The Waco Brothers | |
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 At the Metro, Chicago 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Alt country, cowpunk |
| Years active | 1994-present |
| Labels | Bloodshot Records |
The Waco Brothers are an American alternative country, or country-punk rock, band based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
The Waco Brothers was formed by Jon Langford of the Mekons. The group grew out of Langford's wish to play more country-influenced music as the Mekons concentrated more on a punk sound. They were originally put together simply for local Chicago shows, but the success of their Bloodshot Records albums allowed them to tour the US occasionally. Some of the members also participated in Langford's Pine Valley Cosmonauts project.
The band recorded the first of its studio albums in 1995. Their album, Waco Express: Live & Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern is a concert recording which Ken Tucker, the pop music critic for NPR's Fresh Air and editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly , described as "country as it should be written and played, with a long memory for roadhouse honky-tonks rather than TV-ready music videos." [1] Author and music critic Sarah Vowell told the Chicagoist , "I’ve never been able to find a live band in New York as consistently thrilling and funny and fun as the Waco Brothers." [2] Until the COVID-19 epidemic, the Waco Brothers made a point of performing every year in Austin, Texas, during the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. [3] In 2020, their annual December performance at Schubas Tavern in Chicago had to be livestreamed without the usual live audience.[ citation needed ]
In 2012, the Waco Brothers collaborated with Nashville mainstay Paul Burch to produce Great Chicago Fire. The Chicago Tribune said of the album, "If the Rolling Stones were still making great records, this would be it." [4] [5]
For their first albums, the Waco Brothers included Dean Schlabowske (guitar/vocal), Tracey Dear (mandolin/vocal), Alan Doughty (bass/vocal), Mark Durante (pedal steel guitar), and Mekons drummer Steve Goulding). Joe Camarillo (drums) often filled in for Goulding, who had moved to New York City. [6] By 2015, Camarillo had fully replaced Goulding, and Durante had left. Camarillo died of complications of congenital cardiac disease in January, 2021, after surviving COVID-19. [7] [8] [9] Dan Massey, who had previously substituted on drums whenever Camarillo had been unavailable, became the Waco Brothers permanent new drummer, starting with the band's 2021 concerts.Jean Cook, who had played violin intermittently with the band for years, officially joined the band in 2020. [10] [11] AS of 2024 and since approximately 2017, John Szymanski has been a regular substitute Waco Brother on guitar or bass, plus vocals, whenever one of the regular members was unavailable for a particular performance;[ citation needed ] Szymanski has been a regular member of several of Jon Langford's other musical projects.
NRBQ is an American rock band founded by Terry Adams (piano), Steve Ferguson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass). Originally the "New Rhythm and Blues Quintet", the group was formed circa 1965. Adams disbanded it for a time, and the group re-formed in 1967. The quartet is known for its live performances, containing a high degree of spontaneity and levity, and blending rock, pop, jazz, blues and Tin Pan Alley styles. Its membership comprises the quartet of pianist Adams, bassist Casey McDonough, guitarist Scott Ligon, and drummer John Perrin. Some of the members in the band's long history are singer, writer and bassist Joey Spampinato, guitarists Al Anderson and Johnny Spampinato; drummers Tom Staley and Tom Ardolino; and vocalist Frank Gadler.
Thomas Charles Greenhalgh is a multimedia artist and singer-songwriter best known for his work with the Mekons.
Jonathan Denis Langford is a Welsh musician and artist based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Freakwater is an American alternative country band from Louisville, Kentucky, with one co-founding member living in Chicago. Freakwater is known for the lead vocals of Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin, who mix harmony and melody in idiosyncratic dissonant country-folk that is reminiscent of the Carter Family.
Bloodshot Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, which specializes in alternative country music.
Wreck Your Life is the second studio album by American country/rock band Old 97's, first released on October 3, 1995. The album's title comes from a Texas Department of Transportation bumper sticker with the slogan, "Don't Wreck Your Life". Drummer Philip Peeples removed the first word and applied the sticker to the band's touring van.
Wreck was an indie rock band formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1988, and later based in Chicago. After releasing three albums the band split up in the mid-1990s, with singer/guitarist Dean Schlabowske going on to found The Waco Brothers.
Al Doughty is an English musician and bassist. He is primarily known for being a member since 1988 of the alternative rock band Jesus Jones, in which he continues to be active, as of 2021.
Sally Ann Timms is an English singer and lyricist. Timms is best known for her long involvement with The Mekons whom she joined in 1985.
Pine Valley Cosmonauts (PVC) are a musical ensemble from Chicago, Illinois.
Mark Durante is an American musician and songwriter who is based in Chicago.
Kelly Hogan is an American singer-songwriter, often known for her work as a member of Neko Case's backing band, as well as for her solo work.
The Handsome Family is an American music duo consisting of husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks formed in Chicago, Illinois, and as of 2001 based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are perhaps best known for their song "Far from Any Road" from the album Singing Bones, which was used as the main title theme for the first season of the 2014 crime drama True Detective. The band's tenth album, Unseen, was released in 2016. The band's 11th studio album Hollow, was released on September 8, 2023.
The Mekons are a British band formed in the late 1970s as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.
Skull Orchard is the debut solo album by Jon Langford, recorded in August 1997 and released on January 20, 1998 by Sugar Free Records, a Chicago-based label. Skull Orchard, described on its release in 1998 as Langford's most Welsh release ever, had two homonymically-linked themes: Wales and whales which came together in the "Youghal" track, about the filming of the 1956 movie Moby Dick in coastal Wales. In 2011 the album was re-recorded and re-issued with the title Skull Orchard Revisted by Langford backed by the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus, based in Toronto.
Rico Bell is a UK and California based artist and musician best known for his work as a member of the British punk rock band the Mekons which he joined in 1983. A singer and multi-instrumentalist with the Mekons, Bell has also released three well-received solo recordings with the Chicago-based alternative country label, Bloodshot Records: The Return of Rico Bell (1995), Dark Side of the Mersey (1999) and Been a Long Time (2002).
Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills is a tribute album by the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, released on September 8, 1998, on Bloodshot Records. It consists of the Pine Valley Cosmonauts' covers of songs originally performed and written by legendary western swing musician Bob Wills. Artists featured on the album include Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Alejandro Escovedo, Edith Frost and Robbie Fulks.
Hushdrops are a three-piece rock band from Chicago featuring current and former members of Veruca Salt, Liam Hayes and Plush, The Waco Brothers, The Webb Brothers, Josh Caterer, Kevin Tihista, and NRBQ. The band's 2004 debut album Volume One was followed in 2014 by the (mono) double album Tomorrow. Drummer Joe Camarillo died unexpectedly in January 2021, just as the group were completing their third album. In August 2021, it was announced that Pravda Records would release that album in November of that year, partly in tribute to Camarillo.
Dean Schlabowske is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has been a member of several bands including Wreck, The Waco Brothers, Dollar Store, Deano and the Purvs, in addition to his solo work and various other collaborations.
Wacoworld is an album by the Chicago-based band the Waco Brothers, released in 1999.
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