The Cousin Brothers
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The Cousin Brothers

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"Band Rides Colts' Coattails to Success"

NEW CASTLE, Ind. A band called The Cousin Brothers is chronicling the Colts' success in song and may wind up with a CD deal after the Super Bowl. Lead singer Kevin Vickery of Kennard, Indiana, says he writes lyrics every week to fit the games and the teams the Colts have played.

Their playlist includes "Hey Peyton" -- set to the tune of Johnny Cash's "Hey Porter." It features lines like "The ladies, they all love you for your looks and southern charm, but for me, I just love to see your laser rocket arm."

An Indianapolis radio station, WRZX, has played some of the tunes and invited the band to produce a CD after the Super Bowl.
- Associated Press 2-2-07


"Band's Repertiore Includes Songs About The Colts"

by Sandy Moore

You might say that Kevin Vickery's career is sweet, really sweet. Vickery is a "chocolatier" and candy maker for Good's Candy by day and lead singer of a bluegrass band, The Cousin Brothers, by night.

The Cousin Brothers began playing together in 2004, but have recently been launched into stardom with their foot-stomping songs about Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. The band has been playing their comical lyrics and melodious tunes live on Indianapolis radio station WRZX 103.3 FM 6 a.m. Friday mornings on the Stuck and Gunner Show. Indianapolis fans have been "wide receivers" of their humorous antics and the band has been invited to produce a CD with the station following the Colts Super Bowl game.

Ben Long plays banjo, John Bowyer plays mandolin/guitar, T.R. Yelton plays percussion, Dave Bagdade plays guitar and Vickery sings and plays upright bass.

"I write the lyrics and have changed them every week to make them fit the games and teams the Colts have played," said Vickery. "I have been a Colts fan since I was 14 years old but have never met any of them personally."

The Cousin Brothers' tune "Hey Peyton" is set to the musical score of "Hey Porter," a famous Johnny Cash song: "The ladies, they all love you for your looks and southern charm, but for me, I just love to see your laser rocket arm."

Vickery's career in music began following his graduation from Ball State University with a telecommunications degree. He traveled to Nashville, Tenn., and became affiliated with many famous country artists and was tour manager for John Michael Montgomery, Hank Williams, Jr., and the Charlie Daniels Band. He served as co-producer for Merle Haggard and Alabama pay-per-view productions. "Co-producer is like being a traffic director, organizing sponsors, TV people and venue people," he said. "I didn't really get to play music like I wanted."

After seven years, Vickery left the Country Music Capital to return to his hometown of Kennard where he works with three generations of chocolate makers, creating goodies at Good's Candies. Vickery says he grew up in the building and learned to make candy from his mom.

"The band is not a true bluegrass sound," said Vickery. "We combine bluegrass, outlaw country, rock and roll and comedy. It's like putting all those in a blender and you come out with The Cousin Brothers. We call ourselves 'power grass.'" Vickery says the band has a blast every time they perform. "Our goal is to make sure the crowd is having fun," he said. The band plays at venues at least twice a month. They will be playing at Zanies Too, located at 10th and Arlington in Indianapolis on Friday night and will be sure to include Colts songs in their sets. - New Castle Courier Times 1-31-07


"Best of 2006"

Country

1. The Cousin Brothers: The band combines traditional bluegrass with a modern rock sound and has a growing loyal following. They are one of, if not the hottest country band currently in Indy.

—Joe O’Gara

Blues

3. The Cousin Brothers, $200 Demo: If anything else, this lively bluegrass trio actually pulled some life into ’80s songs like A Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran,” Poison’s “Every Rose Has its Thorn” and Skid Row’s “I Remember You.” When do we hear a bluegrass version of “Heaven” by Warrant?

--Matt Socey

- Nuvo


"Getting to Know Indy's Best Country Band"

The Cousin Brothers walk the bluegrass-rock line

We’re all still shocked at our success,” John Bowyer, The Cousin Brothers’ mandolin player, says of his band’s seemingly out-of-nowhere arrival. “Just a couple years ago, we were strumming on acoustics in our garage.”
Since then, the band has made a name for itself playing a style of music that frontman/bassist Kevin Vickery describes as “powergrass”: a jacked-up and plugged-in version of traditional bluegrass. Along with Vickery and Bowyer, banjo player Ben Long, drummer T.R. Yelton and guitarist Dave Bagdade round out the lineup. Explosive live sets, acoustic instruments punished by distortion pedals and rousing covers of popular rock songs are a few of the reasons that prompted local fans to vote The Cousin Brothers as the best country band in NUVO’s 2006 annual readers’ poll. Their popularity also launched them to the third round of the recent Battle of Birdy’s competition, and listeners of X103’s Stuck ’n Gunner radio show will recognize them for their hilarious “Big Colts Fan” song that can be heard on Friday mornings.
Taking time away from prepping for NUVO’s Second Annual Elvis Birthday Bash, when The Messarounds, Hustler, Deacon Sean and The Cousin Brothers will lace their sets with Elvis favorites this Saturday at Locals Only, Bowyer discussed the band’s tightrope walk over two music genres and the battle between playing covers and original songs.

NUVO: Being primarily a cover band, do you feel some discrimination from club owners or favoritism from others?

