A Ragged but Vital Night of Country Rock

“We were gonna have a rehearsal!” Victoria Williams exclaimed midway though the Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers’ show on Friday at McCabe’s.

Indeed, it was clear that the band--ex-Jayhawk Mark Olson, wife Williams, and multi-instrumentalist Mike “Raz” Russell--was not exactly primed for a flawless set. Vocal cues were flubbed, bum notes were struck, and some songs broke down in mid-verse.

Not that any of it mattered: The Creek Dippers conjured up such a warm, intimate vibe that pristine musicianship seemed beside the point. Although Williams performed a couple of her own songs, this is primarily Olson’s project, a studiously modest affair that is slowly building a grass-roots following, thanks to the success of the trio’s self-titled, mail-order CD. The Creek Dippers performed songs from the album and previewed a batch of new ones from a second album that’s due later this summer.

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Like Williams, Olson draws inspiration from both nature (the couple lives in the Joshua Tree desert) and the quiet dignity of ordinary people.

Singing in an unadorned, almost conversational quaver, Olson turned songs such as “She Picks the Violets” into loping country-rock ruminations on mortality and redemption. All the material meandered along at an unhurried pace, with Olson and Williams switching off on banjo and acoustic guitar; Russell filled out the arrangements by alternating on fiddle, mandolin and piano.