Michael Webb w/Brooklyn Cowboys
Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:04 pmThe Cowboys include classic songwriter Walter Egan, who has also sung and played guitar or bass in many bands, from a surf group called the Malibooz to the jazz-rock ensemble Spirit; steel guitarist Buddy Cage, who replaced Jerry Garcia in the New Riders of the Purple Sage; bass player Jeff "Stick" Davis from the hit-making Amazing Rhythm Aces; Knoxville, Tennessee's Brian Waldschlager, who is remembered (not to say notorious) for his work with the bands 5 Bucks and Shinola, and Michael Webb, who, having worked with Stacey Earle, B.J. Thomas, and Allison Moorer, among others, is one of Nashville's top session and touring keyboardists.
The band was born in 1996 when singer, writer and guitarist Walter Egan met writer and drummer Fredro Perry in that hotbed of roots and alt-country known as Brooklyn, New York. Egan (best known for his five solo albums, his mega-smash hit Magnet and Steel, as well as his song Hearts on Fire recorded by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris), was engaged by Perry to help him record some of his award-winning songs. The sessions went so well that the were soon rehearsing weekly to prepare material for public display. When Egan jokingly suggested they call themselves the Flatbush Cowboys Fredro shot back "No, The Brooklyn Cowboys!" Such is the stuff of which legends are made. Soon the Brooklyn Cowboys were making waves on the country rock circuit throughout the Northeast, with their newest member Buddy Cage, legendary pedal steel player from The New Riders of the Purple Sage. Their rise was short-circuited in the summer of '97 when Egan departed for Nashville, Tennessee.
But the sounds were too strong to be kept down. The Brooklyn Cowboys reformed in Music City with an expanded lineup of all-stars. On bass guitar: Supe Granda of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils; on acoustic rhythm guitar and vocals: the wonderful Joy Lynn White; on keyboards: Michael Webb, doing what he's done so well for the likes of Stacey Earle, Neil Coty and the Dead Set. The Cowboys were joined in the studio (incidentally the same one Roy Orbison used to record) by the consummate fiddle player Vassar Clements; hot picker from Merle Haggard, Redd Volkaert; and the stunning young vocalist from the 5 Bucks, Brian Waldschlager. On top of all this, the revered player and producer Al Perkins (Burrito Bros., Gram Parsons, Manassas) produced them.
The band was born in 1996 when singer, writer and guitarist Walter Egan met writer and drummer Fredro Perry in that hotbed of roots and alt-country known as Brooklyn, New York. Egan (best known for his five solo albums, his mega-smash hit Magnet and Steel, as well as his song Hearts on Fire recorded by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris), was engaged by Perry to help him record some of his award-winning songs. The sessions went so well that the were soon rehearsing weekly to prepare material for public display. When Egan jokingly suggested they call themselves the Flatbush Cowboys Fredro shot back "No, The Brooklyn Cowboys!" Such is the stuff of which legends are made. Soon the Brooklyn Cowboys were making waves on the country rock circuit throughout the Northeast, with their newest member Buddy Cage, legendary pedal steel player from The New Riders of the Purple Sage. Their rise was short-circuited in the summer of '97 when Egan departed for Nashville, Tennessee.
But the sounds were too strong to be kept down. The Brooklyn Cowboys reformed in Music City with an expanded lineup of all-stars. On bass guitar: Supe Granda of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils; on acoustic rhythm guitar and vocals: the wonderful Joy Lynn White; on keyboards: Michael Webb, doing what he's done so well for the likes of Stacey Earle, Neil Coty and the Dead Set. The Cowboys were joined in the studio (incidentally the same one Roy Orbison used to record) by the consummate fiddle player Vassar Clements; hot picker from Merle Haggard, Redd Volkaert; and the stunning young vocalist from the 5 Bucks, Brian Waldschlager. On top of all this, the revered player and producer Al Perkins (Burrito Bros., Gram Parsons, Manassas) produced them.
