing the last couple," Bill said, featuring characters and themes that take the listener "from despair to redemption; from darkness to light."

Bill composed the material and co-wrote one song, "In the Paradise," with Tom, representing the latest joint venture in a collaboration between the two musicians that dates back about five years.

They met when Tom brought copies of his first compact disc, "Guitar and Pen," to see if Bill would sell it at Premiere CDs, the store he ran on the South Side.

"I fell in love with his songwriting," Bill said. "We got to talking, and I needed a guitar player." They thought the arrangement might be temporary, but Tom still is part of Hard Rain.

Also in theband are four other Houserockers: Art Nardini (bass), Joffo Simmons (drums), Joe Pelesky (keyboards) and Bernie Herr (percussion). Phil Brontz rounds out the lineup on saxophone. And like the acoustic adventures of Bill and Tom, band members play together here and there in various combinations besides the full seven-pieces, rearranging the songs as necessary.

"A lot of the stuff that we write, it leaves a lot of air. It's very open music," Bill said. "One of the things I enjoy is reinventing these songs every night. Nothing's set in stone."

One thing that might be set in stone is Bill hanging around in Pittsburgh.

"We've played all over the world, and I think that in this city, there's so much history and so much folklore to write about," he said. "It's a great thing to draw from if you're a songwriter."

Listen to the songs of Bill Toms and Tom Breiding, and you'll know what he means.

Mark your calendar: The CD launch party for Bill Toms & Hard Rain's "The West End Kid" is Saturday, Oct. 22, at Cefalo's in Carnegie.

PHOTO: Bill is on right and Tom on left at the Leaf & Bean.