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Cowboy Neal Takes the Windy City By Storm
- Konstantina Buhalis
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Cowboy Neal’s refreshing take on art rock hits the Chicago scene.
Article contributed by Konstantina Buhalis
Chicago art-rock juggernauts Cowboy Neal have released their latest single, “Tighten Up,” a funky, prog-rock-inspired track about growth, gaining confidence, and pride in your work. The six-piece group has been a highlight of the Chicago scene, gaining traction while playing throughout the city, reigniting the power of the groove. SoundCheck Mag sat down with Ian Hammond to talk about Cowboy Neal’s inspiration, playing with Dweezil Zappa, and working as a sound designer for the stage play he wrote.
Learn Your Lessons
“Tighten Up”, written by Hammond, was a track that came together after Hammond was inspired by the act of self-criticism and learning when to allow yourself to feel pride in your work. Hammond said, “I guess it's sort of like learn your lessons. I also feel like I feel more secure in, like, the friendships I have and the people I associate with, and just learned over time what that means to me, and who the right people are, who the right people should be around me.” When Hammond writes music, the lyrics usually come last, giving “Tighten Up” an upbeat sound, but with serious lyricism, Hammond continued to say, “The song I feel like is pretty upbeat, and then that time to song can be a bit of a bummer, like the lyrics too, so it's trying to figure out the good balance between the two has been sort of has been fun” going on to say that working with his friend and bandmate and cast member of Second City, Kenzie, has enhanced the experience of playing the song with her vocals giving the song a lighter feel to them.
Building the Band
Hammond’s dedication to his bandmates is evident, and with everyone bringing in multiple influences, both in and outside of Cowboy Neal, they have created a unique blend that has helped shape the band's genre-bending sound. Hammond described working with his bandmates, saying, “We're all learning from each other at every moment. It's like a great, all the musicians just have very different backgrounds, too, which is really enriching when you're then trying to make one cohesive sound together.” Hammond continues to say that he’s very lucky to have a talented group of artists working with him, talking about each individual's accomplishments with excitement and adoration, and giving more insight into how Cowboy Neal is rooted in passion and creation. Cowboy Neal’s strength lies in its numbers and dedication to working as a team, allowing everyone to bring their own talents and abilities to build a multi-genre sonic fusion that not only represents the modern Chicago scene but also offers a brief history of the city's ever-changing landscape.
Hornets, and The Second City Bandmates
Hammond’s artistic interests extend not only to live music but also to sound design for The Second City, Chicago’s premier comedy and improv sketch club, which was home to some of the Cowboy Neal crew. Hammond explained how he and some of the members went from accompanying him to writing for the Hornets.
“ I find myself around all these actors. I'm not, like, a trained playwright or anything, or a storyteller in any aspect, but I found myself around all these actors. There were some shows at the Second City's smaller theaters that I scored. I like music directed with a live band, so I had the bass player and drummer from Cowboy Neil, and we just sort of did a three-piece. We did live accompaniment for these sketches, and we did that twice, but the more I found myself around these actors, the more I'm like, okay, I could write something, and then I did, and it was its Hornets.” Hornets was a slight departure from the music of Cowboy Neal, and as Hammond described it, “A bit of a bummer”, but during the writing process, it was very sound forward, similar to the music of Cowboy Neal. The process of writing for Hornets led Hammond to be more experimental with his work, citing Yiannis Xenakus as inspiration for his work, saying,
“I can make this as weird as I want, and that was really freeing, because this band is like very song writing heavy, and, like, heavy, a little indie here, a little Midwest emo there, however you want to feel about it, so then being able to open that up in the play and treat it as its own like creative thing and being able to go in different directions with sound and use parts of my brain that I haven't before was really exciting.” The collaboration with the Second City stage crew allowed Hammond to use sound as a vehicle for visual storytelling.
Meeting the Band
One of the most significant influences on Hammond was Frank Zappa, and a few years ago, Hammond got to live out a dream and have a sit-in with Dweezil Zappa. Through an after-school program, Hammond talked about the experience, saying,
“I'm shaking his hand, and he looks like his dad, and he's playing his dad's music, and that was just very surreal, many of my friends in high school all shared the same kind of I don't know if obsession, but fascination with his music, so it was sort of always on, we were always talking about it.” Zappa’s music paved the way for Hammond’s creative process, leading to the dynamic sounds of Cowboy Neal.
Cowboy Neal has released their latest single, “No Shade on North Ave.” Cowboy Neal is available to stream on all platforms, is playing throughout Chicago, and is planning a future tour.
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