Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Scripted Interview: Cowboy Personality RANDY ERWIN . . . .

Christal Cooper


Scripted Interview With
Cowboy Personality Randy Erwin:


Birthdate?

9/19/1957

Birth place?

Ganado Texas





Your first memory of music

I remember playing random pop record 45 singles on an old portable player. Stuff from the fifties. And LP records of Beethoven. I loved all his symphonies about age 3.





And there was a collection of Mario Lanza hits. I loved those too.



And an LP with short classical pieces played by Vladimir Horowitz.  



I idolized Horowitz and kept small busts of Mozart and Schubert on dresser.  




I started playing piano at 4 by ear. Simple chords and rhythms. The first song I mastered was “Battle Hymn of the Republic” just before turning 5. I lived in a rural place, and there was nothing else to do.

                                    Julia Ward Howe
                                    writer of Battle Hymn of The Republic

When did you decide that you wanted to be a musician?

When I was five. I thought I could make a living as a novelty piano act if my parents happened to die tragically. I was a very strange child. They lived to an old age.

Can you give me your biography and chronology of your life as a musician?

I started piano instruction from 5 until 12. At 5 I demanded a used piano and instruction. I was a real brat about it and kept the pressure up until I got it.

Then trumpet in school bands and at local gigs with a polka band from 12 until 18.

I was also a backup singer and keyboard player in a country western band in bars from 14 to 22.

Then solo cowboy western swing gigs from 22 until the present.

In between there were 7 years playing accordion and singing lead vocals with a gypsy jazz band from 1989 to 1996.

What musical instruments can you play?

Piano, accordion, trumpet, guitar, bass, and mountain dulcimer




Do you write your own music, and/or lyrics?

I did for about ten years, and then I decided I was a better singer than writer and stopped that foolishness.

What are musicians that have influenced you the most?

Tommy Duncan, Roy Rogers Emmett Miller, Django Reinhardt, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Beethoven, Schubert, and Astor Piazzolla

Tommy Duncan


Roy Rogers



Emmett Miller


Django Reinhardt


Frank Sinatra



Ray Charles 



Louis Armstrong



Astor Piazzolla


How does music enhance your emotional, spiritual, and even physical well-being?

I have to stay thin and fit in order to withstand the rigors of the road and performance. My main instrument is voice so my body has to be athletic to support the sound. I love what I do and that supports me spiritually.

List of CDs if any you have produced?

Cowboy Rhythm

Back Home

Window to the Sea
The Waltz King with Cafe Noir (which no longer exists)

Contact Information

or email me at  randy@cowboyrandy.com




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