Galactic Cowboys are an American
heavy metal band based in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Texas. They combine
progressive metal
Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...
with a vocal style influenced by
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and the heavy playing style of
thrash
Thrash may refer to:
*Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work
*Thrash (surname)
*Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers
*''Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video game ...
bands such as
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
. They have been described as "possibly the most melodic metal band ever to exist in
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
or general markets."
Although the band members are
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, they did not consider Galactic Cowboys to be a Christian band.
The band has toured with prominent
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
and metal acts such as Anthrax,
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...
,
King's X
King's X is an American rock band that originated in 1979 in Springfield, Missouri. They were first called The Edge and later became Sneak Preview before settling on its current name in 1985. The band's current lineup has remained intact for m ...
and
Overkill.
Despite their general lack of commercial success, the band has garnered a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
throughout its existence.
Galactic Cowboys first gained attention through their association with producer/manager
Sam Taylor and tours with
King's X
King's X is an American rock band that originated in 1979 in Springfield, Missouri. They were first called The Edge and later became Sneak Preview before settling on its current name in 1985. The band's current lineup has remained intact for m ...
, and were subsequently offered a major label record contract by
DGC Records
DGC Records (an initialism for the David Geffen Company) was an American record label that operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by the Universal Music Group.
History
DGC Records was launched in 1990 as a subsi ...
. Despite being warmly received, the band's debut album, ''
Galactic Cowboys
Galactic Cowboys are an American heavy metal band based in Houston, Texas. They combine progressive metal with a vocal style influenced by The Beatles and the heavy playing style of thrash bands such as Anthrax. They have been described as " ...
'' (1991), was overshadowed by the surprise success of
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
's ''
Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'' shortly after its release; this resulted in DGC promotionally neglecting the album, which subsequently undersold expectations. Following the release of the band's similarly unsuccessful follow-up album ''
Space In Your Face
''Space In Your Face'' is the second studio album from heavy metal band Galactic Cowboys
Galactic Cowboys are an American heavy metal band based in Houston, Texas. They combine progressive metal with a vocal style influenced by The Beatle ...
'' (1993), DGC dropped the band from the label and Galactic Cowboys subsequently embarked on a brief hiatus in 1994.
After signing to
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
in 1995, Galactic Cowboys began transitioning towards a simpler heavy metal/
alternative metal
Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...
sound, starting with ''
Machine Fish
''Machine Fish'' is the third studio album from heavy metal band Galactic Cowboys and their first for Metal Blade Records. The album is heavier, more straightforward, and less progressive than their previous release. ''Cornerstone'' praised Ben H ...
'' (1996); the band would issue three more albums before breaking up two months prior to the release of the band's sixth studio album, ''
Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
'', in 2000.
Following a number of reunion shows in 2009 and 2013, Galactic Cowboys was reformed in 2016 with the original line-up, and released their first studio album in seventeen years, ''
Long Way Back to the Moon'', in 2017 through
Mascot Records
Mascot Records is a record label and rock music subsidiary of Mascot Label Group.
Artists
*10 Years (band), 10 Years
*Agent Steel
*Black Country Communion
*Black Label Society
*Black Stone Cherry
*Bootsy Collins
*Crobot
*Conquer Divide
*Dragged ...
.
History
Original existence (1989–2000)
''Galactic Cowboys'' was formed in 1989 in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
by bassist Monty Colvin and drummer Alan Doss of the band
The Awful Truth
''The Awful Truth'' is a 1937 American screwball comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. Based on the 1923 play ''The Awful Truth'' by Arthur Richman, the film recounts how a distrustful rich couple begins d ...
. When The Awful Truth broke up, Colvin and Doss joined singer Ben Huggins and guitarist Dane Sonnier to form Galactic Cowboys.
In 1990, after attracting the attention of
A&R rep
Gary Gersh
Gary Gersh is an American music industry executive who previously managed recording artists including Nirvana, Soundgarden and the Foo Fighters. As president of AEG's touring division he has worked with bands and musicians such as Luke Combs, T ...
