It's always a blast to catch up with serious bands who don't lose sleep over selling bazillions of records. Calgary's Black Coffee Cowboys are one such band, and singer/guitarist Deuce Frehly was more than happy to fill me in on what the quartet are up to.
"We basically have a new CD in the can.
It's called Hot Like Fire and it's going to mastering right away. It'll be out in April."
Hot Like Fire was recorded at Big Ear Studios by Cam Hayden (Cripple Creek Fairies).
The group's debut LP follows 2005's Hillbilly Angel EP, and Frehly says they've pressed about 1,000 copies to start.
"I personally wasn't on the last CD, so it's twice as good now that I'm on it. This CD is a lot more danceable and a lot more fun.
We're really happy with it. It sounds great. We'll be doing it all ourselves, selling it off the stage.
Hopefully, we can get it to a wider audience via word of mouth and by sliding it to the right people."
Frehly describes the band's sound as "honky-tonk mixed with rock 'n' roll mixed with old rhythm and blues," and admits it's probably not going to hit it big alongside your average three-minute pop radio cut. Regardless, the band are happy doing what they do and about having control of the whole process.
"With our type of music, it's not one of those things the mass public is going to consume," Frehley concedes. "But it really isn't just for the rocker kids, it's for people of all ages."
The Cowboys have been gigging heavily around town for the last couple of years, which means they've played to both packed houses of 200 and small groups of 20.
No matter what the size of the audience is, the band are always ready to get people out of their chairs and shaking their hips.
"You take every show for what it is," Frehly says. "Even if it's a crowd of 20 people, we're still gonna put on the best possible show we can because those are the people that came out to support us.
"It's basically like a paid practice. It's a chance to get up and do some songs you'd never do in a serious show. For instance, last show we played 'King Of The Road.
' I was the only one who knew it, so we just shouted out the chords as we went along."
Overall, Frehly is happy with Calgary's music scene, which he believes has changed over the last few years.
"It used to be that Edmonton's scene was great and Calgary sucked.
But now that the Sidetrack in Edmonton has closed down, Calgary and Edmonton kinda flip-flopped. Now it seems like Edmonton only has a couple good venues, but Calgary has a lot of everything."
Check out Black Coffee Cowboys on Saturday afternoon at The Ship, but leave your high heels at home.
"Expect to smile a lot and expect to dance, because when we start playing, you'll move whether you want to or not," Frehly promises.
The Neckers hit the stage at Broken City on Friday night with Gaye Rage and B.A.
Johnston.
Local metal gods Sittin' Idol bring the thunder to The Gateway at SAIT on Friday night as well. The Four Twenties and Special Agent Johnson open.
Know of any kick-ass St. Paddy's Day shows coming up? E-mail the info to trevor_monkey@hotmail.
com.
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