March 03, 2010 Mary-Kate Roan

mkroan@connectstatesboro.com

Connect Statesboro (CS): How long have you guys been together?
Wesley Bragg (WB): With this particular name, I’m not sure. We’ve been Busted Hand for awhile, and we toyed around with Wesley Bragg and the Cowboy Jester but then we went with Cut-Throat Cowboys. Myself and the lead guitar player have been together since high school. It’s been probably six years or something like that if not longer.

CS: What exactly is your music style?
WB: Smells like country, tastes like rock and roll I guess is the best way to say it. It’s hard to put a finger on it exactly. It’s definitely more of a southern rock feel. We take some country songs and revamp them and do them our way. They end up turning into more rock. Sometimes we’ll take a song that’s supposed to be mellowed out and slow and sad and by the time we get done with it, it’s like we feel like partying with it now.

CS: Where do you guys play?
WB: Everywhere in Charleston. We’re working on right now getting into a place in Jacksonville. We play on Tybee, Savannah, Pooler and Statesboro. Right now we’re in the process of getting on the Wild Wing Circuit.

CS: What are your influences?
WB: Probably on the top of the list is Cross Canadian Ragweed. They’re basically what our style is. It’s what I learned how to play guitar to, and it’s what our lead guitar guy learned to play to. Our influences come from everywhere. My brother, the bass player, is kind of a hippie jammy type guy. The drummer came from a metal band and joined up with us, but it’s worked out really well. I was kind of wondering how it was going to happen but it worked. We all just kind of calamity it up together.

CS: How’d you get the name Cut-Throat Cowboys?
WB: We were working with a buddy of mine who was a promoter in Charleston. We were brainstorming on what we wanted, and we wanted something that was catchy and fit our attitude. And Cut-Throat Cowboys just kind of came up. We’re not scared to get into whatever we’ve got to get into, and we’re not scared to go there as far as playing goes. We’re pretty cut-throat. Cut-Throat-Tacular is what I put on my MySpace sometimes.

CS: What kind of instruments do you play?
WB: Oh, I play a Gibson SongWriter. Nothing better than a Gibson guitar. Myles plays a Les Paul. My brother is in love with his. He’s got an old ‘50s style Fender Precision bass with the old Tele style headstock. It’s pretty sweet looking. Drummer plays nothing but Tama drums. And I’ve got to throw in my microphone. I just bought the sweetest microphone. It’s a Sure Super 55. It’s the old Elvis style microphone. It’s got all the same internals as a new microphone, but it’s put in the chassis of an old-style microphone. I bought a chrome stand to go with it and everything. I had to have my fiancé match it all up with me.

CS: How’d you learn to play the harmonica?
WB: Same way I learned to play guitar. I listened to some tracks I love that have harmonica licks in them and just kind of mimicked them and learned how to work with it. I’m no Blues Traveler, but I like to consider myself better than Bob Dylan.

CS: Does having your brother in the band make it difficult?
WB: Yeah, we fight like cats and dogs. But we’ve always been like that. Our father was a musician in the area. We butt heads, and the guys in the band that we’ll sit there and look like we’re about to throw blows but five minutes later we’re best friends and cutting up with each other. He’s bigger than I am, but I have to put him in his place. He’s younger and taller, but I’m more cut-throat than he is.

CS: Do you guys ever perform your own stuff?
WB: You can be a cover band or you can be an original band. We’re an original band that plays covers. Every night we have several songs we’ve written, and we are constantly writing. Even if we just wrote it on the way there we play our songs every night.

CS: As far as band chemistry goes, how is that?
WB: We’re so tight it’s not even funny. For instance, I have the world’s worst memory. I walk up to the microphone and forget what song we’re singing because I know so many songs. The band picks up on it instantly. And if I’m ready to end a song because my voice is going out and I can’t sing it like I should, everybody knows what to do. We are literally brothers. I have a two-month old baby. The lead guitar player is the godfather. When I get married, they’re all in the wedding. As far as band and brotherhood goes, there’s no tighter band.

    Want to see these guys perform? Don't forget to catch Wesley Bragg and the Cut-Throat Cowboys at Dos Primos on March 5!

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