, the band signed a million-dollar record contract with
DGC/
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
. Geffen touted the Galactic Cowboys as their "next big thing". The band released their debut album, ''
Galactic Cowboys
Galactic Cowboys are an American heavy metal band based in Houston, Texas. They combine progressive metal with a vocal style influenced by The Beatles and the heavy playing style of thrash bands such as Anthrax. They have been described as " ...
'', in August 1991, though its release was delayed for several months by Geffen.
Despite receiving some favourable reviews, and getting circulation of the music video for "I'm Not Amused" on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, the band was ignored by DGC due to the surprise success of
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
's ''
Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'', released a month afterwards.
After poor sales and some touring, they returned to the studio and released ''
Space in Your Face
''Space In Your Face'' is the second studio album from heavy metal band Galactic Cowboys
Galactic Cowboys are an American heavy metal band based in Houston, Texas. They combine progressive metal with a vocal style influenced by The Beatle ...
'' in 1993. During the album's recording process, the band fell out with Sam Taylor over the album's production, and parted ways with him before the album's release due to creative differences.
''Space...'' was the band's break into the general market.
The album featured two minor hits for the band with "If I Were A Killer" and "I Do What I Do", both of which received regular airplay at
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and the now-defunct radio station ZROCK.
Two months into ''
Space In Your Face
''Space In Your Face'' is the second studio album from heavy metal band Galactic Cowboys
Galactic Cowboys are an American heavy metal band based in Houston, Texas. They combine progressive metal with a vocal style influenced by The Beatle ...
''
's promotional tour, DGC pulled the band's touring support and dropped the band, forcing the band to cancel a planned European tour and return home. In June 1995, depressed and disappointed with the band's lack of success, Dane Sonnier and Alan Doss left the band, resulting in Galactic Cowboys temporarily breaking up.
Two weeks after the breakup, Monty Colvin received a voicemail from
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
with an offer to sign to the band. Metal Blade's founder,
Brian Slagel
Brian Slagel (born February 14, 1961) is an American music executive. He is the founder and CEO of the independent record label Metal Blade Records. Slagel is known for having initiated the ''Metal Massacre'' series of compilation albums in 1982 ...
, had previously offered the band a recording contract with the label in 1993 in the event that DGC dropped the band.
Subsequently, the Galactic Cowboys quickly reformed, with the band's
guitar tech
A guitar technician (or 'guitar tech') is a member of a music ensemble's road crew who maintains and sets up the musical equipment for one or more guitarists. Depending on the type and size of band, the guitar tech may be responsible for stringing ...
Wally Farkas replacing Sonnier on guitar (as Sonnier showed no interest in re-joining the band).
The band released a third album, ''
Machine Fish
''Machine Fish'' is the third studio album from heavy metal band Galactic Cowboys and their first for Metal Blade Records. The album is heavier, more straightforward, and less progressive than their previous release. ''Cornerstone'' praised Ben H ...
'', and an
EP titled ''
Feel the Rage'' in 1996. The album ''
The Horse That Bud Bought'' followed in 1997, departing from the band's metal sound into a toned-down style.
The band recorded ''
At the End of the Day'' in 1998, a concept album regarded by fans as the band's peak effort.
Two weeks before the album's release, drummer Alan Doss left the band. Session drummer Erick Tatuaka performed drums on the subsequent tour.
The band's final album of their four-album Metal Blade Records contract, ''
Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
'', was released on June 20, 2000, and featured lead vocal performances by each band member.
King's X
King's X is an American rock band that originated in 1979 in Springfield, Missouri. They were first called The Edge and later became Sneak Preview before settling on its current name in 1985. The band's current lineup has remained intact for m ...
drummer
Jerry Gaskill
Jerry Wayne Gaskill (born December 27, 1957) is an American Rock music, rock musician who is the drummer for King's X.
History
Gaskill has been interested in making music and playing drums for as long as he can remember. His father bought hi ...
, a friend of the band, performed drums on the album. Prior to its release, on April 28, 2000, the Galactic Cowboys announced that they had decided to disband.
