Cowboy Curse

Music:

Member Since: 9/9/2004
Band Website: cowboycurse.com
Band Members: Apples in Stereo

Bruner

American
Cindy

Tyler Campo

Overcasters
Tarmints

Denver

Local
Shakedown

Bright
Channel

Moccasin

The Maybellines

Tsunami
Publicity

ducky

Michael
Anthony

Helicopters

Cowboy Curse: Nod Up and Down (To the Simulcast Singing)

If harmony were irony, the members of Cowboy Curse would be the biggest assholes on earth. Instead, they comprise the best power-pop band in Denver and Nod Up and Down is a masterwork of plush yet cutting melody.

- Jason Heller, The Onion
Influences: Voxtrot and Cowboy Curse Rock Bluebird...
Division Day Snowed In!!!! By Ben Bergstrand I had an unusual conversation with a couple of people a couple of weeks ago after our set opening for Voxtrot. And let us take a slight detour from this trackless story to mention a big thank you to my brother, Josh, and Mr. Foo for helping out Voxtrot by loaning their equipment so the show could go on in the first place. You are both truly wonderful gents.

But back to my story…I was talking with two youngsters from the crowd that, they said, enjoyed our set. I started by speaking with the young lady first. She was to some degree, unusual. Tough for me to tell if it was the early-adult-awkwardness that we all go through or the fact that she was evidently from Germany…Hamburg to be precise. She didn’t have a very thick accent at all, either that or my hearing is worse than I think. At any rate…evidently I look very much like a boy in the neighborhood where she was staying that jogs around the block. Interesting right? No, but that was the extent of our conversation.

She immediately told me to ignore and not speak to the quartet of guys her age that were walking in the door. She couldn’t tell me why I shouldn’t…so when a bushy blonde haired guy, resembling a young Mr. Foo, stopped for a chat…I actually talked to him…much to the young German’s chagrin. He was harmless, very nice, and less strange than his German friend.

He and I talked along with the German…we’ll call her Ana since I don’t believe I got their names. Anyhow, “Jim” says to me that he liked us and preceded to give a kind-hearted quasi-interview. You know... “What do you listen to?” “What are your influences?” “How long has your band been together?” Small talk basically, but what else did we have in common? I’m sure he was uninterested to hear of my exciting life that involves literacy instruction for 6 year olds and changing my daughter’s diapers.

I never do very well with this “talking” BS. But I did my best to answer the questions honestly. My influences? I really have no idea how to answer this succinctly. I mean, I suppose every little bit of music I’ve ever had a strong interest in has influenced me to some degree. And I’m sort of old now right? I mean, this kid’s like 17? I’m nearly twice his age. So I say, “The Clash. I listen to a lot of The Clash”. “Ana” chuckled in the previously stated, cool-awkward way. So I wasn’t sure if I answered to her satisfaction or not, but it’s true. I do listen to a lot of The Clash. It’s rare for an album or at least a lump of my favorite Clash tunes are not on my Ipod . I like to think that their pop sensibilities crossed with their political voice are elements that Cowboy Curse emulates to some degree. Joe Strummer is one of my all time rock-n-roll heroes and favorite songwriters.

But it’s a bit short-winded to say that The Clash is the extent of my musical influences. In fact, truly, I only became fully aware of The Clash’s catalogue in recent years. So here’s my attempt to tell a bit about what I’ve been listening to while possibly simultaneously giving some background on where Cowboy Curse came from or at least what influences the song creation process.

So what have I been listening to and loving lately? Hmmm. This is really opening myself up to the music-snob wolves (I’m looking at you Donybrook Writing Acadamy! I love you though. I do. You guys are hilarious!) because there’s no way that I listen to much music that is on the ragged edge of obscurity as much as some of those types. Anyhow, I’ve been listening to a lot of Spoon’s new album. You’ll have to forgive me for being absent-minded about knowing song/album titles. Honestly, I end up listening to a lot of music via blogs or whatnot and coming across some bands that I love, but you know, I’m admittedly one of the worst at noting these bands and researching them further. The world is full of people like me which is why I’m not sure how there’s any real hope for a group like Cowboy Curse. There are a lot of bands out there making great music in towns all over the world that we can all stumble upon for a moment, appreciate, maybe even download, and move on from…never to take this glancing affection any further. Don’t you just love how disposable music has become?

