Steven Casper and Cowboy Angst
Los Angeles, California, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
The Players: Steven Casper, lead vocals and guitar; Glen Lynskey, lead guitar; Herb Dietelbaum, bass, backup vocals; Rose Levinson, violin, backup vocals; Jay Nowac, drums.
Material: If country music originated in the Allman Brothers' backyard, this is what it would sound like. Steven Casper & Cowboy Angst take liberties with both country music and Southern rock, but they do so in the best possible way. Casper has a knack for writing originals that sound like covers. Musically, the songs are immediately familiar, and even predictable. Though that's usually a negative characteristic, Casper and company make it work. Consequently, the material's familiarity is comforting and enjoyable -- a good trick, if you can pull it off.
Musicianship: The musicianship in this group is outstanding. Composed of seasoned players, these guys would even impress other musicians. Casper's voice like his music, is familiar in tone and expression. So much so, that you could swear you've heard it somewhere before, like perhaps in a commercial. His band is no less impressive. The rhythm section of Dietelbaum and Nowac are the perfect backdrop, while Levinson and Lynskey add just the right atmosphere to the music. Together, this act has something special going on.
Performance: Casper was generous with his players, allowing Levinson and Lynskey time for solos. There was also good camaraderie among the band members and Casper connected strongly with the audience. The only aspect that could show improvement involved the visuals. For pro-type players, who should know better, they didn't dress for the occasion. They have looked more like a band to complete the package. Nonetheless, it didn't affect the music.
Summary: Steven Casper & Cowboy Angst are remarkable in their predictability. Because of that, they could provider music supervisors with a library of choices. In fact, publishers should probably take note while they can. This is a band that could make a very good living supplying the music for film and television projects.
--Bernard Baur (September 2007) - Music Connection
Angst ain't the half of it. These cowboys are dipped in everything from cowpies to cowabunga and have a country edge, but they don't stop there. Toss in a bit of Foghat, Motown (that's right---Motown!), San Francisco (the early 70s, which you can credit to violinst-with-angst Ross Levinson) and a whole lot of South cushioned (thankfully) by the less-than-Van-Zant voice of Casper (in this case, less really is more and haven't we all heard enough of those lame Southern Rock clones?). But let us be honest here, the South is not the key anyway. It is the mix.
That mix is intriguing, "Through With You" feeding on Motown and modern rock, the melody line following Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and The Temptations' "My Girl" in short bursts. They sound nothing like either, so that may be a stretch, but the lines are there. It is straight up rock, no chaser, and when the violinn with lead guitar duel, you get a small taste of what San Francisco gave us during those heady days of the late 60s and early 70s.
For sure there is cowboy in Cowboy Angst and they step in it on "Takes Me Back," one of those modern country tracks that Nashville is pretending is country though it is really rock. The band makes the difference here, weaving their way around Casper's voice just enough to make a point, but get in the way. They do it again on "I Want To Know," substituting a slowed down Foghat rhythm guitar and violin lead on the break. Maybe nothing groundbreaking, but impressive nonetheless.
No doubt, these guys can crank it out or lay it back. They crank it on "Down Home Girl," the heavy and chunky rhythm guitar riffs reminiscent of early ZZ Top on the rock side and the heavier side of The Charlie Daniels Band on the country. Topped off by Levinson's violin lead and Glen Lynskey's brassy lead guitar, it choogles its way through four minutes that you wish was ten at a minimum, but that is part of what makes you like these guys---they don't overdo. There is taste and balance throughout and, man, it would be so easy to let Lynskey and Levinson take over because they are solid players, but the whole band is solid and the good ones know how to balance... - Rock and Reprise
Discography
Kindness (EP 2011)
Solid Gone (EP 2010)
Topanga Ranch Motel (EP 2008)
I Used To Be The King of the World (EP 2007)
Cowboy Angst (LP 2005)
**Steven Casper & Cowboy Angst get quite a bit of airplay across Europe. Primarily the songs "Down Home Girl", "Through With You" and "Takes Me Back". The band has done live radio shows on KXLU as well as gotten airplay on the main Americana station in Los Angeles, KCSN. Their song "Where You Are" was also used in HBO series True Blood episode #407.**
Photos
Bio
Steven Casper is a Los Angeles based singer and songwriter. Growing up in Japan, Italy, Nigeria and Mexico, one of his main connections to American culture was through his parents' record collection. At a very young age he discovered the magic of Hank Williams, Leadbelly, Bob Wills, Mahalia Jackson, Woody Guthrie and many other American icons. Moving back to the United States at age 17, he started his first band shortly after hearing The Ramones. Through the years his songwriting has evolved from rock and roll, to the more roots oriented music of his early days, sitting in front of his parents' record player.
In 2005 Steven was looking for a guitarist to help him record some of his new music, and was given Glen Lynskey's phone number by a mutual friend. Glen had performed for numerous major label acts and in 1996 won best electric guitarist in the Northwest. After a short phone conversation, Steven was knocking on Glen's door and was singing some of his songs for him. Glen liked the songs he heard and the two quickly became good friends.
A three song demo was recorded. The drummer on the session, Tony Felicetta (who now plays Ringo in the highly successful Las Vegas Beatles tribute show) asked Steven if he had any other songs because he thought they could put a set and play some clubs. “Yeah, I've got about 300 tunes,” Steven said. A band was born.
At this point Steven spoke to longtime friend Ross Levinson, a film and TV music composer, who played violin and keyboards, to see if he was interested in joining the band. Ross had previously played with such artists such as Tom Waits, Harry Belafonte and Joan Jett.
Ross came by a rehearsal and immediately clicked with the band. The interplay between Ross on violin and Glen on lead guitar has become one of the key features of the band's sound. Ross also went on to produce the band's first two records, “Cowboy Angst” and “I Used To Be The King of the World”.
In 2008 Steven Casper and Cowboy Angst released “Topanga Ranch Motel”. It was produced by Ira Ingber who has been a guitarist and producer with numerous artists including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Canned Heat and Captain Beefhart. Ira was able to capture the bands dynamic live sound which Music Connection Magazine described as “country music originating in the Allman Brothers' backyard”.
The bands current line up was completed with Jay Nowac on drums and Herb Deitelbaum on bass. All of this from a simple knock on a door.
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