When bands are taking requests between songs, I often put in my two cents: "Play something original!"

Sure, it's great to hear tunes you might know and love, but why not give the musicians an opportunity to put their writing skills on display.

When I saw Boss Diablo on a handful of occasions last year, I was mightily impressed by the band's choices of songs to cover: Go back in the archives and read my raves about such fare as "Help Me," "Homework" and "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place." Great material, and stuff you don't hear every day.

Still, I looked forward to hearing what the members of the quartet would put together on their own. A demo CD they put together last year gave an inkling, with a couple of originals included, highlight by a slice of social commentary (including "special guest commentary by George Dubya," as the band puts it) called "End of Days."

That song is one of nine originals among a dozen tracks on Boss Diablo's debut album, "Don't Act Right," just released on Blawnox-based Moondog Records. And for anyone who's caught the band's live set, the CD doesn't disappoint, bringing together the band's varied blues and rock influences in a well-produced package.

Guitarist Chuck Beatty had a hand in composing all the originals, and he shares vocal duties with drummer Tom Hohn, well-known around this area for his work with the Cynics. Chuck also handled much of the production duties, with Tom taking care of the vocal arrangements. They're ably augmented by the other two band members, bass player Brian Washington and harmonica player Stanley J. Mikolajek.

Many commentaries about albums start with words about the opening track. But let's begin here with the closer, which would seem a natural as the band's theme song: "The Ballad of Boss Diablo." Over an instrumental arrangement that would make Ennio Morricone proud, Hohn delivers a story line about "one bad hombre" from south of the border "dealing black tar and fragrant buds of green." Move over, Panama Red!

Some other highlights:

* The near-title track, "You Don't Act Right," shows a strong rockabilly influence, with various band members harmonizing for the chorus: "Can't take you out in the daylight, 'cause baby, you don't act right." Chuck plays a suitably crunchy guitar break, without a pick, no less.

*"Light a Candle," a primarily acoustic song featuring Chuck using his growling vocal style to a melancholy effect, and an outchorus that's reminscent of mid-period Rolling Stones.

* "Shake Some Dust" is a Beatty-Hohn composition that has a sinister ambience throughout, from Stanley's filtered harmonica to Chuck's strategic use of reverb and
slide guitar to Tom's "desperate times call for desperate measures" vocal delivery.

* "King of the Urban Jungle," the band tells us, is Chuck's tribute to the late James King, a bluesman of some renown around the Pittsburgh area. Beatty makes his
low-pitched vocals resonate and his guitar sting through a song that sounds something like John Lee Hooker meets Magic Sam.

The cover songs are some of the band's stage favorites: Tom Waits' spooky "Way Down in the Hole" (Chuck's vocals are practically a dead ringer for the original), the jump blues "I Love You Honey," and "Midnight Train," as popularized by the great Buddy Guy.

And to close, let's talk about the opener. "Darker Side" is co-written by Beatty and Washington, D.C., lyricist Matthew Aquiline, addressing some of what's wrong of the American dream: "Promises made every day, then broken/Things that beat you down become security/Sends you down to your darker side." Chuck gives the song a very distinctive flavor with his tasteful use of tremolo throughout.

Accompanying the basic quartet on a couple of tracks is keyboardist Bill Maruca, a regular in the Grateful Dead tribute band Fungus. And adding vocals on a couple of other songs are two ladies who also have the last name of Beatty, Elisa and Ruth.

Everyone combines for a musical document that shows the members of Boss Diablo are capable of coming up with some quality material of their own to go along with their superb choices of old favorites (of mine, at least) to play for new audiences.

CD RELEASE PARTY: 8 p.m. Friday, May 19, at Moondog's, 378 Freeport Road, Blawnox. Plus special guests the Pump Fakes.

Between sets at his CD release show Saturday, Tom Breiding greeted some of his fans and well-wishers. He saw me, and we shouted some pleasantries above the crowd and PA system.

"I'm psyched!" I thought I heard him say.

"That's good," I replied.

"No, I said I'm tight," Tom corrected me, meaning he thought he needed to loosen up before taking the stage again.

Whatever he did in the next few minutes must have worked. Tom and his band, American Son, put their new album, "Time to Roll," on full display for an enthusiastic audience at Cefalo's, the stylistically converted church in Carnegie.

It's always a pleasure to see Tom perform, something I unfortunately haven't done enough during the seven years or so I've known him. He puts on a good show on his own, but his quartet - also guitarist Jeff Stevens, bassist Mike "Pit" Mozena and drummer Chris Moore - has really come together as a tight performing unit, adding a new dimension to some of Tom's older song.

But Saturday night was about the new album, Tom's eighth and the first he's recorded as a project with his working band. The material is strong and the performances are sharp on disc, but hearing everything live gives it full impact.

The setlist for the CD release show peppered some older tunes in with the new, giving fans a chance to enjoy some favorites while getting used to the "Time to Roll" material. He highlighted two of his more recent albums, "Two-Tone Chevrolet" and "American Son," with selections from each of those, and his "Happy Hour in the Round Hotel" album was represented by the should've-been-a-hit "You Don't Want to Lose Her."

But a good portion of the show, of course, was devoted to "Time to Roll," with most of the album's songs showing up during the evening. A highlight was hearing Tom's heartfelt rendition of "The Music Plays On," the true story of his travails in trying to sell a composition for a film soundtrack: "Drove 500 miles for 10 minutes of your time." Needless to say, Tom deserves far better than that!

The night also included performances by Kick Start, the other project by the other guys in Tom's band, and by Bill Toms & Hard Rain, of which Tom is a regular member. (Sometimes it's tough to keep up on who's playing with whom, but it's all good music!)

While the Cefalo's gig represented the CD release show for "Time to Roll," the release PARTY is scheduled for Friday, May 12, at Moondog's in Blawnox. That evening also will include a performance by Pittsburgh-area legend Norman Nardini. (Scroll down to read a bit more about him.)

And don't forget about the special gig by Bill Toms & Hard Rain at Kenny's Castaways in New York City this Saturday, May 6. A bus trip from Pittsburgh is organized for those who want to attend.

Everyone involved should be plenty loosened up for that.