Music and ranching are in the Mobley brothers’ blood.

Growing up on the family ranch near Shaniko, Mark and Ron Mobley began cutting their musical teeth at the respective ages of 12 and 10 by playing in The Sundowners band with their parents, Vern and Pat Mobley.

Mark recalls spending 13 years playing Grange halls and Elks lodges “from The Dalles to Madras and all the little towns in between,” such as Ashwood, Antelope and Shaniko, right up until he started Countryfied in 1987 at the age of 25.

Based out of Prineville in those days, Countryfied was a trio consisting of Mark, Ron and friend Charlie Walker.

The lineup has changed some since those long-ago days spent playing mostly covers at old Central Oregon bars including 86 Corral and The China Ranch. Their first “big break” came when Sunriver Resort hired the three for a few gigs, Mark said.

Still going strong 25 years later, Countryfied will kick off the 2012 Music in the Canyon series Wednesday at American Legion Community Park in Redmond (see “If you go”).

The band isn’t necessarily doing anything to celebrate its 25th anniversary other than “just still playing every weekend,” Mark said. On June 22 and 23, the group will play for free at Cinnabar in Prineville during the Crooked River Roundup.

Today, Countryfied is a five-piece with Mark on rhythm guitar, trumpet and lead vocals; Ron on drums; John Hite on keyboards and acoustic guitar; Yancey Fall on bass; and Tim Fenderson on lead guitar.

Countryfied doesn’t play quite as frequently as it did in the early days.

“For 10 years in a row, we played at least twice a week, sometimes three or four times a week,” Mark said.

Word got around. “We were so busy playing every weekend, and we were really cheap. We played for almost nothing because we loved doing it so much,” he said. “We just got hired all the time.”

In the early 1990s, Countryfied began opening for a number of national acts, starting with country giant Don Williams around 1991. “We were extremely excited,” Mark said. “We were just a little three-piece band, and here we were opening for Sawyer Brown in the same year, and Diamond Rio. We were just guitar, bass guitar and drums.”

Of course, Countryfied had its run at breaking through into mainstream country success.

“We just decided to go for it,” he said. “My brother Ron and I both had little kids, like 3 and 4 years old. We decided that if we didn’t make it to the big-time by the time they were in school, then we would give up trying … because we were gone all the time, on the road.

“We toured full time. We all quit our jobs, and we just toured around the country and just played music. That was the ’90s. We (played) mostly the West Coast, but we did go into Wyoming, Montana, Kansas and Nashville,” Mark said.

Though the members of Countryfied returned to Central Oregon and their families, there has been quite a bit of excitement and success along the way. For one, Mark wrote some 40 published songs.

“None of them ever really hit the big time,” he said, adding, “There were some that hit the top 40 back in the ’90s.”

Countryfied also toured with Diamond Rio and served as the band for Johnny Lee, of “Lookin’ for Love” fame. The band, which will open for Lonestar this year, now plays mostly rodeos, festivals and private parties, with Nike among their clients.

Where you won’t find Countryfied is at your local bar. They stopped playing bars nearly 20 years ago.

“We just chose not to. The money wasn’t there, and you had to play long hours,” Mark said. “And at the time, it was real smoky and everything. It was OK. We got used to (the smoke), but boy, when we made the choice to move out, we started making more money.”

Mark used to sing some 80 percent of lead vocals at shows, but now he estimates that number to be about 50 percent, with other members lending their voices.

And at 75 percent of their shows, fans will catch Shannon Bex, a Mountain View High School graduate and former member of pop music troupe Dannity Kane, who, a few years ago, returned to her Central Oregon, and country, roots.

“Out of the blue, I just got a phone call from her. I’ve known her since she was a little girl. She said, ‘Mark, I want to go country. I’m tired of hip-hop,’” Mark said. “So without even asking the other guys in the band, I said, ‘OK.’ She’s really good, and we just have a wonderful time with her.”

Bex and Mark often sing duets together, including covers of Lady Antebellum’s “Looking for a Good Time” and the Sheryl Crow-Kid Rock duet “Pictures.”

Live shows also include Countryfied originals and, depending on the type of show they’re doing, may include crowd-pleasing party staples from across the classic rock spectrum, including but not limited to “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.”

Today, Mark and Ron live and work back on the family cattle ranch. And parents Vern and Pat still get on stage with Countryfied now and then.

“If they’re at the show,” Mark said, “sometimes we’ll get them to come up on stage with us” to sing Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash classics.

Countryfied has released four albums, most recently “Never Stop” in 2008. “I wrote that (title) song just because, you know, I don’t want to ever stop,” he said.

In other words, don’t expect Countryfied to quit anytime soon.

“For the last 15 years, we’ve said, ‘Oh, let’s just do it another year and see how it works out,’” Mark said, laughing. “But for some reason, we keep raising our prices, and we just keep getting busier. We have a ball.”

Music is just in their blood — and on Mark’s jeans.

“Two weeks ago we played for Riverfest in Maupin, and in the morning I branded 120 calves. Our concert started at 3, so then I went and did the concert,” he said. “I still had my same boots on, so they had cow (dung) all over ’em. Still had a little bit of blood on my jeans. But that’s just the kind of things you do. It’s funner than heck.”

When playing live, Mark said, “My goal is to make everybody smile out there … (and) have a good time. That’s what music is all about.”

If you go

What: Countryfied at Music in the Canyon

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: American Legion Community Park, 850 S.W. Rimrock Way, Redmond

Cost: Free

Contact: www.musicinthecanyon.com or www.countryfied.org

Music in the Canyon schedule

Find more information at www.musicinthecanyon.com

July 4 — Red, White and Redmond Blues Festival (blues)

July 6 — Larry and His Flask (thrashgrass)

July 18 — Leroy Newport (Americana)

July 20 — Voodoo Highway (rock)

Aug. 1 — Downhill Ryder (rock ’n’ soul)

Aug. 15 — John Shipe Band (rock)

Aug. 29 — Jazz Under the Stars (jazz)