Cowboys and Indians

Cowboys & Indians premieres Tom Freund’s new album “East of Lincoln”

Fans of Tom Petty will find musical comfort in singer-songwriter Tom Freund’s new album, East of Lincoln, available September 7. It’s a mix of genres with punctuations of gospel, folk, and country, but at its heart and soul, it is pure classic rock that delivers relatable, engaging tunes that sometimes conjure the late, great musician.

The album comes as a follow-up to Freund’s highly acclaimed 2014 album, Two Moons. Over the span of his long career, Freund has released over a dozen records, collaborated with high-profile artists like Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne, and played bass for alt-country group the Silos. In 1992 he released a collaborative record, Pleasure and Pain, with friend Ben Harper, which launched both of their careers. In 1998, he made his solo debut with North American Long Weekend to critical acclaim.

Twenty years later comes the 11-track East of Lincoln, whose highlights include the positive-energy-and-organ-fueled opener, “Angelus”; the ’90s-style dreamy rock tune “Runaround”; the “gentle, rootsy” (Billboard) title track; the bluesy “Poached Eggs”; the gritty, outlaw-friendly “Hair of the Dog”; and the beautiful, slow piano tune “Brokedown Jubilee.”

Freund, who says he writes music out of necessity, told Billboard he did the songs on this album as a “personal healing process.”

This record speaks to me as a performer /artist/producer and as my own life coach (haha, but it’s true). I got a lot of “notes to self” here on these songs. Although it may appear melancholy there’s always a light at the end of my tunnel. Records are rites of passage and markers in time, a place in life, and I am truly into this portrayal of myself here on East of Lincoln. I think sonically it aroused me in new ways and got new things out of me that I hadn’t tried before, and I like the….READ MORE

by Baby Robot Media

Nikki & the Phantom Callers share new single at Cowboys & Indians

Indie country group Nikki & The Phantom Callers debut their song “Mamas Should Know,” exclusively with C&I.

Every once in a while, you get a song that really transports you back in time. Up-and-coming country group Nikki & The Phantom Callers’ new track, “Mamas Should Know,” takes it one step farther, blending the psychedelic ’70s with spaghetti western melodies of the Wild West.

“To me, the ethos of the song is that of searching and longing to find who we are meant to be,” says Alabama-born, Atlanta-based lead singer Nikki Speake. “We could have been born anywhere, to anyone, but why did we end up in the place and time that we did? There are a million ways to go wrong and screw it up without proper guidance, which many don’t have, but at some point you’ll lose your guides — voluntarily or involuntarily. What will happen then? What will you do with the knowledge you’re given?”

The song also reminisces about childhood. “It’s a magical time when you believe in all the things that are unreal,” Speake says. “There’s an unmistakable sadness in growing older and having to meet others’ expectations while feeling some of that magic slip away. A lot of us lose it earlier than most through whatever tragedies or misfortunes come our way, forcing us to face an adult world before we are ready.”

That ethos comes wrapped in twangy guitar strums, bluesy guitar licks, and bouncy drums. And then there’s Speake’s beautifully haunting voice and her equally absorbing lyrics, which combine to create a melancholic, sentimental, and sober tone.

As much as the song evokes the universal poignancy of childhood, it’s also extremely personal to Speake: “The lyric in question, for me, is about losing my own mother when I was 12,” she says. “I had so many loving and beautiful people in my life to take care of me, but still so many unanswered questions that only one person could answer. Some have time to reflect and tell their loved ones what was important to them, or what they felt life truly means before they go; others go abruptly with only memories and pictures to fill in the gaps. It’s about asking all of us to leave a little more behind for those that love us, and also an endless quest for just a bit more of that magical place.”

Get an exclusive first listen to Nikki & The Phantom Callers’ track “Mamas Should Know,” below.

For more information on Nikki & The Phantom Callers, including upcoming tour dates, visit their website. Photography: Courtesy Jamie Hopper. READ MORE…

by Baby Robot Media

Charlie Smyth’s Song Shared By Cowboys & Indians Magazine

His latest album, The Way I Feel, out July 13, follows an extended furlough. After spending time away from music in his art studio, Smyth felt the urge to play again. The result is songs with lyrics and storytelling as colorful, creative, and compelling as Smyth’s abstract expressionism paintings.

His new song “Thunderstorm” is scattered with bluesy steel guitar and piano and layered with harmonies. It’s a moody but relatable track that’s pleasing to the ears.

Cowboys and Indians Premieres Great Peacock’s “Heartbreak Comin’ Down”

Rising Americana folk group Great Peacock gives C&I readers a sneak preview of their latest single, “Heartbreak Comin’ Down,” off of their latest LP, Gran Pavo Real.

