THE GALACTIC COWBOY ORCHESTRA | ART-ROCK JAZZ FUSION
Photo by Zach Nichols
MIND FREAKIN' MUSIC:
A liberating melting pot of genres elevated by riff magic, hummable melodies and groovy jams all grounded in a jazz bedrock.
“It’s one thing to deliberately set out to play challenging music, but its quite another to be able to share your aspirations with potential listeners, let alone achieve the high standards of interplay that the band explores...
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“Sounds like Bela Fleck meets Rush, goes out to breakfast with John Coltrane, and gets home in time to go golfing with Jeff Beck.”
BIO
ART-ROCK.
ART-ROCK. FUSION. JAZZ FUSION. JAMGRASS. JAZZGRASS. EXPERIMENTAL ROCK.
The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra has been freakin' minds since 2009. They stretch their own musical limits with album after album of intensely energetic ART-ROCK. Definition of ART-ROCK: A type of rock music, often with poetic lyrics, characterized by sophisticated harmonic, dynamic and technical complexity based on forms derived from classical (and jazz) music and requiring performers of considerable training and skill. It sounds so serious, but when you combine that type of music with four fun-loving musicians who don't take themselves too seriously and who have a love of so much music beyond art-rock (which is why the band covers songs from Otis Rush's All Your Love to Whipping Post to When the Levee Breaks to YYZ), you get a bit of magic in live music form. The band writes and performs music that excites them and has a blast doing it! The GCO appreciates and aspires to superior musicianship while combining their love of a good riff, hummable melody and groovy jam... over a jazz/jazz-rock musical bedrock. It all culminates in an intensely energetic live performance because "we freakin' love what we do and love that the fans dig it too!! "
What other bands do we sound like? We have been compared to King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dixie Dregs, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.
CLICK FOR A LIST OF THE GALACTIC COWBOY ORCHESTRA'S:
PHOTOS & VIDEO | Click Photo to ENLARGE; Right Click to DOWNLOAD, choose "Save Image As"
YOUTUBE PLAYLIST OF GCO LIVE - 31 VIDEOS!
THE PLAYERS
Dan Neale – Guitar – Dan Neale is one of the Twin Cities’ most adored pickers. He has played with Bo Diddley and has performed as a guest artist and a fill-in for Pat Donohue on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” He also performed with Chuck Leavell (keyboard player, The Rolling Stones), Hutch Hutchinson (bass player, Bonnie Raitt) and Kenny Arnoff (drummer, John Mellencamp) in the 50th Anniversary Buddy Holly Tribute, backing such greats as Graham Nash and Wanda Jackson.
Lisi Wright – Fiddle – Lisi started fiddling in 2005. Her background spans the genres of classical, country, bluegrass and rock. She played in Martin Zellar & The Hardways for two years, starting in '06, and has played with Mick Sterling, Kevin Bowe and Alison Scott and can currently be seen performing in Mick Sterling's AT CHRISTMAS. Lisi is endorsed by Bridge Violins.
John Wright – Bass – John Wright first made his mark in the Minnesota Music scene in 1989 where his versatility on the bass found him onstage withPop Fusion/New Age guitarist Billy McLaughlin as well as his own Progressive rock band US, who's debut recording made the cover of the College Music Journal. As the years ensued John found himself in many different musical environment'sfrom Blues and Soul legend Mick Sterling to a four year run with Minnesota Pop star Tim Mahoney. In 1999, he found time to form the critically acclaimed Celtic/American Folk-Rock trio Lehto and Wright, still active to this day. Concurrent to his live performances, John has developed his skills as a recording engineer/ producer with over 75 full length CD's and countless other sessions on his resume, making him a in-demand producer in Minnesota and beyond. He is the founder of The Villa Recording Studio in Savage, MN.
Alec Tackmann – Drums/Percussion/Vocals – Born and raised in Rochester, MN, Alec Tackmann is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. While at Berklee, Alec studied primarily under Rick Considine and Terri Lyne Carrington among many outside including Mike Mangini, Kenny Aronoff, Blair Sinta, and Steve Goold. After four years he completed his Bachelor of Music in drum set performance including an internship at Capitol Records in Hollywood, CA. Upon finishing Berklee, Alec moved back to Minnesota to build a career as an independent musician; keeping a rigorous performing schedule while maintaining a private teaching studio of roughly 45 students per week. Alec is the author of the GoAndPractice series of drum instructional books.