JB: There’s a club in Fountain Square — I won’t say which one — but we tried to book a show there, and they called back to say they don’t book cover bands. But when we get in to play a show, even if the club owner is apprehensive, we usually prove them wrong. We can hook the audience in. We’ll play a Van Halen song then turn around and do [Snoop Doggy Dogg’s] “Gin and Juice.”

NUVO: Most people who aren’t familiar with bluegrass may not realize that playing covers is common.

JB: Yeah, that’s just part of the bluegrass scene. Ya’ know, keeping the heritage alive.

NUVO: Do you ever perform in traditional bluegrass festivals?

JB: That’s the beauty of this band. We can play stripped-down acoustic style or full-on electric. We’re a really flexible band; we can just switch it up.

NUVO: What’s the biggest difference between playing a bluegrass festival and a regular bar or club?

JB: We pretty much get the same response, except they don’t serve alcohol at bluegrass fests (laughs).

NUVO: When playing the bluegrass festivals, do you upset the more established players?

JB: The older guys are very strict on how certain songs should be played, so yeah, I think it’s the younger fans that respect and “get” what we do.

NUVO: So what is your goal when you take the stage?

JB: To put on one hell of a show and not look like clowns (laughs). We know we’re treading thin ice as it is with the style that we play.

NUVO: Do you want to be known as a funny band or as a serious live band?

JB: Our style is so fresh that we’d like to be known for that, but more than that, I’d like us to be remembered as a kick-ass live band.

NUVO: Are you planning on expanding beyond Indy?

JB: That’s actually one of our goals for ’07 — to get gigs in Chicago and Cincinnati.

NUVO: What else is on the horizon for The Cousin Brothers?

JB: We haven’t recorded an official album yet, and that’s something we’re getting to in the next couple months. People who are familiar with just our covers will see a new side of us. We’ll have some funny songs and some rockin’ ones too.

NUVO: Do you ever see The Cousin Brothers playing the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival, held every September in Bean Blossom, Ind.?

JB: We’d really like to play there within the next year or two. It’s the world’s longest running bluegrass fest, and everybody who’s anybody has played that stage at some point in their career. That is our dream.

by Mel Duncan - Nuvo


"Knockout"

Battle of the Bands
Round 3, Week 3
Birdy’s Bar & Grill
Friday, Nov. 17


On a completely different plane were the Cousin Brothers. A power bluegrass band from Henry County, they offered a jocular goofiness and a heavy down-home style teetering on the line between lewd and endearing. Although the Cousin Brothers stomped out a solid set of songs involving transsexual uncles, boobs and a certain shade of lipstick, in the end, their blows didn’t land. They may not have left home with the blue ribbon, but they did get 1,540 votes and some used brassieres.
Not a bad consolation prize for a bunch of Hoosier country boys.

by Carma Nibarger - Nuvo


Discography

LP: $200 Demo, self-released, 2005
EP: What A Rack, self-released, 2006
Various singles: for sale at www.myspace.com/thecousinbrothers

Photos

Bio

The Cousin Brothers have blazed their own trail, bringing their unique blend of rocked-up bluegrass and grassed-up rock and country to enthusiastic audiences. Voted Indianapolis' number one country band (and number two folk band) by the readers of Nuvo Magazine, the Cousin Brothers look forward to furthering their goal of world domination through power-grass.

Since their inception in the fall of 2004, The Cousin Brothers have established themselves as a force in the central Indiana music scene. It is their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country and comedy that has won them the respect of their musical peers and makes their high-energy live show a must-see experience that keeps audiences coming back for more.

In the spring of 2005, founding members Ben Long and Kevin Vickery joined forces with John Bowyer to round out their sound and add a third vocalist. John’s “stunt mandolin” style was the perfect addition to Ben’s banjo rolls and Kevin’s upright bass. Their collaborative vocals incorporate influences ranging from Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Lester Flatt, on the one hand, to Jerry Garcia, Tom Petty and James Hetfield on the other. Later that year, the band added percussionist T.R. Yelton, whose train beats augmented their sound and helped them to take power grass music to a new level. The latest addition the line-up is Dave Bagdade, a veteran bluegrass guitarist and vocalist, giving The Cousin Brothers three solid lead voices and two instrumental soloists.

The Cousin Brothers' first studio project, entitled $200 Demo, is an eleven-song tribute to the group’s influences in rock and roll and country with “grassed up” remakes of such songs as Nine Inch Nails’ "Closer," Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and Skid Row’s "I Remember You," alongside more traditional bluegrass material. Rounding out the album is an original track entitled “Pre-op Tranny", a comedic look at an uncle going through a sex change. Since the release of $200 Demo, The Cousin Brothers have focused on writing new material for their forthcoming original CD.

In 2006, the band completed its second recording, a 2-song CD single entitled "What a Rack," with all proceeds going to raise money for breast cancer related charities.

Since September 2006, The Cousin Brothers have made weekly appearances on the Stuck n Gunner show on X103, WRZX-FM, to perform their original material as well as a weekly Colts rally song during the 2006 football season. Tracks from these appearances, as well as some newly-recorded studio versions, are currently available for purchase via download at www.myspace.com/thecousinbrothers. The Cousin Brothers will once again grace the airwaves during the 2007 Colts season, hopefully urging the team on to another Super Bowl win.