Cooder

If I had to pick a new personal favorite Texas/Americana band for this year, I would have to say it is Cooder Graw from the Texas panhandle. This band recorded their first CD in 1998, a self-produced album called "Home at the Golden Light Live" that is no longer not readily available, and for which there is an ever-growing waiting list. My question is, "Where the hell have I been?" I first started hearing about this band two or three months ago on a Texas Country Music list. I read posts on the internet from several different music lovers about what a great band they are. I thought that was an interesting name for a band and stored the information in my feeble brain for future reference.

One day while CD shopping, I found their CD and picked it up and listened to it that night. Then I listened to it again the next morning. I mean the whole thing! I've listened to that CD at least 10 or 12 times in the past week and came away thinking every time, "Damn, those boys know how to jam!" So when I found out that Cooder Graw was gigging at the White Elephant Saloon in Fort Worth, I said in my friend, Terri's famous words, "I am SO THERE!" So there I was, and when they walked up to the stage, the crowd gave them a hearty Stockyard's welcome. Now I know why. This five piece angst-ridden band made of Matt Martindale, lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Kelly Turner on electric guitar (lead); Joe Ammons, drums and back-up vocals; Paul Baker on the bass guitar and Jim Whisenhunt on the pedal steel guitar ROCKED THE SALOON!

The White Elephant Saloon is a great bar - full of tradition with cowboy hats plastered all over the ceiling and walls, complete with the donor's name burned in piece of wood nailed below it. I even found the "Hall of Fame" wall with hats from Dale Watson, Leon Rausch, Alvin Crow, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Gary P. Nunn, just to name a few. There's even a western bride's hat (with veil) and the groom's hat on the ceiling. Another thing this bar has is A LOT of white elephants displayed, big ones, little ones, medium sized ones. It's my favorite bar in Fort Worth, not that I've been to that many, but it's my favorite. Not a big place, but big enough and lots of good ol' Texas atmosphere.

The first set started out with a couple of their own songs and when some tourist in the crowd asked for a classic cover song, Matt told the crowd, "We wrote some songs for our CD, and we're gonna' practice them on you tonight if that's all right. And we'll get to those other songs you know later on, how bout it?" They had my heart and my full attention from then on! And it was then that I decided that I just had to do a story about their show and their new CD so I grabbed some napkins and my sharpie and started taking notes.

I was going to include their set list in this article, but when the first set was 17 songs, I knew that wasn't going to be easy. Besides singing almost all of their own material, which I will get into more later, they threw in several crowd-pleasers such as REK's "Gringo Honeymoon" (which they sang right after their song, "Shotgun Wedding"), "Merry Christmas to the Family", "I'm Comin' Home", "London Homesick Blues" and "Jaded Lover". They also did Ray Wylie's "Red Neck Mother", Johnny Bush's "Whiskey River" and a few others that kept the crowd on the dance floor like "Honky Tonk Women" and "Pickin' Up The Tempo". Matt jokingly thanked the "solid gold dancers" after one song. And he showed his professionalism during the sing-along tune, "Good Hearted Woman", by continuing to play the hell out of his acoustic guitar to finish the song when the power blew on stage and all that was left was Matt and his guitar. The crowd sang louder to make up for it as Matt forged on and made up a quick ending for the song. The crowd was amused and impressed by his impromptu save of a classic song. The songs from their first album were just as good. The two that come to mind now that are particularly memorable are "King of the Dairy Queen" and "Wicked Witch of the West", both typical tunes of a West Texas songwriter, a damn good West Texas songwriter. Another good one is "Lifetime Stand"..."I've been looking for a lifetime stand one night at a time"...what a great line.

The highlight of this live act was the washboard performance of Matt Martindale in their "Solitary Boogie", they can boogie all night long! He used metal ice cream scoops on the board to make the sound - awesome!

This band has a following, and some of them were there Saturday night to support their Cooder Graw. To this end, the band was never out of beer and Matt was never short on tequila shots. At one time, he had three sitting in front of him and had just had three during the first set. He was beginning to wonder if he was going to make it through the night with that much tequila to put away, but he took it all in stride and managed to put on a hell of a show. They all did! The drummer does a great job on back-up vocals and drums, the band is tight and they all seem to really enjoy what they're doing. Matt told me between sets with the most sincerity that they are "living their dream" and when someone's doing that, they've got to be happy. I believed him, it's this band's dream for however long it lasts. And this writer thinks their dream is just beginning.

