Howdy. It's time to saddle up, kick them spurs and hit the ol' dusty trail with Adelaide's Krusty Cowboy Klub. Giddy up!
Krusty Cowboy Klub are a musical comedy act that strictly play cowboy music.
What is cowboy music? Well partner, band leader Denis Surmon aka Sleepy Dawg Dawson is mighty keen to tell you. “The hardest thing I find is to convince people that they actually know cowboy songs,” Denis says.
“Because when they come along and hear the show they go 'oh, strangely I knew all those songs'; of course you do, everyone knows a cowboy song.
"Every blasted cowboy movie from the past 30, 40 years have had cowboy songs in them that we all know.”
The important distinction for Denis and Krusty Cowboy Klub is that they don't play country music; this is a strictly western affair. “That's always been the great mystery about country and western, isn't it?” Denis ruminates.
“We know – because we were told by people in the know – that country and western were two separate entities. There was country music that was all about living on the farm and isn't life great, but western music is about cowboys.
"We tend to stray down the side of the cowboy stuff, that's what we like to do.”
Basically, if the song's about wives getting run over and dogs running away, Krusty Cowboy Klub don't play it.
What they do play is a catalogue of classic western songs mixed with a slightly silly sense of humour that comes mostly from Denis. “'Blood On The Saddle' is a parody of an old song by Tex Ritter.
“Tex wrote about a cowboy who's come into town and there's blood on the saddle, and my version is somewhat – not off-colour but it's amusing,” he says.
“'Rawhide' is a classic song – instead of 'keep them doggies rolling', 'Rawhide' these days is about keeping the gophers rolling, those little battery-operated carts the elderly people get around on; we call that 'Grey Tide' instead of 'Rawhide', it's pretty corny.
"I do a version of 'YMCA', which I've re-written as 'The CWA' – the Country Women's Association.”
As well as parody songs, Denis says Krusty Cowboy Klub also do straight cover versions of many of the songs in their repertoire, giving the other musicians a chance to showcase their musical talents. “'Happy Trails' is there; I don't do that, someone who hasn't got a stupid mind does that because that's a nice song.
“'Don't Fence Me In, that sort of stuff; these are the songs I let the other guys sing because they're good singers, whereas I'm just a bit of a fool, a bit of a clown,” he laughs.
Krusty Cowboy Klub have just one show so far in the New Year, described as a 'spurs-rattlin'-fun-bucking-tastic lowdown hoedown' taking place at The Gov (Adelaide) in January. “We dress up a little bit, we carry on and doing our little theatrical bits between songs, but it is essentially musical comedy cabaret,” Denis says of the show.
“You can get up and dance if you want to, if anyone knows how to do the Texas Two-Step or, seriously, you can line dance if you want to.
“We do not insult the audience, we do not drag them up or do anything stupid to them. We are the show, that's it. We jump around, tell jokes and mainly make fun of ourselves.”
