You can hear the sound of America singing in “Hands on a Hardbody,” the daring new musical that opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theater on Thursday night. With a bravado to match the gumption of its characters, a hard-pressed bunch of Texans hoping to beat the odds and win a truck in a grueling contest, this new show drives onto the Broadway lot without the high-gloss blandishments that adorn most big musicals: glittering sets and costumes, high-kicking chorines, megawatt star turns. Instead it concentrates its energies on giving voice to a story of average people fighting to hold onto hope in the face of fierce economic headwinds and bad breaks, not to mention buckling knees.

Of splashy song and dance there isn’t much. The skillful score, by Trey Anastasio of the indie jam-band Phish (music) and Amanda Green (music and lyrics), locks into a bluesy country-rock vibe early and hugs it tight. The characters’ hearts may yearn to dance free, but they are forced by circumstances to stand still. The rules of the competition they have entered dictate that if they remove a hand from the truck that gleams at center stage, they’ll lose their chance at the big prize.

Don’t expect a surge of synthetic feel-good emotion either. “Hands on a Hardbody” wants you to feel for its characters, but you know from the get-go that only one will go home a winner.