"Gimme head with hair

Long beautiful hair

Shining, gleaming, Streaming, flaxen, waxen

Give me down to there hair

Shoulder length or longer

Here baby, there mama

Everywhere daddy daddy

Hair Flow it, show it

Long as God can grow it

My hair."

From the

Broadway show, 'Hair'

There once was a time when long and varied hairstyles were extolled by the rock and roll community, when a musicians locks were as significant as his or her lyrics.

From the "mop-tops" of the 60s to the "longhairs" of the 70s to the "big hairs" of the 80s - represented all too well by the peculiar manes seen at a Flock of Seagulls show - a band's hair added almost as much to its appeal as the music.

That era is apparently now over.

After a nine-day trip to New York to meet with some big name, big city promoters, the Rio Rancho band Tennessee Skinny came back with one main bit of advice: Clean up your image, especially the hair.

"They liked the music, but they really kind of got onto us about the way we look," said Adam Gibson, the band's lead vocalist. "They told us we look like an old garage band. We need to clean up our faces and expose our youth and create some sex appeal. We're a young band, and the youngest guy in the band has a beard on his face."

Most of the hair comments seemed directed at bass guitarist Jerimiah Grothaus, who, at 20, sports sideburns that at times almost connected in a beard, very much the "mutton chops" of yore. Or they could refer to guitarist J.B. Bibiano, who has let his goatee grow and has his own impressive set of sideburns. Gibson and drummer Gabe Kachirisky generally keep their faces clean shaven.

The facial hair isn't the only thing that has to go. So too must Tennessee Skinny dispatch its apparel.

"We all four grew up in jeans and T-shirts," Gibson said.

To update its image, the band is seeking advice from fashion-conscious friends and family members, including Gibson's uncle, who is a clothing designer in Manhattan.

"I already bought some stuff," he said. "I got some leather pants and some other clothes. We're definitely going to have people with some fashion sense ... to give us some pointers."

It seems now that being a sharply dressed man is simply a necessary evil of the music industry.

"Whether we accept it or not, fashion comes with the business now," Gibson said.

With a new look and freshly shorn faces, Tennessee Skinny expects a triumphant return to New York and an extended stay there, playing as many shows as possible in the hopes of landing a coveted recording contract.

With some numbers of promoters and an assortment of night clubs, Tennessee Skinny is beginning to plan a three-month tour beginning as early as this spring.

"We have no idea, no clue what to expect," Gibson said. "That's actually kind of exciting, a little nervous. None of us has ever done anything like this."

Should the tour prove successful, the band members would extend it, Gibson said.

"If we go out there and places start inviting us back, we're going to come back (to New Mexico)," he said.

The musicians plan on entering a new world in a new location with a new focus dedicated entirely to music, but if they are going to make the attempt, they don't want to hold back.

"It's really got to be a lifestyle change if you want to do what you want to do," he said. "You've got to sacrifice and give it all you got if you want to come out here and play music.

"We figured music's what we want to do, so why not risk a few years of our youth. All four guys are willing to take that chance. We don't want to get older and say we should have done that."

As for the hair and clothing, well, that may just prove a temporary change. As the promoters told them, if they should record a successful album, once their name is well known, they would be free to return to their jean-wearing, beard-growing ways.

"I can't speak for those guys, but I can see me going back to jeans and T-shirts ... unless there's a style I don't mind," Gibson said.