The Wild West Show, a country band that plays 100 shows a year, is coming to Fifth Street Live on June 24.
The outlaw country quartet is comprised of Tina Starr (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Artamus Gordon (Bass, Vocals), Marty Carpenter (Drums, Vocals), and Chris Motter (Guitar).
Starr, born and raised here in Gilroy, was happy to answer a few questions about the band, Fifth Street Live, and more!
Question: What style of music do you play?
Tina Starr: We are a country band. I would say top 40 country from classics to what’s on the radio now with an outlaw country edge.
Q: Do you play original songs? Covers?
TS: We play mostly covers, but throw in a few of our originals too, “Don’t Know Who You’re Talkin’ To” and “California Cowboy.” People like to dance to what they know so that’s the majority of what we do. However, my first experience with songwriting, “Frisky on the Whiskey,” is always well-received.
Q: Who are your influences?
TS: There are so many artists who have paved the way and given us their terrific music to play that it’s hard to pick only a few, but I’d say we all love Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Hank Williams and Hank Williams Jr. More currently Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton for me.
Q: Can you talk about the history of the band? How long has The Wild West Show existed?
TS: This is my first time having my own band. The Wild West Show was born in September of 2011.
Q: How did you all meet?
TS: Marty (Drums) and Artamus (Bass) have known each other for over 20 years, playing in various situations at hundreds of venues. They met at a local jam session, which shows you how important those are. Some players look down on jam sessions, but here’s a case where a long-term friendship and working relationship was started at a jam. I met Artamus at a local club where he was playing and we found Chris (Guitar) by advertising online. A couple of us were in another band, which broke up on a Tuesday. We had gigs booked that weekend so in about five minutes, I gathered up what we had left, filled what needed to be filled, adopted our name, and away we went!
Q: What’s the story behind the band name?
TS: My bass player is Artamus Gordon and that is the name of a character in the 60’s TV show The Wild Wild West, which was made into the 1999 movie with Will Smith as James West and Kevin Kline as Artemus Gordon(different spelling). Many years earlier Artamus had his own band which he called Artamus Gordon and The Wild Wild West. That was thrown into the ring, but I personally love the connection to Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show(which is a misnomer, as it was actually called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West) which was a sort of equine and bovine circus where anything could happen. I embrace the whimsical nature of the name and we play it up, dressing the part and having a great time.
Q: What’s the band up to lately?
TS: We are all very busy with work and family, so sometimes the music is on the back burner. I have several original songs to complete and record. All copyrighted, but need a few more lyrics. We are looking forward to a photo shoot to collect some fun new shots and I’ve started the ball rolling on making a music video for “Frisky on the Whiskey” as well.
Q: The Wild West Show is scheduled to play Fifth Street Live on June 24. What are your thoughts on the event? Have you played there before?
TS: Fifth Street Live is a really great event. This will be our third appearance and I can’t stress enough how important it is to have your home town promote their local musicians. Gilroy is doing it right! The staff has been incredibly friendly and easy to work with. The Gilroy Downtown Business Association does an amazing job of advertising and getting people to come out and dance. I was raised in Gilroy, so it’s a huge honor to have the town ask us out to do our thing. I’m looking forward to a beautiful evening with my “neighbors” and some great dancing with fellow members of The San Martin Lions Club.
Q: What’s the future hold for The Wild West Show?
TS: We play up to 100 shows each year, so there is always a show around the corner. Looking forward to releasing ‘Frisky on the Whiskey” on iTunes and producing the video in the next couple of months. We’re playing the Garlic Festival on Saturday, July 30. We’ll be at the Vineyard Stage at 5:15 p.m.
To find out more about The Wild West Show, visit the bands Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thewildwestshow and their website with ReverbNation at www.reverbnation.com/wildwestshow.