While the band's reason for their disbandment at the time was so the bandmembers could focus on their own solo projects, Monty Colvin later cited the band's frustration at their lack of direction or success as the primary cause. "I just felt like we weren’t going anywhere and I was just very frustrated." The band did not tour in support of the album or play any farewell shows, with Ben Huggins saying they would likely never tour again unless they received an "incredibly amazing" offer to reunite.
Reunion (2009–present)
Besides original songs, Galactic Cowboys have recorded cover versions of songs by
KISS
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
,
Petra
Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
and
Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
.
The band performed 3 reunion shows in August 2009 in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. Following these shows, Wally Farkas permanently quit the band. The band's original line-up reunited for a special, one-off performance at Acadia Bar and Grill in Houston, Texas on September 13, 2013.
On July 4, 2016, they announced via bassist Monty's Rockcast podcast (No. 176) that they had signed with a progressive record label and were working on a new album with the original lineup (Colvin, Huggins, Doss, Sonnier).
On November 17, 2017,
Mascot Label Group
Mascot Label Group is an independently-owned record label. Founded in 1989 in The Netherlands under the name Mascot Records, the company was renamed Mascot-Provogue in 1999 and since 2010 has been known as the Mascot Label Group. The company is ba ...
released the new album, titled ''
Long Way Back to the Moon''.
Members
Monty Colvin
Bassist and backing vocalist for Galactic Cowboys from 1991 until 2000, Monty Colvin embarked on a solo career in 2000 with his band project
Crunchy. The first album, ''All Day Sucker'', released in 2001, defined the Crunchy sound as fun, pop punk with a slight heavy guitar edge. On Crunchy's second album, ''Clown School Dropout'', the band was stripped down to Colvin playing most of the instruments and bringing in a hired drummer; here Colvin added a bit more crunch to the formula. Band influences include the
Wildhearts
The Wildhearts are an English rock band, formed in 1989 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as the Beatles and 1980s- ...
,
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...
,
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
, and the
Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
, in addition to the aforementioned Galactic Cowboys. The third Crunchy album, ''Loserville'' (2007), includes a contribution by
Kerry Livgren
Kerry Allen Livgren (born September 18, 1949) is an American musician, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the American rock band Kansas.
Biography
Livgren was raised in Topeka, Kansas, by his father Allen L ...
of
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. Colvin contributed to Livgren's 2021 solo release ''The Resurrection Of Lazarus: A Cantata'' though his part had been recorded 20 years earlier.
Colvin currently hosts an irregular hour-long Internet podcast called "Monty's Rockcast" on his personal web site. He also sells his paintings on his web site; some of the Galactic Cowboys album covers featured Colvin's artwork.
Colvin is also a cousin of
Dee Dee Ramone
Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. Throughout the band's existence, he w ...
(Douglas Glenn Colvin), formerly of the Ramones.
Alan Doss
Since leaving the music industry for a while, Doss has involved himself with managing and producing. Most recently, he has served in that capacity for the bands Ashbury Keys,
Toy Subs
Toy Subs is an American indie rock band from Houston, Texas, consisting of Jamie Daruwala (r. guitar, lead vocals), Greg Mayfield (bass and vocals), Alex Tittel (guitar and vocals), and Alan Doss (drums and vocals).
History
Jamie Daruwala fir ...
and Jambi's Revenge, also contributing instrumental work (on keyboards and bass) to the outputs of those bands.
Ben Huggins
Huggins' musical activities following the Galactic Cowboys breakup in 2000 included recording and playing with his band Gristle, in addition to guest appearances with artists such as
The Phlegmatics
The Phlegmatics are a power pop band from Houston, Texas. They are distinguished by their songs about video games, sexual angst, ancient history, social ineptitude and other viewpoints of the societal outsider, set to a powerful, melodic and quir ...
. Gristle's first album, ''Cold Blue Sky'', was released in downloadable format on July 17, 2010.
Wally Farkas
Farkas has worked as a distributor for hip hop artists in the Houston area. He teamed with
Ty Tabor
Ty Tabor ( ; born September 17, 1961) is the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist for the progressive metal band, King's X.
