Let the other bands focus on frilly pop songs and who may or may not have let the dogs out. Denver's 16 Horsepower focuses on the big questions that really matter: Why are we here? What are we supposed to do while we're here? And how do we do it?

"To me, there's nothing else to sing about. To me, there's nothing else to be concerned about," says frontman David Eugene Edwards. "Everything else is a waste of time. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll has been covered a million times. Who needs that again?"
"The type of music we make is definitely not what most people are doing," he says in a supreme understatement.

Critics have tried to pigeonhole their sound as alt-country rock, while strict readings of their lyrics would put them in the Christian rock camp. But it's far more complex than that.
The Denver-raised Edwards, 32, was steeped in religion, life and death early on through his grandparents' ministry; and his writing exists in the worlds of Flannery O'Connor, early folk/blues, punk rock and the Old Testament.
So 16 Horsepower is a study in contradictions. Edwards' fire-and-brimstone beliefs clash with the secular desires, making nearly every song a study between the way men should act and the way they do act.

The band will play a rare New Year's Eve show at the Gothic Theatre ("Usually we say 'no' on New Year's Eve. Our music is not party music, know what I mean?").
"I can't do anything else. I don't know how to do anything else,"Edwards says "I've never made any other kind of music that was more simplistic or-lighthearted. It's just not what I do; it's not what I've been given to do."
"There's just so much more to think about and to talk about to get across to people," he continues. "A lot of times, it's things people don't want to hear, it's obvious the way the world is, that people don't want to hear this. But that's my responsibility."

The band's popularity in the U.S is still spotty despite four critically acclaimed releases.
Their latest album, Secret South, was recorded in a converted log cabin in Blue River. "We just moved everything in there with the '70s shag carpet, lived there and recorded for about a month," Edwards says.
The result was an album that stunned critics who had already heaped praise on the band's previous effort, Low Estate. From eternal damnation of Clogger ("You think you got away with somethin' boy?") to the sin and forgiveness of Straw Foot, the band blazes through topics that make people squirm. The old-world oratory is couched in sometimes delicate, sometimes roaring music,elegant, powerful and undeniable.

"We're not a radio band. We've never had that kind of success and never really cared about it," Edwards says, again stating the obvious. "As long as we're able to do what we want, we just do it."

Besides his fundamentalist upbringing, Edwards steeped himself in traditional music the world over, from his Appalachian roots to rare obscure east European traditionals to Library of Congress recordings.
"To me, it's the best music out there. I take the sounds that really affect me and try to use them in my own way," he says. "Appalachian music is my first love, just from my own family history."

When his previous band, The Denver Gentlemen, broke up, Edwards was forced into a decision.
"I wasn't the singer. I just played the music. When that band stopped, I was forced to start to write and sing," he says. 16 Horsepower currently has Jean Yves Tola on drums, Pascal Humbert on bass and Steve Taylor on guitar.

Their music evokes a time, spirit and mystery that is gone from daily life. And unlike other supposedly spiritually influenced singers and bands, Edwards isn't afraid to point fingers and express strong beliefs about what's right and wrong. He doesn't write vague "can you take me higher?" hymns ala Creed. In an era where life is so morally subjective and everything is open to negotiation, Edwards sticks firmly to right and wrong, good and evil.

"Musically, it comes quite easily, compared to the lyrics. Lyrically it takes me a long time: and always has," Edwards says. "It comes together very loosely and haphazard, but in the end it's very strong.-I'm still coming to terms with songs I wrote 10 years ago-what it's about and what it means. All of these songs . . . they're songs to tell me something, to teach me a lesson, to open my eyes to the way I am.
"A lot of people are bothered by it," he acknowledges. "I knew that going into it. I never expected to have a record contract because of it. When A&M signed us, I was completely baffled. I was thankful and happy, but I waited for it to end every day."

So in an American culture that bulldozes its past and focuses on the the future, 16 Horsepower is still largely unknown, though it has strongholds in cities that have a deep sense of history-such as New Orleans and St. Louis-and the South. Europeans, more rooted in their history, have embraced the band, which regularly makes it on the best-of lists.
"It does get frustrating. I'm a family man, and it's difficult for me to be away from home all the time," Edwards says. "But a lot of times, just to pay my rent, I have to go to Germany and France. I love to play for those people, but it's difficult."

The band's tough subject matter also makes them a focus for hardcore fans. Most merely appreciate that someone is asking the tough questions; there's a fringe out there, though, becoming convinced that Edwards has the answers.
"l try to be as open and honest with everyone as I possibly can," Edwards says. "I don't think that happens with a lot of bands. I get a lot of crazy people, to tell you the truth, which is fine; I'm making music for them, too. But we do get some pretty scary people stalking us."

After the Dec. 31 gig, the band will tour the U.S. in January and February -including another Denver date to be determined- and then Europe in March before recording the next album.

"We've extremely excited about it. Like I said, it's more of a combination of everybody in the band making music. It's gonna be less me," Edwards says.

16 Horsepower and Tarantella:
When and where:
10:30 p.m. Sunday at the Gothic Theatre, 3263 S.Broadway, Englewood.
Cost: $16,25
Information:(303) 825-4849 or www.ticketweb.com