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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016
Cabell Tice
Brian Bovenizer & The Koala Cowboys’ debut show at the Voodoo Room in Astoria in October.
KOALA COWBOYS
RIDE THE ‘SURF COUNTRY’
Astoria band has indie-rock credibility
brother Olaf has been a touring member
of Portland band John Heart Jackie,
and pedal steel guitarist James Owen
Greenan most recently did time in the
coastal alt-country band The Cedar
Shakes.
The Koala Cowboys mark
Bovenizer’s ¿ rst musical proMect after
leaving Holiday Friends, a fellow
Astoria band, in late 2012. Without
a band commitment he was content
to ful¿ ll his duties as “ambassador of
marketing and music ambiance” at Fort
George Brewery and Public House
while quietly working on a batch of his
own songs in collaboration with Ydstie.
He had no intention of performing the
songs in a band until Ydstie asked
Bovenizer to open up for all three of his
solo album release concerts this past
fall. It presented the perfect opportunity
for Bovenizer to reach out and work
with the Astoria-based musicians that
he had admired.
By JAMES DEAN KINDLE
For the East Oregonian
W
hen asked to give a succinct
description of the sound of
his backing band, The Koala
Cowboys, Brian Bovenizer is quick to
reply, “surf country.”
,t makes sense Sur¿ ng is a popular
pastime near Astoria where Bovenizer
and his band hail from, and having
pedal steel guitar and twangy guitar in
the mix of instruments places the band
in country territory.
He is also very quick to praise them
as well. “I’m pretty blessed to have
this band. I’ve never been comfortable
enough to do it alone.”
Considering his backing band
is a Paci¿ c 1orthwest indie-rock
supergroup, saying he is blessed is
almost an understatement: Guitarist
Jeff Munger was one third of Sally
Ford’s former backing band The Sound
Outside, bassist Luke Ydstie is a
member of indie folk bands Blind Pilot
and Hook & Anchor, Luke’s drummer
S
THE BEST OF THE WORST CALLS TO ASTORIA 911 DISPATCH
January 2015
ess
Chronicling the Joy of Busin
Follow reporter Kyle Spurr on his 9-1-What? Twitter watch, where a few
of the sometimes head-scratching calls to area dispatch take center stage. The
full feed is at www.twitter.com/9_1_WHAT.
in the Columbia-Pacific
Region
striverbusinessjournal
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Volume 10 • Issue 1
stry spo
allenges
Inside: Indu
copes with ch
Shellfish farm
an conditions
oce
nging
s optimistic despite cha
tlight:
Taylor remain
NEWS
County makes a splash
Live to tape
Bovenizer is optimistic about
the future of his new band. “We’re
doing these shows to tighten up the
songs before we head into the studio.
Hopefully we can cut it live to tape,
then overdub on top of that,” says
Bovenizer.
Although it probably won’t happen
for their debut record, Bovenizer is
hoping to have a full-À edged profes-
sional studio in Astoria available for
subsequent recordings. 1orth Coast
Range, as he has christened it, will be
a turnkey studio designed for bands
along with their studio engineers to
escape to the coast for a weekend.
“Right now I have a temporary
studio where we are demo-ing things.
Late 2016 or early 2017 is a realistic
timeline.”
James Dean Kindle is a Pendleton
musician and executive director of the
Oregon East Symphony.
o it is generally a good idea to stay off roofs. Whether you are a large
raccoon at an apartment complex in Astoria, or idle kids at a church in
Elsie, get down. Please.
Unless, of course, you are the dude walking toward Hammond in a cowboy
hat, tank top and gun in a holster on your hip. You rock. You can go anywhere
...
9-1-WHAT?
FREE
Chicago suburbs, he was a hero of mine.
He was big in opening up alt-country, I
hate to say outlaw country, but that true
country that is trying to tell a story —
not sell a song.”
Get down
?
PUBLISHED THE FIRST FRIDAY
OF EACH MONTH
Via Chicago
Originally from Chicago, Bovenizer
started his music career as a teenager
working for Peterson Electro-Musical
Products, a company specializing in
high end instrument tuning devices.
“I was in charge of artist relations
and marketing back when Myspace was
a thing,” says Bovenizer. “I redesigned
the Myspace page, put up videos and
made sure that the top players repre-
senting the brand were taken care of.”
With Peterson being the brand of
choice for many professional pedal
steel guitar players, it didn’t take
long for him to start meeting country
musicians and developing an appreci-
ation for the genre.
“That’s where I started to learn
about country and folk music,” recalls
Bovenizer. “It wasn’t till I was 19 or
20 that I learned country could be cool
and it didn’t have to be rhinestones and
bubble gum. I got a call from Ricky
Skaggs one day and almost (expletive)
my pants.”
Of course there were elements
of Chicago’s local music scene that
also had an impact on Bovenizer’s
perception of country music. He cites
John Prine as one of his primary
musical inÀ uences. “Growing up in the
Now inserted into
The Daily Astorian and
Chinook Observer
For more information call 503-325-3211
PacifIc
in the pot biz page 10
NEWS
Seaside Muffler and Off-Road
21
revs up its reputation page
BOAT OF THE MONTH
The Sadie out of South Bend,
Wash. page 24
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