New Folk Booking

The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra

Biography

Performance Arrangements: Electric 4-piece, Acoustic 4-piece, Acoustic Trio

- Steve Schmidt, General Manager - City of Rochester Music Department/Riverside Concerts

"The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra puts on an energetic show, coupled with incredible musicianship."
-Justin Burke, Northrop Auditorium Stage Manager

GCO is a unique and powerful musical ensemble that fuses original and traditional bluegrass-edged tunes with jazz and world elements. Their music is Chick Corea meets The Dixie Dregs meets A Prairie Home Companion. The mix ranges from highly accessible bluegrass tunes to extreme arrangements of East Indian ragas. GCO's instrumentation includes guitar, fiddle, bass and drums. The widely versatile instrumentals are accessible to music-lovers of all ages!

The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra’s show features the ensemble’s original music, as well as vocal covers of country & bluegrass greats, Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, Patsy Cline, and more. In addition to the music, the show also features some fun short films showcasing GCO's theatrical side.

This performance can be personalized for the needs of the venue. If a venue and its audience are interested in classic country and bluegrass covers, then the show will turn into a classic country performance of the good ol' vocal covers. Please ask New Folk Booking agent, Elisa Wright, if you have questions as to the different musical directions The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra can be taken.

The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra is able to put on a show that features ONLY classic country and bluegrass covers, with a few high-energy trad instrumentals thrown in...the audience is going to want to hear Orange Blossom Special!

It is a highly accessible show that is perfect for mature audiences and tribute-minded venues. The covers performed by GCO include:

• Move It On Over - Hank Williams
• Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams (Patsy Cline arrangement)
• Can’t You Hear Me Callin’ - Bill Monroe
• Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
• Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
• And more!

The Players:

Dan Neale – Guitar – Dan Neale is one of the Twin Cities' most adored pickers. He has played with Bo Diddley and Martin Zellar, and is a semi-regular on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion." He was most recently seen in the house band (along with Rolling Stone's keyboard player, Chuck Leavell, Bonnie Raitt's bass player, Hutch Hutchinson and John Mellencamp's drummer, Kenny Arnoff) in the 50th Anniversary Buddy Holly Tribute, backing such greats as Graham Nash and Wanda Jackson.

Lisi Wright – Fiddle – At the age of 25, Lisi has begun to make a name for herself in the Twin Cities' music scene, playing with Martin Zellar until his retirement and Mick Sterling. Lisi's background spans the genres of classical, country, bluegrass and rock.

John Wright – Bass – John is celebrating his tenth year with the Celtic/American folk/folk-rock band Lehto & Wright. Wright's background spans many different musical styles including blues, fusion, pop Latin and rock.

Mark O'Day – Drums/Percussion – Mark is a graduate of the world renowned Musicians Institute of Technology in Hollywood California. Studied with Joe Porcaro (Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard) Ralph Humphrey (Frank Zappa, Barbra Streisand, Rita Coolidge) and Dave Beyer (Melissa Etheridge, Joan Osborne, Gregg Allman, Michael McDonald). He has also been on numerous European tours with Minneapolis blues legend Willy Murphy. Mark is endorsed by Paiste Cymbals.

Galactic Cowboy Orchestra's website