Local folk-bluegrass trio Trailer 31, one of Bend’s more traditional-minded acoustic acts, is putting the final touches on its second studio album to be released sometime in March, according to guitarist/vocalist Joel Chadd. The trio — formed in 2014 and also featuring banjoist/fiddler Dustin Byers and new stand-up bassist Felly Smith — is ramping up for the release with a handful of shows, including a First Friday gig at Crow’s Feet Commons. In anticipation, here’s a look back at the band’s 2015 debut album, “Back to Oregon.”

The album opens with the title track, which hammers home two of Trailer 31’s defining components: energetic banjo picking from Byers and airy-yet-powerful three-part harmonies from all three members. Keeping true to the trio’s scrappy live performances, the recordings have a stripped-down, live-in-the-room feel that is key to getting the storytelling across.

That storytelling veers from the defiant hopefulness of “Not Going Back” (which would make a great album-closer, though the actual last song is equally effective), to the witty murder ballad “Smoking Gun,” to “Dear Brother,” a treatise on depression and death that ends up as perhaps the most affecting thing here. Geography and place are important components of songs such as “Give Em Hell” and of course the title track. Bandleader Joel Chadd delivers these tales in a powerful voice — though the harmonies are key, his steady tenor keeps everything on course and adds the weight these songs need.

Instrumentally, the band tackles rapid-fire bluegrass runs and sweet, slow ballads with equal aplomb. While never reinventing the wheel, the trio still manages to throw some curveballs into its primarily traditional stew, such as the dark “Some Stay Young,” or the bowed bass (from original bassist Jason Chinchen) and violin that pops up on songs such as the Dylan-esque “Green Rush” (another stone-cold highlight) and slow-burning album-closer “Enough’s Been Said.”

Upcoming shows:

• Trailer 31: 7 p.m. Friday; free; Crow’s Feet Commons, 875 NW Brooks St., Bend; crowsfeetcommons.com or 541-728-0066.

• Trailer 31 and Honey Don’t: 9 p.m. March 10; $10 at the door; Silver Moon Brewing, 24 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend; silvermoonbrewing.com or 541-388-8331.

— Brian McElhiney, The Bulletin