Cowboy Nation

Last updated

Cowboy Nation was part of an ongoing series of musical collaborations between brothers Tony and Chip Kinman, who had previously led The Dils, Rank and File, and Blackbird. The band released three albums between 1997 and 2002.

Contents

Description and reception

As the name suggests, Cowboy Nation was devoted to cowboy songs and other material that portrayed the Old West. As Tony Kinman stated, "Musically and thematically, Cowboy Nation is an extremely distilled version of Rank and File. The music is minimalist and the theme is cowboy/western. One guitar, one bass, and two-thirds of a drum kit. Plus Chip and I singing." [1] As with the Kinmans' previous efforts, the singing featured the harmonies of Tony's baritone and Chip's tenor.

Music writer Chris Morris described the Kinmans' career path. From the Dils, a "politico-punk unit", "the brothers did an about-face and formulated the pioneering cowpunk band Rank and File...after that group folded, they gravitated to a harsher, almost industrial sound in Blackbird...Now they have done another volte-face with Cowboy Nation." Morris quoted Chip Kinman: "If it can't be played sitting around a campfire, it's not on the record." [2]

Tony Kinman's 2018 obituary in the Los Angeles Times underscored the themes of how the brothers frequently shifted gears and moved counter to prevailing musical currents. It quoted a prior report on Cowboy Nation in the Colorado Springs Independent: "Once again, the Kinmans leave us, delightedly, unable to categorize them." [3]

In reviewing the group's second album, A Journey Out of Time, Country Standard Time stated, "Cowboy Nation...with their unpretentious lyrics and their provocatively dark sound, have produced a heartfelt homage to the cowboy." [4]

The Chicago Tribune observed of the final album, Cowgirl A-Go-Go, "Its 11 loping, authentic-as-a-saddle tracks, delivered in Tony's distinctive baritone, view the present-day world through a bygone-days prism." [5]

Cowboy Nation performed at the inaugural Stagecoach Festival in 2007. [6] At that time, they were described as coming out of semi-retirement. [7]

Cowboy Nation was Tony Kinman's final band. Chip Kinman continued with Chip Kinman and PCH in 2007, [8] followed by Ford Madox Ford in 2016. [9]

Personnel

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Madox Brown</span> British painter (1821-1893)

Ford Madox Brown was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painting was Work (1852–1865). Brown spent the latter years of his life painting the twelve works known as The Manchester Murals, depicting Mancunian history, for Manchester Town Hall.

<i>Stagecoach</i> (1939 film) American film by John Ford

Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay by Dudley Nichols is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western (genre)</span> Multimedia genre

The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West" and depicted in Western media as a hostile, sparsely populated frontier in a state of near-total lawlessness patrolled by outlaws, sheriffs, and numerous other stock "gunslinger" characters. Western narratives often concern the gradual attempts to tame the crime-ridden American West using wider themes of justice, freedom, rugged individualism, Manifest Destiny, and the national history and identity of the United States.

<i>Debbie Does Dallas</i> 1978 pornographic film

Debbie Does Dallas is a 1978 pornographic film starring Bambi Woods. The plot of the film focuses on a team of cheerleaders attempting to earn enough money to send the title character to Dallas, Texas to try out for the famous "Texas Cowgirls" cheerleading squad. The fictional name "Texas Cowgirls" was seen as an allusion to the real-life Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Woods had previously tried out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in real life, but was cut during auditions.

The year 1939 in film is widely considered the greatest year in film history. The ten Best Picture-nominated films that year include classics in multiple genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowpunk</span> Punk rock subgenre and music scene

Cowpunk is a subgenre of punk rock that began in the United Kingdom and Southern California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or new wave with country, folk, and blues in its sound, lyrical subject matter, attitude, and style. Examples include Social Distortion, The Gun Club, The Long Ryders, Dash Rip Rock, Violent Femmes, The Blasters, Mojo Nixon, Meat Puppets, The Beat Farmers, Rubber Rodeo, Rank and File, and Jason and the Scorchers. Many of the musicians in this scene subsequently became associated with alternative country, roots rock or Americana.

The Sons of the Pioneers are one of the United States' earliest Western singing groups. Known for their vocal performances, their musicianship, and their songwriting, they produced innovative recordings that have inspired many Western music performers and remained popular through the years. Since 1933, through many changes in membership, the Sons of the Pioneers have remained one of the longest-surviving country music vocal groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coachella (festival)</span> Annual music and arts festival in Indio, California

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.

The Dils were an American punk rock band formed 1976 and active until 1980, originally from Carlsbad, California, and fronted by the brothers Chip Kinman and Tony Kinman. They appeared as the second act in the "battle of the bands" sequence in Cheech and Chong's film, Up In Smoke, where they can be heard before being seen performing "You're Not Blank".

