Steve Brack & Stage Co.
Oklahoma Rodeo Rock Country
Lead Vocals & Guitar: Steve Brack,
Lead Guitar: Randy C: Bass Guitar: Joe Ellington,
Percussion: Mike Tapscott,
Sound Engineer: Richard Thomason.
About Stage County
We play an original style of Rodeo Rock Country Music, taking a little bit from all of our influences: Chris LeDoux, The Old School Outlaw's, 70's Rock Music, "When Willie Took Country to the Hippies", Hendrix Guitars, Southern Western Finger Pickin', A Little BB King For A Touch Of Blues.
About Western Nights Album
Steve Brack & Stage County have continued breaking boundaries in the Oklahoma / Texas Honkytonk/Rodeo Rock Scene with the release of their genre-bending new album entitled "Western Nights". This is the bands second full length album, and from the sound of it, these boys have definitely been sharpening their sound since the release of their self titled debut album.
Tight songwriting and ambitious musical direction permeate the ten tracks on "Western Nights". While the album clocks in at just shy of forty minutes, it is a tour-de-force of musical mind-melds. Alt/Country forged in the fire of Rock and Roll covered with the dusty red dirt of the Oklahoma Territory.
Is it Rock? Not when you are listening to the soaring steel guitar and plaintive George Strait - style vocal on the track "Amarillo", or the downright gritty honky-tonk guitars on the whiskey soaked track "Let's Drink". Is it Country? The thunderous "Spinning Spurs", with its salty brew of Soundgarden riffing matched with Chris LeDoux -rodeo-cowboy-anthem lyrics, would say not, yet…What are these guys trying to do? If this is Country, then it ain't your Grandma's Country.
Stage County hails from the breathy flat lands of Oklahoma somewhere near the intersection of I-35 and I-40, the Heartland of America. The sprawling Oklahoma City, with its six county wide urban/rural expanse surrounding it, covers some 800 square miles and is home to half the states 3.5 million people. This is the South I – 35 corridor; a 600 mile stretch of highway anchored in the large Texas metroplexes, cutting right through this region on to Kansas City. In the middle of this strip between Norman, 70 miles from the Texas State line, to Stillwater, home of the early pioneers of Red Dirt music, lies the answer to the enigma of Stage County.
Only in this melting pot of Middle America could such widely diverse musicians come together and play this type of new wave of American Country Music. Take a 6'2", pressed wrangler wearing, self proclaimed rodeo rocker named Steve Brack and throw him in the breaking pen with a veteran Southside OKC classic-rocker rhythm section and then bring in a former head banging metal guitarist turned blues aficionado and see who comes out bruised and battered. Now throw in a second generation chicken pickin', telecaster wielding, guitarist with a chip on his shoulder and you are sure to be repairing fences on a regular basis. "Thats how it kinda was in the early days with this band, but I like your analogy, a breaking pen…" laughed Steve Brack, vocalist and key songwriter for Stage County. "When I first met these guys, I had a few songs written and I was interested in putting together a band and eventually make a record. I have a real, straight up Honky Tonk Bar Room background, so I was totally blown away by the drive the guys put behind the songs".
The band's debut album, released in July of 2007, came out of these early sessions. "It took a while for the line up to solidify, but, once it did, we had a fair balance of Country music background with Steve, and Johnny and then the Classic Rock, Metal and Grunge with the rest of us…it really started to click," says guitarist Eric "EZE" Williams. "We recorded all of the basic tracks for the first album in two, four hour sessions ". Eric and Johnny then went back to record their guitar solos, each with their own distinctive style; EZE with his overdrive drenched Les Paul, and Johnny Sly with his telecaster twang. The result was a curious low-budget blend of the modern Country influence with a real Rock ethic. We're talking twin guitar solos and power chords. ZZ top style Thunder Boogies and Southern Rock Rodeo Anthems sung with the gusto of a Country Boy Done Good.
"It really worked and people started to take notice of what we were trying to do. Although, it was bizarre at first, for me personally, to be playing with a band labeled as Country, I quickly realized that with the songs we were writing and recording with Steve, we were doing something very different from the traditional Nashville style of Country and it was OK," says EZE. "Some call it Red Dirt, some not, I like to call it Rodeo Rock," says Steve Brack. "The original Red Dirt started up in Stillwater with Bob Childers, Mike McClure (The Great Divide), Johnny Cooper (Red Dirt Rangers), and Cody Canada (Cross Canadian Ragweed) Jason Boland and so on…We are just doing our own thing, kinda like they were. We have our roots in Oklahoma and we love writing songs where we can bring all of our influences to bear".
The release of the new album "Western Nights" show the band's progress some 18 months later. A series of high profile shows and festivals over the course of 2008 in support of their first record, the acquisition of the band's first bus, a growing reputation as a real up and coming band in the Land of Red Dirt. The album was recorded over about six weeks in late 2008. "We actually got the finished master from Dave (Copenhaver, engineer Studio 7) on Christmas Eve. We uploaded a couple of the tracks to our MySpace and drank about a dozen rounds of Jagermeister to celebrate," Steve says with a big smile. "It's kind of big for us. It's a big deal, man. We've been working hard and it shows".
You be the judge. Whether a fresh take on Red Dirt Music or a new breed of Rodeo Rock, track for track, "Western Nights" swings through the various musical genres that make up the "Heartland of America", picking and choosing liberally. The opening track, "Best Part of Me" is a countrified riff rocker with a twisted Thin Lizzy-type guitar bridge. "Blow this Town" is a rave up thumb-in-your- eye featuring raunchy guitar riffs with Angus Young-stlye hammer ons.
The title track, "Western Nights" is a guitar-driven Cowboy Anthem with a Southern Rock ethos. Harmony riffs and crushing power chords with a horse gallop: trail dust in your teeth lyrics.
"Drunk Dialing" is a curious ode to the late night booty call with a tick-tock guitar riff and sing-along chorus that would be right at home on any roadhouse jukebox.
The album continues with a couple of very earnest Southern Rock influenced tracks. "Moving Along" is the slower, country ballad while "Six Feet in the Ground" is a pulsing Marshall Tucker influenced cut that builds to a crashing crescendo of sweet steel guitar, blistering electric guitar licks and harmony vocals.
The album finishes out with "Gin Met Jack", a salty, upbeat electric blues that tell the story of a helpless redneck girl's run in with that infamous "man in black", Jack Daniels.
"Western Nights" comes highly recommended as a glimpse into the ever evolving fringes of American Country Music. If you haven't heard of Rodeo Rock Music, it's time to listen; if you have, be sure to check out this fast rising band from North of the Red River.
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