Album Notes

COWBOY FANDANGO CAPTURES THE WEST

"A new style of cowboy music delivered in a fresh and interesting way. Greg McCarty is an original."
--Darrell Arnold, Cowboy Magazine, Fall 2003

(To hear Greg’s radio interview from June 12, 2009, scroll down to the links at the bottom of this page.)

Cowboy Fandango reflects Greg McCarty's passion and pursuit of the cowboy life. Of the twelve selections, nine are Greg's original compositions, inspired by the people and landscape of the buckaroo West. His narrative songwriting style drips with drama and imagery - a sly, Yaqui horse thief with a taste for silver saddles; a lost cowboy led by music to an abandoned homestead; a young boy sitting cross-legged in front of a television set, watching Hopalong Cassidy and dreaming.

Also included are songs from Walt LaRue, famed western artist, singer, stuntman, and rodeo rider; Hal Cannon, western folklorist, author, and musician; and the pop music heyday of Gene Autry.

A one-man musical outfit, Greg plays all the instruments (save for some hot fiddling by Sonoma County's Alice Fitzwater) and sings all the parts on Cowboy Fandango. His layering of vocals and stringed instruments conjures musical influences ranging from the Sons of the Pioneers to Marty Robbins and Ian Tyson.

Greg's musical trail has led him from pack stations and ranches in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Colorado to the concert stages of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage and the Armand Hammer Museum of Art. But his heart - and music - will always live in the wide-open spaces.