Kevin Cahoon and Ghetto Cowboy

CELEBRITY QUOTES:

"He's stiletto sharp. His sense of his own body and how he inhabits his own space is really unique. There's a physicality to him."
-Anderson Cooper, CNN

"Kevin Cahoon and Ghetto Cowboy- a terrific band, a true star."
-Danny Fields, Discovered The Ramones and is a major contributor to the book, "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History Of Punk."

"There are a lot of different people inside Kevin waiting to get out. He's a sweet hearted guy, but he can pull out the creepy side too. I think he's like Sybil trapped in this nice guy's body."
-John Cameron Mitchell, Creator of Hedwig and the Angry Inch

"One of the coolest people I have ever known on or off stage."
-Heather Headley, cast of AIDA

"Ghetto Cowboy is a fantastic blend of conceptual style and musicianship. If David Bowie were starting out today He'd be Kevin Cahoon."
- Lea DeLaria, cast of On The Town and comedienne




- Various

On a Broadway stage, Kevin Cahoon is the Childcatcher, a menacing, heavily made-up creature in black who scares small children in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." On a downtown club stage, Mr. Cahoon is the lead singer for a glam rock band called Kevin Cahoon and Ghetto Cowboy, a menacing, heavily made-up punk rocker.

Anthropologists of the stage take note: Mr. Cahoon may be the missing link that separates the Hilton Theater and CBGB.

"I love interpreting a character, but I also like having my own voice as well," Mr. Cahoon said. "They're both so challenging in such different ways. In one you're an interpreter, and in the other you're expressing your own thoughts."

Eight times a week, Mr. Cahoon plays the Childcatcher, a ratlike character who looks like Stuart Little's taller Goth uncle and slinks around the stage with a scythe-like instrument used to snare children. Then occasionally on Sunday and Monday nights, when "Chitty" is dark, he plays with his band at downtown clubs. (The next performance is at the Cutting Room on Sept. 19.)

"If I wasn't doing a Broadway show it would be great to play with Ghetto Cowboy once a week downtown," he said. "But fortunately I have this amazing opportunity to be a Broadway performer. I want to embrace both of those things."

Mr. Cahoon, who writes most of the songs for his band, lists as influences legends of country music (Charley Pride, Dolly Parton) and rock and pop (Elvis Presley, Joan Jett).

"The first song we ever did was a cover of Anne Murray's 'Could I Have This Dance' from the 'Urban Cowboy' soundtrack, but we made it a punk tune," he said.

Mr. Cahoon said Ghetto Cowboy audiences usually consist of friends from the theater world, women "in their late 30's and early 40's" and teenagers "who make their own T-shirts." Also counted among fans of Mr. Cahoon is Anderson Cooper, the CNN news anchor, who has seen Ghetto Cowboy perform at CBGB and Don Hill's.

"He's stiletto sharp," Mr. Cooper said of Mr. Cahoon. "His sense of his own body and how he inhabits his own space is really unique. There's a physicality to him. "

Mr. Cahoon's musical tastes are the byproduct of a childhood saturated in the culture of the South. He grew up near Houston in what he calls a "rodeo family": Dad was a calf roper; an aunt was a barrel racer. Mr. Cahoon caught the entertainment bug early by performing as a rodeo clown when he was 6.

"My mom created makeup, and my grandmother made an outfit for me," he said. "I would create my own acts with animals, like a dog, pony and a monkey, and go out and do my thing."

Summers spent at theater camp eventually led to what, for teenagers in the 1980's, was the zenith of pop culture stardom: an appearance on "Star Search." He won the junior champion competition in 1985, but not with a country or rock song.

"I sang show tunes," Mr. Cahoon admitted, declining to say which ones.

After graduating from New York University, Mr. Cahoon was cast as a gang member in "The Who's Tommy" on Broadway, then originated the role of Ed the Hyena in "The Lion King." Before joining "Chitty," Mr. Cahoon received warm reviews for his role as Ellard Simms in the Off Broadway revival of "The Foreigner."

Mr. Cahoon was also a standby for John Cameron Mitchell in the title role in Mr. Mitchell's musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," which he repeated in productions in Boston and San Francisco. Mr. Mitchell said he was so taken with his voice that he went without a standby for nine months until Mr. Cahoon was released from his contract with "The Lion King."

"There's a lot of different people inside Kevin waiting to get out," Mr. Mitchell said. "He's a sweethearted guy, but he can pull out the creepy side too. I think he's like Sybil trapped in this nice guy's body."
- New York Times

Sometimes, an album's opening track can tell you everything you need to know about an artist. Other times, an opening track can be an example of first impressions being deceiving -- and that is exactly what happens on Kevin Cahoon's Doll. This CD's title track and first full-length song (after a brief intro that incorporates the theme from the '70s sitcom Good Times) is a self-deprecating number in which Cahoon sings about being the ultimate high-school geek/nerd/dork; the lyrics are pure emo. But after that title song, it becomes clear that Cahoon's punk-pop doesn't fit neatly into the emo category. Actually, most of Doll is best described as non-emo punk-pop meets glam rock -- and catchy tracks like "Saved by the Beauty," "Bitch" (not to be confused with the Rolling Stones classic), "Mirrorball Prophecy," and "Star Ballad" have way too much glam, glitter, and gloss for Cahoon to be considered a true-blue emo artist. Emo is full of introspection, and introspection is in very short supply on what is -- more often than not -- a party album.

Although relevant to the 21st century alterna-rock scene, Cahoon gets a lot of inspiration from the hell-bent-for-fun rock of the '70s and '80s-- punk-pop and glam fun mostly, but there hints of funk-rock at times. Darned if Cahoon doesn't incorporate elements of Prince on "Fashionista" and "Mr. Curious"-- and Prince's lover-man decadence is certainly a long way from the we're-just-ordinary-guys aesthetic that emo loves to project. OK, so the title track's emo leanings are not typical of Doll on the whole. But one of the things that makes this album -- for all its '70s and '80s worship -- relevant to 2000s alterna-rock (along with some Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day influence) is Cahoon's sense of irony.

Cahoon is ironic as hell, which is quite a contrast to all the glammed-up, larger than life '70s and '80s rockers who ended up believing their own hype. Cahoon is laughing at all the music he admires, and his sense of fun makes Doll an enjoyable listen.
~By Alex Henderson
- All Music Guide