<i>Born Yesterday</i> (album) 1985 studio album by The Everly Brothers

Born Yesterday is an album by The Everly Brothers, released in 1985. It peaked at No. 83 on the Billboard 200 and No. 22 on the Top Country Albums charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alford, Aberdeenshire</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Alford is a large village in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, lying just south of the River Don. It lies within the Howe of Alford which occupies the middle reaches of the River Don.

Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship, and Extreme E. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rallycross Championship and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It was founded in 1990 by businessman and former racecar driver Chip Ganassi, from the assets of Patrick Racing to compete in the CART IndyCar World Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Transit</span> Former Oxford bus operator

Thames Transit was a bus and coach company which operated in the Oxford area. As well as running a number of local services, it also ran a regular service to London under the Oxford Tube brand. It was sold in July 1997 to Stagecoach, and traded as Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. As of 2022 it is part of Stagecoach West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Chip</span> British electronic music band

Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 2000. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for live performances and studio recordings. The group primarily produces music in the synth-pop and alternative dance genres, drawing influences from house and disco.

The Kingdom Heirs Quartet is a Southern gospel quartet based at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls</span> Athletic teams of the University of Wyoming

The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 NCAA-sanctioned sports. Two Wyoming teams compete in other conferences in sports that the MW does not sponsor. The men's swimming and diving team competes in the Western Athletic Conference, and the wrestling team competes in the Big 12 Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball</span> Basketball team in Stillwater Oklahoma

The Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball team represents Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. All women's teams at the school are known as Cowgirls. The Cowboys currently compete in the Big 12 Conference. In 2020, CBS Sports ranked Oklahoma State the 25th best college basketball program of all-time, ahead of such programs as Oklahoma and Texas. Oklahoma State men’s basketball has a very rich history of success, having won more national titles and advanced to the NCAA Championship, Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen more times than any Big 12 program other than Kansas. Oklahoma State has won a combined 23 regular season conference titles and conference tournament titles, which is the most of any program in the state of Oklahoma. NBA greats from Oklahoma State include Cade Cunningham, Tony Allen, John Starks, Desmond Mason and Marcus Smart. Several people associated with the program in some form have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Eddie Sutton, who was inducted as a coach, is both a former player and former coach for the program. Don Haskins and Bill Self are former Cowboys players inducted as coaches for other programs. Bob Kurland was inducted as a player and Hank Iba was inducted as a coach at Oklahoma State

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach Festival</span> Music festival

The Stagecoach Festival is an outdoor country music festival held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Various artists attend, whether they be mainstream or relatively unknown, ranging from folk, mainstream country, bluegrass, roots rock, americana and alternative country. It is the highest-grossing festival centered on country music in the world. The festival is presented by Goldenvoice, The Messina Group, and Moore Entertainment and acts as a sister event to Goldenvoice's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, taking place the following weekend at the same site. The 2020 and 2021 Stagecoach Festivals were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 1, 2021, Stagecoach announced its 2022 return. The country music festival took place between April 29 and May 1, 2022.

Rank and File was an American country rock band established in 1981 in Austin, Texas by Chip Kinman and Tony Kinman, a pair of brothers who had been members of the seminal California punk rock band The Dils. The band were forerunners in combining the musical rawness and Do It Yourself punk aesthetic with the style and ambience of country and western music, helping to create a subgenre known as cowpunk. After releasing three albums, the band terminated in 1987.

Blackbird was an electronic post-punk band, formed by brothers Chip and Tony Kinman after they dissolved their cowpunk band Rank and File.

References

  1. ↑ Coonce, Cole (2010). Sex & Travel & Vestiges of Metallic Fragments. Los Angeles: K-Bomb Publishing. p. 107. ISBN   978-1452802138.
  2. ↑ Morris, Chris (1998-07-18). "Declarations of Independence". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  3. ↑ Lewis, Randy (2018-05-04). "Tony Kinman, Southern California 'cowpunk' pioneer who defied musical boundaries, dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  4. ↑ Sansone, Clarissa. "A Journey Out of Time". Country Standard Time. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  5. ↑ McCormick, Moira (2003-02-11). "Cowboy Nation: Cowgirl A-Go-Go". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Brett (2007-04-26). "Coachella's country cousin whoops it up next week in Indio". Ventura County Star. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  7. ↑ MacIntosh, Dan (2007-05-06). "Coachella with a twang underscores Stagecoach festival". Country Standard Time. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  8. ↑ Rabid, Jack (October 2007). "Punk Reunion: West Coast". SPIN. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  9. ↑ Varty, Alexander (2016-07-21). "Cowpunk pioneer Chip Kinman gets the blues with Ford Madox Ford". Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.