• By JOHN WIRT
• Music writer
• Published: Jul 10, 2009

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Usually, San Antonio’s Dog Men Poets perform their funk, rap, rock and Latin music in Texas.

“Texas so large, it’s really its own country,” Dog Men Poets vocalist, keyboard player and co-founder Michael Brouillet said.

Because a few members of the band attend college, including Brouillet, the band stays in Texas during the school year. Cities within the state that have large populations of college students are a natural stop.

“We might hit Houston and College Station or Dallas and Austin, two-, three-, four-day trips within Texas,” Brouillet said. “But it’s fun in the summertime to stretch out.”

Last summer the Dog Men Poets traveled west through New Mexico, Colorado and California. This summer they’re going east to Lake Charles, New Orleans and, for the first time, Baton Rouge.

Brouillet and guitarist G-Smiles are the bedrock of Dog Men Poets.

“Smiles is a real character,” Brouillet said. “He’s by far the oldest guy in the group but, at the same time, he has the youngest spirit.”

G-Smiles’ music history includes performances with major acts, European tours and running an Austin record label.

“He’s done an awful lot in music and he’s a fantastic musician,” Brouillet said. “I had to replace some people over the years. People come and go, that happen in bands, but he and I have been doing it a long time.”

Of course, bands, like band members, come and go in swift succession, but Dog Men Poets has existed for eight years.

“The more you’re around live music, the more you appreciate how long a run that is,” Brouillet said. “So many of my friends’ bands, really great regional acts that even played up and down and outside of the United States, were finished after a few years.”

He and G-Smiles, Brouillet added, have a great creative partnership and mutual respect for one another.

“And we’re dedicated to low drama. Which is not always easy when it comes to musicians and creative spirits.”