But anyway, Spoon’s new album is called GaGaGaGa or something like that. It’s fantastic just like everything else they’ve done. That’s a band that I have a hard time pinpointing my favorite album at this point because I love them all to some degree. I especially love their approach to vocal rhythm and how much of the band’s rhythmic approach obviously starts with the melodic rhythm. I feel this creeping into my own songwriting. The one chance I’ve had to see them live was disappointing…but that’s a different issue. I still dig their recorded stuff quite a bit.

Band of Horses is another recent acquisition that I’ve fallen in love with. Their harmonies and big melodies are awfully nice and easy on the ears. It’s really great, and as a songwriter, there’s certainly some notes that I’ve jotted down while listening to them. But I have to be careful, because to me, Band of Horses are like gooey chocolate chip cookies…so yummy, you can’t get enough, and then you don’t want them anymore for a while.

The Rifles are a lot of fun and I’ve been enjoying the Kaiser Chiefs’ latest CD quite a bit. The Rifles…I can imagine that I’m being torn about by the Donybrook kids. They’ll never give us anymore love. I love you Donybrook kids! You’re awesome in a way that I can never be because I’m only swell…not awesome. But the Kaiser Chiefs…fuck you if you don’t like them. I don’t care. The new album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, it’s pure brit-pop bliss. I can’t stop listening to it. It’s an album that, after an initial listen…I knew I would love, but after further listening…I not only love it, I want to marry it in the 6th grade sense. But I’m already married and my wife said she wouldn’t allow for a divorce or even a trial separation over a fucking CD. So I’ll just have to love it from afar.

Christmas always provides me with new music. People give me itunes gift cards. Parents, in-laws, and grandparents, flustered with the thought of buying for me…give me straight cash. My brother and I exchange birthday music (because both of us were born in late December). My brother leaves town, I check in on his cat and simultaneously raid his music collection…which is much better than mine. Donnybrook kids…you can’t touch my little brother Josh’s taste in music. He could bury you in your fancy clothes. I love you kids…you’re awesome. Anyway, my point is that this is the best time of year for my music collection.

Envelope pushing is something missing from my most recent listening…somebody that’s really pushing an edge. I will work on that. It’s a New Year’s Resolution (so get off my back you Donybrook leaches!) Local bands have always filled this bill for me and now that I have a child to care for, my nights out at the Hi-dive et al are few and far between. But I’ve got to give love to Monofog for pushing me forward and letting me know that there are few bands out there that can touch you.

I recently attended a show at the Larimer Lounge with Cowboy Curse drummer, EZ-E and her main squeeze, Kurt. I really liked the relative newbies Light Travels Faster and Blue Million Miles. Both have a great energy to them and their performance. Light Travels Faster’s drummer is fantastic and their singer had a unique vocal timbre and delivery style that makes their approach to 3-piece rock-n-roll very fresh. I look forward to more shows featuring these two acts.

D.biddle is another local act that I was recently impressed with, but have known for a long, long, long time. Now for full disclosure here, I’m half-ass decent friends with two D.biddle members (Rob and Duncan) and quarter-ass friends with Jeff. Plus Duncan and Rob are in my brother’s band, Lion Sized. I barely know Jonathan, but he probably knows enough people being in that famous Nathan and Stephen band. He did sleep in a rocky yard of a house that I was renting at the Southpark Music Festival in 2006. So obviously I’m cool. Anyway, Duncan is a writer and he’s always written cool songs but in addition to that, their whole stage presence is kind of like reading a short story. They create an atmosphere that you don’t find in every band on the block. Particularly with Duncan, he’s like a TV evangelist up there spouting it out…but in a way that doesn’t make me vomit. I always vomit when I come across the evangelist networks on cable TV. Duncan and D.biddle don’t make me vomit, but they do put on a great live show. My best wishes to them as they finish up their long awaited second album.

