The Legend
Gypsy Saddletramps began as a vision in my mind’s eye. There’s a little bit of cowboy and cowgirl in all of us. One winter’s day during a songwriting session my inner cowboy came galloping out at full speed, and there in my mind’s eye I envisioned a full-tilt cowboy band in all of its glory. The mournful wails of Hank Williams and the blissful harmonies of early western groups from my youthful memories came flooding in and blending with spaghetti western sounds and dueling gunslinger western guitars and of course, the Johnny Cash style vocals. The first song “Wild Texas Rose” was born almost fully formed over the next couple of hours. The next few days, several more songs came tumbling out. The next step was to contact my good friend and songwriter/artist, B. Charley Stewart. Charley felt the magic instantly and agreed to play guitar and sing back-up. Later on he would also contribute his formidable songwriting and producing skills to the project. The magic continued to unfold as lead guitar player Mitch Perry, and bass player/producer Dusty Wakeman joined the Saddletramps. The first sessions were done at drummer/engineer Thomas LeBlanc’s home studio. However; before long we were recording at Firehouse Studios where Aretha and Natalie Cole do their sessions, and engineer Les Cooper joined our cowboy hootenanny. Later at a Bonnie Raitt benefit concert, drummer Tony Braunagel enthusiastically agreed to lay down the beat for the boy’s.
The Saddletramp magic really began to kick into high gear after the Firehouse sessions. At a dinner party with friends engineer John Porter and wife Linda Keith, Charley played one of our tracks. Linda, legendary for discovering Jimi Hendrix, was thrilled about the song “Lost Highway Again.” She encouraged her husband John to mix the song. The resulting mix jumped out of the speakers. After that, John then mixed another song “Walk on Down the Road”, and we had our first single. Everyone this music has touched has felt the magic on this project. Our desire is for the magic to reach you as well!
Gypsy Saddletramps
The universe continues to unfold. My partner Karen Caille and I have written the song “Cowboy Up” for a ride em’ cowboy rodeo in Montana and Gypsy Saddletramps has signed a publishing deal on “Lost Highway Again.” Soon to be featured in a major independent film.