Tabor has a wide-ranging guitar style, from big guitar riffs to middling melodic passages. His use of volum ...
of King's X to release two ambient albums under the name Xenuphobe ("1.0", released in 2006 and "2.0: Electrolux", released in 2007). Also, he established a record label, Molken Music for a handful of artists with which he has had prior connections.
Farkas co-produced and played guitar on the
Doug Pinnick
Douglas Theodore Pinnick (born September 3, 1950), sometimes stylized as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and songwriter for the hard rock and progressive metal band King's ...
album ''Strum Sum Up''. He announced a forthcoming solo album, ''Past Due'', but that is unreleased as of yet.
Recently, he has been part of
dUg Pinnick
Douglas Theodore Pinnick (born September 3, 1950), sometimes stylized as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and songwriter for the hard rock and progressive metal band King's ...
's touring band, Texas Poundation. He also has toured as part of the Houston band Peace and the Chaos.
Dane Sonnier
After leaving Galactic Cowboys, Sonnier kept involved in the music world, most notably in The Sonnier Brothers Band, the band he formed with his brother Len, who also plays lead guitar in Gristle. Sonnier also served as lead guitarist for a Houston-based modern rock band, Sevenfold. Like Farkas, he has also been part of Texas Poundation, and continues to do so even after re-joining Galactic Cowboys.
Appearances in other media
* The band appeared in the 1994 movie ''
Airheads
''Airheads'' is a 1994 American comedy film written by Rich Wilkes, directed by Michael Lehmann, and starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Ernie Hudson, Michael McKean, Judd Nelson, Michael Richards, Amy Locane and ...
'', under the name "Sons of Thunder".
The one original song they performed for that movie, "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful", is not available anywhere, and only a short excerpt is heard in the movie.
Band members
Current
*Monty Colvin - bass guitar, vocals (1989–2000, 2009, 2013, 2016–present)
*Alan Doss - drums, vocals, keyboards (1989–1998, 2009, 2013, 2016–present)
*Ben Huggins - lead vocals, guitar,
blues harp
The Richter-tuned harmonica, or 10-hole harmonica (in Asia) or blues harp (in America), is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic harmonica, with ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and ...
(1989–2000, 2009, 2013, 2016–present)
*Dane Sonnier - guitar, vocals (1989–1995, 2013, 2016–present)
Past members
* Wally Farkas - guitar, vocals, keyboards (1995–2000, 2009), drums (1998–2000)
Timeline
Discography
*''
Galactic Cowboys
Galactic Cowboys are an American heavy metal band based in Houston, Texas. They combine progressive metal with a vocal style influenced by The Beatles and the heavy playing style of thrash bands such as Anthrax. They have been described as " ...
'' August 20, 1991
*''
Space in Your Face
''Space In Your Face'' is the second studio album from heavy metal band Galactic Cowboys
Galactic Cowboys are an American heavy metal band based in Houston, Texas. They combine progressive metal with a vocal style influenced by The Beatle ...
'' June 8, 1993
*''
Machine Fish
''Machine Fish'' is the third studio album from heavy metal band Galactic Cowboys and their first for Metal Blade Records. The album is heavier, more straightforward, and less progressive than their previous release. ''Cornerstone'' praised Ben H ...
'' January 30, 1996
*''
Feel the Rage'' (EP) October 8, 1996
*''
The Horse That Bud Bought'' July 15, 1997
*''
At the End of the Day'' September 22, 1998
*''
Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
'' June 20, 2000
*''
Long Way Back to the Moon'' November 17, 2017
Music videos
Music videos were produced for the following songs:
* "Evil Twin"
* "Fear Not"
* "Feel the Rage"
* "I'm Not Amused"
* "If I Were a Killer"
* "Nothing to Say"
* "Internal Masquerade"
* "Zombies"
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galactic Cowboys
American progressive metal musical groups
Heavy metal musical groups from Texas
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2016
Musical groups from Houston
Musical quartets