Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers take to 9:30 Club stage

“I had a real arc in mind with this tour,” said Kellogg. “I wanted to give folks the full spectrum of what this band is about. It’s been going so well, I don’t even remember a better musical live experience than this.”

Perhaps that’s because ‘Gift Horse’ is full of songs about Kellogg’s family life and his personal reflections. Although the Massachusetts-based band has been a powerhouse in the Americana format almost since it formed in 2003, Kellogg believes that it has truly hit its stride on this tour.

“I think everyone goes through a stage where they feel like anything that happens, they are just happy about it,” he said of musicians’ careers. “Then you go through a stage of disillusionment when you realize you have ended up squarely in the middle [of band popularity], as we have. You feel bad for about two seconds and then you realize you have the best job in the world and you just want to go out and reach more people. That’s when you say ‘Now, let’s do it and make proper music.’ That’s a major milestone and a turning point.”

For ‘Gift Horse,’ Kellogg wrote some of his most personal songs to date about family and his reflections about life. Although he’s occasionally been hesitant to bear his soul in such a way, he found the personal tunes fit with the reflective mood of the country and, of course, the fans.

Yet the band isn’t afraid to mix it up – as they always have – with plenty of classic covers including ‘Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys,’ made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

Although the band has always brought a great degree of depth and intelligence to its music, the last year or so has prodded them to let their Americana roots show even more, as evidenced by the inclusion of those legendary songs.

“The biggest influence for us [recently] isn’t a musical influence,” he said. “It’s been doing those military tours and really thinking about what it means to be an American.”