09/17/2012
On a recent trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico, I was hit by a ton of bricks by "Cowboys and Indian," an Albuquerque band I'd never heard, but that absolutely blew me away! I asked bass player Matt Ezz to write up a short bio to introduce everyone to this amazing band! Here's what Matt had to say:
Cowboys and Indian began unexpectedly in the Summer of 2011 with myself, bassist Matthew Ezzard, and guitarist/vocalist Gerome Fragua. Gerome and I had previously been band mates in country/rockabilly band Swingin' Meat when the lead singer's family duties pulled him away unexpectedly. Having several dates on the calendar that we needed to fill Gerome and I called upon drummer Jeff Cooper, whom I had met through his father, with the intention of finishing Swingin' Meat's schedule and disbanding. However, that quickly changed with Cowboys & Indian's first performance.
Jeff Cooper, Gerome Fragua, and myself clicked in a way that I had never experienced before. I would attribute it to the wide variety musical backgrounds we had all experienced. I learned to play the upright bass in a bluegrass band and a jazz big-band in a college setting, Jeff Cooper was taught by his father, an experienced drummer, since he was a child and performed in various metal bands growing up, and Gerome learned to play the guitar when he was young by sitting in at various jam sessions and playing anything and everything that he could.
We've only been performing together a little over a year, but what a year it has been. We've got to share the stage with some amazing touring acts and have had the opportunity to travel to a couple shows out of town. As far as what the future brings, I think we're all looking to take this as far as it can go. I've been playing in bands since I was a teenager and it's rare to get a group of guys that fit together this well and all have their heads in the game. That being said, I don't think any of us are expecting to strike it rich. If we could, that would be great, but it's not the reason we started playing hillbilly rock n' roll. I think we're all talented enough that we could be in a pop band and back up some good looking 16 year old with their own clothing line, but first and foremost we're in this because we love rockabilly and hillbilly music.
We're currently in the process of writing material for our first original release, but took a break to record some of our favorite songs with our friend Jeremy McDonald, founder and genius behind Hot Damn Records in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jeremy's a former aircraft mechanic and all round brilliant sound engineer. He rebuilt a Revox G36 reel-to-reel recording system in his living room and really knows how to bring out the classic rockabilly sound using techniques he's studied from the original studios and sound engineers, especially Sun Studios and Sam Phillips. It was really exciting to hear how the tracks he recorded came out because there were no digital tricks, no overdubs, no post editing, it was just the three of us standing around in a room making rock n' roll.
-Matthew Ezzard
Albuquerque's very own high-energy hillbilly band!
