Interstate Cowboy
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Interstate Cowboy

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"EXTRA! EXTRA!"

"Tim Champlin's original songs' hypnotic melodic swagger leaves you halfway between country & surf music. Guitar whiz Grant Gordy's phantasmagorical lead guitar solos combine with veteran steel player Dick Meis' floating melodic filigrees to create musical juxtapostions unlike anything you'll hear elsewhere. Their version of 'Lady Be Good' kills. 'There's a Road' has some wild, wonderful stuff." SS - Vintage Guitar


"Review by Jerome Clark"

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Though the second of Interstate Cowboy's releases, There's a Road is the first to pass my way. I hadn't heard of the band until a review copy showed up in my mail not long ago. As I scrutinized the cover, I expected either a straight-ahead Western swing outfit or -- in the fashion of some Texas groups -- a guitar-rock band showcasing gimmicky Western imagery. As I learned soon enough, not exactly.
It turns out the five-man Interstate Cowboy's sound synthesizes popular and vernacular styles, incorporating or integrating rock, reggae, folk, jazz, swing and classic pop at various points. Ordinarily, when I hear somebody speak of "country-western music," I deduce he or she isn't much attuned to country music and thus knows no better than to tag it with a name long discarded by fans and musicians. This, however, might properly be called country-western since Western imagery is integral to many of the songs, the nine originals composed by presumptive band-leader Tim Champlin. On the other hand, the problem in this instance might be the "country" part of the equation. Much of this album doesn't sound country at all, though mainstream country radio would surely be a whole lot more endurable if it elected to air Interstate Cowboy music. Fat chance, sadly.
Based in Fort Collins, Colorado, the band boasts an impressive lineup that consists of guitarist/mandolinist Grant Gordy (sometime David Grisman stagemate), upright-bassist Gene Libbea (formerly of the Nashville Bluegrass Band) and steel guitarist Dick Meis (who's played in the bands of Roger Miller, Loretta Lynn and other Nashville notables). Drummer Oscar Dezoto brings an assured light touch to the job.
Champlin, a guitar player who sings in an easy-on-the-ears tenor, carries with him an assortment of tuneful, instantly charming originals. They're so good that it's hard to pick out favorites. It's not just those wonderful poppy melodies, either. Champlin tells interesting stories, nearly always from an unexpected point of view, and peppers them with quirky insights. If a Nashville hack could only produce dreck under the title "The American Way," Champlin compresses a whole short story into a wry few verses (sung with guest vocalist Mary Buirgy) about a young couple who contemplate marriage while entertaining conflicting romantic -- almost certainly irreconcilable -- illusions about each other. The tune sprints along so cheerfully, though, you'll have to listen to the words to figure out that disaster and heartache may be impending.
Curiously, as There's a Road progresses, it moves inexorably into jazz, with splendidly arranged covers of standards such as "Frankie & Johnny," "Old Cowhand," "Lady Be Good" and "Take the A Train." Here we enter small-band Western-swing territory and leave this particular listener wanting more. Not, let us be clear, that anything that's preceded it has been less than blissful. Whatever these guys are doing -- ultimately, putting together found music in a way that's idiosyncratically their own and making it almost ridiculously accessible -- I will be a happy listener indeed if they keep doing it.
- Rambles.net


"Justice to Duke Ellington"

WQNR Radio review/add -3/17/08
“In the tradition of Bob Wills, this Colorado Western Swing band does great justice to Duke Ellington’s classic
- WQNR Radio


""Groove Fueled, Guitar Cranked!""


Dan Willging (Denver, CO)
Dirty LinenThe Magazine of Folk and World Music http://www.dirtylinen.comFrom a bit north of Austin is Northern Colorado’s Interstate Cowboy, which also takes an original approach to its music, though not quite as quirky as the Sapphires’. Instrumentally, the band is stocked to the gills with two-time Grammy winner/Nashville Bluegrass Band alum Gene Libbea (bass, piano), ex-Nashville session vet Dick Meis (pedal steel guitar), and the talented, young Grant Gordy (guitar, mandolin). Frontman/guitarist Tim Champlin wrote nine of these baker’s dozen tunes, ranging from the groove-fueled, Americana-ish “I Got Nothin’ ” and the guitar-cranked “Everytime She Makes a Mistake” to cutesy guy-and-gal duet “The American Way” and the Latin-tinged “Rio Grande Lament.” “No Place Like Home” provides interesting social commentary on small-town life. A single mother returns to her former hometown, where it doesn’t take three jobs to make ends meet and her kids can make the team
- Dirty Linen Magazine


Discography

Current- May 2008-"There's a Road" currently “charting” around 150 on the AMA on more than 30 reporting stations plus a dozen plus non reporting stations.
David Avery-Powderfinger Promotions is working radio, Mark Pucci –Press

Ranch Dance Ruckus-2002 self released locally only but airing on specialty stations and public radio, XM, European Radio, Also aired on KBCO-Boulder, CO and KQMT "The Mountain"-Both-large audience formats

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Bio

Interstate Cowboy, one of Colorado’s premiere Western Swing/Americana groups, boasts some of the most talented musicians in the region - if not the country. Guitar player Grant Gordy, at 26, is arguably one of the most talented new guitarists to emerge on the national music scene. Grant frequently performs with renowned musician David Grisman. Upright bassist Gene Libbea is a two-time Grammy winner and former member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Gene has shared the stage with everyone from Vince Gill to Sam Bush, and is a frequent player on the “E-Town” nationally-syndicated radio show. Dick Meis, on steel guitar, formerly toured with Roger Miller, Loretta Lynn and played many Nashville package shows with country music’s finest. Some say Junior Brown developed his "Git Steel" after watching Dick perform while changing from lead guitar to pedal steel when he was first getting started back in Denver. Tim Champlin is the bandleader, songwriter, and lead vocalist. Tim’s songs and vocal quality have been compared to everyone from Greg Brown, Chris Isaak and Elvis Costello to Commander Cody.
New to our lineup and one of Colorado's best Fiddler's is Ron Jones who fills out this extroidinary group of talented musicians.

Dirty Linen said of Interstate Cowboy: “This band is stocked to the gills with talent … (and songs) ranging from groove fueled, guitar cranked with a predilection to romp!