When Cowboy Curse was getting its initial shows under our collective belt, we were fortunate to be with a “class” of wonderful bands that either came up around the same time that we were or adopted us into their scene…for lack of a better word. Red Cloud had been on the scene for at least a little bit before we were graced with the opportunity to share a stage with them. Their energy and sense of guts is interesting, unusual, and inspiring. Another band with a ton of energy was Black Black Ocean. They’re sets blew me away. We’ve been fortunate to be around the likes of Moccasin (formerly Nightingale), The Symptoms (my brother Josh’s primary band when Cowboy Curse started up), the Breezy Porticos, Hot IQs, D.biddle, Tarmints, Bright Channel, Maybellines, TGFA, Rabbit is a Sphere (formerly the Clap), amongst a few others that aren’t in my mind right now. I think there’s a lot of influence tossed around the Denver bands and we’ve always tried to pick up some of that. Yet, like many others have said, there is no “Denver Sound” to pinpoint. All of the bands I’ve run down here are very different in so many ways. Thankfully.

So back to the initial problem. What influences do I have as a songwriter? Ugggh. I don’t know. Everybody? NPR and BBC news programs mostly. I think that I want Cowboy Curse songs to be forward thinking in some way shape or form, but yet I think each of us brings our own influences that we’ve grown up loving to the table that keep us with a foot planted in what we know historically. For me as a writer, I want to say something. I want to have songs that give a commentary on the events in the community and world around me. So I think songwriters like Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Elliott Smith, Lennon, Ian McKaye, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Strummer, and Jeff Tweedy fit the bill. Along with more recent folks like Craig Finn, Ted Leo, and James Mercer amongst a slew of others that are out there finding clever ways to comment on the world.

Honestly, as a band, we don’t sit around and discuss our influences or what music is really hitting for us…not frequently anyway. Me personally, I just look to those Donybrook kids. They know it all so I no longer need to think. I have no idea what Erin is listening to these days. She used to only listen to gangster rap, but now I think she’s onto early Madonna or Wham. She could give two shits about the Donybrook kids. Tyler listens to whatever I’ve got in my car on the way to/from practice and shows. But he’s at the mercy of what I choose to bring. Luckily I think he likes most of what’s along for the ride.

Anyway…get out there, buy some tunes because awesome bands need your awesome money. Go see shows because awesome bands need your awesome money. Read stuff from the Donybrook kids because they may be self-professed elitist hipster snobs, but they love you, you, me, and you. Plus they love the Denver bands. Love to all of you in the new year. Make a new year’s resolution that involves music that is original and from a soul.Welcome to the new CC myspace page, where Tybo can show off all his new mustache configurations, battle scars, and pretty girl-like harmonies. There will also be cake. So, settle down, grab a whiskey, and get ready to electrify your earholes with some Cowboy Curse loving!Westword Review from Apples Show (view more)

From Tom Murphy’s MySpace Blog... (view more)

Donnybrook Writing Academy Article (view more)

Get Real Denver Review (view more)

Westword Music Showcase Interview (view more)

[View All Blog Entries] Join the Cowboy Curse street team and get your very own "Tyler Campo Mustache!" That's right, boys and girls, you can be be just like the Curse! I wish I had a handlebar mustache...

JOIN THE TEAM, CHIEF. Cowboy Curse is:

Ben Bergstrand (KY/OH) - Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals

Tyler Campo (CT) - Bass, Vocals

Erin Tidwell (CO) - Drums, Vocals

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° Look at all the PICTURES of Tyler's mustache.

Ben Bergstrand started indie rock/pop band Cowboy Curse in 2003 as a way to keep little brother Josh (Jet Lucas, The Symptoms) off the streets and out of trouble. Longtime friend and musical collaborator Darin Strachan joined along with a fast-talking longhair named Tyler Campo to complete the band's original lineup.

Imagery and narrative-based songwriting and three-part harmonies became an early signature of the band. The focus on vocals emphasized melody and lyricism, rather than overly complex instrumentation. The band released it's debut full length CD "NOD UP AND DOWN (to the simulcast singing)" in May 2006 on PUBLIC SERVICE RECORDS. The CD release was followed by a tour that included dates in Albequerque, San Diego, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Sacremento, Eugene, Portland, and Seattle.
Sounds Like:

Record Label: PUBLIC SERVICE RECORDS
Type of Label: None