As for the CD, it's wonderful. They are even better live, but you better get this one for your collection. It's a keeper. Matt and the band wrote most of the songs. They are, for the most part, songs about their lives and their experiences, which is a common thing in song writing. Some just do it better than others. These guys have that talent - to write the song and put the right music with it.

The first song, "Motel Lights", is a story about a newly wed couple that have big problems right away because her new husband won't quit hanging out in the local motels, thus "Motel Lights". "Llano Estcado", I have discovered, is their theme song, their motto if you will. The Cooder Graw sticker I bought says, "Cooder Graw - It's a loud country". And that they are! The lyrics of this song start out,

"I was born on the Llano Estacado.

I was raised here in this land.

They tell me it's a loud country,

and I'm gonna stay here and make it as loud as I can.

I'd never say I'm a brand new kind of outlaw,

but I'm doing the same old kind of crime.

I've been playing behind all the bars in Texas -

that's the only place I care to do my time".

It's a fast, rockin' song, and it fits this group well. The third song, "State Line", is a well-written ballad about a guy who breaks bail and runs from the law. He gets caught in another state and put in jail where he hangs himself with the county shirt he had on. Sad, but a good song. "She Loves Too Much" is a song about a woman who is too vulnerable for her own good, and it made me wonder if that was something this young man already experienced in his life. Probably so. The fifth song on this CD is called, "18 Wheels of Loving". It's a catchy song about a truck driver on his way home to party with his lady. My favorite lines in this song are:

"There's almost nothing like the women in Dallas, Texas,

They got hundred dollar hair and fifty bucks of makeup on.

My baby don't need a dime to make her look good.,

She's as pretty as a flower and I'm gonna make it home".

"Two More Tears in Texas", the next song, is a sad ballad about a broken-hearted man who doesn't want to leave his lover but his pride tells him he must. The next song is my favorite song on the album. It's called "My Give a Damn is Broken", and this song is better on the CD than live. Why? Because Asleep at the Wheel accompanies them , and it includes some great instrumental steel guitar and fiddle solos on the CD cut. The music itself reminds me of Lyle Lovett's style and the lyrics are just as clever. The chorus is the hook line,

"'Cause my give a damn is broken and my care-about is gone.

My want-to-do-right left last night and left me all alone

with nothing but my don't-know-why and my where-did-I-go-wrong.

Well I've got a spare, I don't care, to use when this one's gone."

It's a great song with a catchy beat that I, for one, could relate to in many ways. "Dirty Little Hometown Girl" is about a girl in a small town who goes out lookin' for a "Daddy" to get her through the hard times, another song with a hook chorus that seems to work. Kelly Willis joins Cooder Graw on "West Texas Wind", and her voice meshes well with Matt's. The song is about a hooker who gets pregnant and works to change her life and it's done beautifully on this CD. The next track is called "Picture in the Closet" and this song is a sad song about a woman who can't get seem to get past her "past". "Shotgun Wedding" is my second favorite on the album - an upbeat song whose title tells the story except for the unexpected twist. The ending is funny in that they skip the wedding and go right to the honeymoon - in the back seat of the car so they can save the money on the room. The last song on the CD is entitled, "Memphis, Texas", a song about leaving a town in Texas called Memphis with a broken heart and sitting in a park reflecting on his loss. It's a slow ballad with great lines.

I was going to write more about the band's background, but because this article is so lengthy, I will let you read it from the Cooder Graw web site if you wish. I will, however, insert this one paragraph from their web site, which describes them well:

"The reason Cooder Graw's star is rising is so quickly is simple. Those who have seen and heard this band will tell you that this band is fun to watch their music is catchy, their performances rowdy and energetic, and last, but obviously not least, the members are accomplished musicians. Rich Brotherton of Robert Earl Keen's band called Cooder Graw's music "Loud Country." Cooder Graw is now taking their loud country all over Texas, Oklahoma and the Southwest, one town and one dance hall at a time."

In summary, this band can do it all and they do! If you ever get a chance to see them live, do it! And please visit their website, www.coodergraw.com for more background information and their schedule. Another note of interest is that they do have a fan club and an e-group list for Cooder Graw fans. You can find information about this on their web site also.

Written by Lana Hughes, 2000