Hailing from Music City, Great Peacock comprises lead singer and guitarist Andrew Nelson, guitarist Blount Floyd, drummer Nick Recio, and bassist Frank Keith IV. Together they turn conventional Americana on its head and challenge the very notion of the genre.

“Heartbreak Comin’ Down,” off of their upcoming Gran Pavo Real, is proof of their tasteful line-blurring.

The song tackles the insecurities and potential loss of new relationships. Rooted in gospel, the foot-tapping track is charged with organs, piano, and electric guitars, creating a sound that also blends in rock ’n’ roll and folk.

Nelson says the song always makes him want to move.

“[It]may be my favorite song on the album,” he says. “I originally wrote it with more information of an electric guitar riff type sound in my head. But our producer, Dex Green, and the other guys in the band encouraged trying it as a more acoustic type recording. Laying back on the electric guitars and letting Ralph get at it on the piano and organ really opened the recording up to a more universal type sound.

“I like that it’s kinda country and kinda R&B. The idea for writing it came to me in seconds while just goofing around on the guitar. I tend to think the best ones are the simplest and fastest to write. [This song’s] just saying, ‘Don’t use me. Don’t break my heart!’ Who can’t relate to that?”

by Baby Robot Media

Cowboys and Indians premiere a “first listen” for Dallas Moore’s Mr. Honky Tonk

Dallas Moore’s new album, Mr. Honky Tonk, is filled with songs about hometowns, drinkin’, and heartbreak — a full-blooded American country compilation definitely worth a listen.

Produced by Dean Miller — he’s worked with Chris Stapleton, Alison Krauss, and Merle Haggard — and backed by a plethora of master performers (including harmonica legend Mickey Raphael, famed Nashville session bassist Michael Rhodes, and pedal-steel pro Steve Hinson), the LP stems from the creative writing mind of outlaw troubadour Moore.

An award-winning songwriter of No. 1 hits like “Texas Tornado,” “Crazy Again,” and “Blessed Be the Bad Ones,” Moore does most of his writing out on the open road.

“I do the vast majority of my writing while I’m out riding my Harley-Davidson Road King,” Moore says. “When I’m alone on a long ride, it’s really the only time I’m free to let my mind open up and wander. The lyrics and melodies seem to come out of the wind and into my mind.”

When he reaches his destination, Moore says, he’ll pick up a guitar and flesh out the music.

“I write from both personal experiences and observations I make while out on the road,” he says. “I’ve never been able to sit down and write in a certain time frame or controlled environment. It always seems to come from out of nowhere and happen organically — I can’t force it. I reckon it’s different for everybody, but that’s what works for me.”

Moore and his band recently received the Outlaw Group of the Year award at the Ameripolitan Music Awards, in Austin, Texas. It was their fourth time being nominated for the Ameripolitans, which highlight the best in outlaw country, Western swing, honky-tonk, and rockabilly music.

by Baby Robot Media

VIDEO PREMIERE: SIR CANYON’S “ANGELENO DAYDREAM”

C&I has an exclusive first look at Sir Canyon’s new music video for “Angeleno Daydream,” off the band’s upcoming LP Ventura Skies, available March 2.

Imagine moving in slow-motion, watching the clouds slowly float away while you listen to your favorite laid-back track — overall, a feeling of perfect contentment. That’s the tranquil vibe conjured by the new music video for the Sir Canyon single “Angeleno Daydream.”

Leading the group of musicians is L.A.-based singer-songwriter Noah Lamberth, who previously played pedal steel for Katy Perry and shared stages with Willie Nelson, Dierks Bentley, and Brad Paisley in his early 2000s band, Hank Floyd.

Lamberth’s new music with Sir Canyon conjures the California sound, past and present — part country-, pop-, and folk-inflected SoCal Americana, part western film score.

With opening notes that seem to quote the evocative Twin Peaks theme but transplant it into Golden State sunshine, the video — fronted by Lamberth’s modern reverb voice and backed with Sir Canyon’s classic country sounds of a pedal steel and melodic acoustic strums — follows Lamberth in a contemplative state through the city of Los Angeles.

In keeping with the track’s hazy nature, he sees versions of himself in every corner while singing about heartbreak and getting lost in a California state of mind.

“Angeleno Daydream” comes from Sir Canyon’s March 2 release, Ventura Skies, an LP that Lamberth explains was fueled by a romantic breakup and the loss of his father to cancer.

“The best way to deal with the pain is to verbalize it. But for me, that comes out in song,” Lamberth says. “It’s kind of like therapy. The songs started pouring out of me.”

Experience the cinematic nature of Sir Canyon’s meditative country-pop track “Angeleno Daydream”