Urbane Cowboys

When: 7pm Saturday April 5 2003
Where: ¡Viva La Frida! Café y Galeria, 5901 North Florida Avenue.

Established in September of 1999, this Tampa, FL americana/roots rock/alt.country quartet is made up of the solid backbeat of Jeff Blackburn (drums), the driving bass lines of Steven Schumacher (bass guitar), the solid rhythm & sweet melodies of Michael Snayd (acoustic guitar & vocals), and the clean-picked leads & smooth harmonies of Kamran Mir (electric guitar & vocals.)

The Urbane Cowboys influences include The Old 97's, Cigar Store Indians, Whiskeytown, Johnny Cash, Social Distortion, and Hank Williams, Sr., just to name a few. Rich McSherry, former Tampa roots/americana promoter/supporter described them as: "... ass kickin', beer drinkin', boot stompin' rock n' roll. A definite SXSW contender."

In his feature article on the Cowboys in Tampa's local rag Weekly Planet, music columnist Scott Harrell had this to say: "... the presence of two primary songwriters in Snayd and Mir, lend The Urbane Cowboys a surprisingly broad signature. Some songs rock with roadhouse abandon, some would slide nicely into contemporary pop-country airplay, and still others ply into that surf-a-billy backbeat. By refusing to narrowly define what they do, the Cowboys have created a fun, eclectic, and widely appealing style."

In their almost four years in existence, The Urbane Cowboys Cowboys have gigged quite consistently around the Tampa Bay area. They have played with Skinny McGee & his Mayhem Makers, The Camaros, Jet Set Six, The Deep Sixes, The Red Elvises, Billy Bacon & the Forbidden Pigs, Cigar Store Indians, and in a major cross-genre coup for the Cowboys, Reel Big Fish.

Visit the band's website for more information.