A former professional bareback rider, Ross Cooper was bustin’ broncs when his music career began. The now Nashville-based (via Lubbock, TX) artist’s new album, I Rode The Wild Horses, mixes country torch bearers with garage rockers grounded in solid storytelling and infused with glimmering pedal steel, rollicking riffs, and soulful keys. In advance of the album’s March 9th release, Cooper answered his Essential 8 and relayed the story behind his album’s title as well as some solid musical advice, his must have albums for the road, and more.
Did you have a musical mentor? If so, who was it and how did they influence you?
Honestly, my musical mentor is my mom. She introduced me to music from her piano bench before I can remember, but it took root around the time I was 8 or 9. I’ve taken a lot of lessons over the years and have gotten to play with some phenomenal musicians, but my mom has been there from day one. She can read music like nobody I know and she has great taste.
What’s the story behind your album’s title?
I Rode The Wild Horses – I wrote the song as an ode to the west Texas rodeo-cowboys that I grew up around. Truly the last of a dying breed. There are a lot of small towns around where I’m from, and a lot of them dry up, or the city grows around them. It’s sad to see. But then you have these old cowboys who are basically the last of the hardasses. When everything else is changing around them, they don’t. They’re revered and respected because they were something in their heyday, and unfortunately the majority of people around them have no idea. I’ve always looked up to those types. I knew instantly after I wrote the song that it would be the title track of the album. No question.
