May went by and June is nearly over. In that span we finished our tour of the western corridor. It was great seeing y’all. Thanks for the cheers, jeers, beers and floors to sleep on!

In Vancouver we played on CiTR’s Barn Burner (that’s a radio show). You can download the podcast mp3 here.

After we got home there was no rest. We hit the road for a ranch and finally became men. We branded cattle, cooked pig and ate prairie oysters. That same night we played in a field under open skies in the cold of night until our hands froze up. That was the start of a good spring (and now summer).

Some of us fell in love.

The album is nearly done. It’s an exciting time for us.

Sadly one of our members is concentrating on fatherhood and has left  the punchers to focus on the family. Rock and roll ain’t easy on a personal life… We’re gonna miss you Papa Shawn Canning. You’ll always be part of our family.

Stampede is around the bend. Here are some shows:

See yah there.

The first leg of our tour in BC is wrapped up — Kamloops, Vancouver and Nelson. It’s good to see our old friends on the coast and in the mountains again!

This afternoon we’re off to the Crowsnest Pass.

I’ve spent the day giving this here website a spitshine and I’m excited to talk about all of the new zaaazz!

• First, the old “songs” section has been replaced with “Music” — you can buy the Brown Album online or stream the entire album song by song now.
• Our “Shows” section was getting neglected –  it’s completely up-to-date and in a slicker style (thx for the idea mspace)
• The “Punchers” section has little pictures of us and a bio of the band.
• A “Contact” section has been added with booking information, our facebook feed and links to our twitter accounts (which are also streaming in the sidebar now).
• Most of the pictures in the “Photogramatry” section were old — I’ve added a ton more that appear in a random order to keep things fresh. We also have a Flickr account now. We laughed; we cried. Good times!
• Finally, there’s another new section: “History.” It has links to some of the press we’ve received and a list of the stages we’ve played. That’s a long list…

Take a look around and please enjoy!

So back to the main objectives… we’re still working hard on the new album and busy playin’ shows. At the end of the month we’ll be hitting the road with Brooke Wylie & The Coyotes for a few weeks to tour BC and AB.

APR 21 Pogue Mahone Kamloops, BC APR 23 The Media Club Vancouver, BC APR 25 The Royal Nelson, BC APR 28 The Greenhill Bellevue, BC APR 29 TB County General Store Twin Butte, AB APR 30 Auditorium Hotel Nanton, AB MAY 3 The Legion Jasper, AB MAY 4 The Legion Jasper, AB MAY 5 Wunderbar Edmonton, AB MAY 6 Tracks Pub Olds, AB

fBook: Brooke Wylie and the Coyotes/Cowpuncher Tour 2011

<3
-RK

There was a plane crash in the late to mid 70′s in the state of Idaho, I believe, and in the two weeks that followed in amongst the chaos of the surviving members of the crew and passengers cannibalism ensued. What brought those normal people in the middle of America to indulge in the finer meat? The same thing that brings us all to reckless behaviour, fear. A human body of normal average weight can survive without eating for at least forty days and more if there is a small amount of caloric intake to be found. Does a Cowpuncher feel fear? No. There is no fear in the band for that is the opposite of love. There is this ridiculous notion in western society that hatred is bad, fuck that, fuck that shit hard. So, am I not to hate racism with the greatest fervour? Hate is the brother of love, not the opposite; fear is the opposite of love, fear and ignorance.

What would a band fear? Let me list the possibilities: obscurity, poverty, lack of ability, animosity, instability, and other words that end in ‘ty’. Who cares. What does Cowpuncher have to lose? Its life? The legend that is a band is what carries that thing forward and all the essential elements are here with this band, there are the crazy shows that are underground, there are the crazy members that have agreed to come together and play, and there are the women of Cowpuncher that make them what they are (the broken hearts and the blue balls and all).

Is there fear? Shit yes there is fear, I was bullshitting before. Will you see it? Never. Why? Because we never let out comrades see the fear when fighting our war. What is our war? Cowpuncher’s war is the war on dickweeds. The war against the people that make laws without your permission, the war against the people that hold you in a line when you need to eat, the war against the ones that own everything and won’t let anyone have a stake; a war on dickweeds.

We are not complaining to hear ourselves talk, Cowpuncher had a clear mandate and that is to heal the world with its music and defeat the dickweeds, to somehow leave a broken and shitty world a little brighter than it was than when the band started. Sure we are broken vessels, but the cracks are how the light gets in and someday these little pieces of what we are will be useful. Run as you might, run to the store and feel better with the spending power of the card but there will come a time soon where all that will be left is the ability that a person has created for themselves, all the rest will be washed away (hopefully).

I am going to tell you a secret: Cowpuncher is not going away, as uncomfortable as we make you, we are here to stay.

T

Hole’s a’lright.

I wonder if my roof is on fire? I know its not, I still sit wondering and wasting with my fire ant ass sitting comfortably in a house far too warm for actual survival, a belly far too full and a mind far too sensible. There is no more romance let in me, I feel the pang of anxiety when the 4×4 turns in a different spot than it did last time, what does that mean? Then I realize that this is like a Lynch movie and the close ups are meaningless. Why is my house rumbling under foot? Because the train is passing by. Why does the one room always make that clicking sound? I have no fucking clue. How did I find that gun clip, after so much searching? With much luck.

I found a handful of coal in my basement today, just a little shit turd of it; not much, just enough to bring back dead spirits, feel the aching belly of the miners. Those poor dirty bastards didn’t have cars, thats why they built the houses so uncomfortably close to the mines. We have forgotten our old strengths, all of us. The memories of a time when we had no words and only music to speak. Before the Earth was born, gentle notions.

How was the recording? It was strange. It was strange and great, glorious and filled with malcontent; I always seem to sit on the edge, teeter on it, this record (whatever it will be called) and my playing is the same damn thing, almost at the edge of destruction while simultaneously crowning the head with creative spirit. I am hardly there anymore and that is tough and it is also great – what I get to do now is watch as something I helped with grow into something more than myself, I am happy – not that I have left or will leave, I just don’t get to do everything anymore.

Holy shit the wind is crazy here.

That is all, lots of love,

T

We make with rock record in rockies! Yes, uh huh!