Even Cowgirls get the blues

>> The Lazy Cowgirls are long in the tooth, with the bite to match

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

It wasn't all that long ago that Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan so brazenly declared rock 'n' roll dead. Even during these lean years, the Lazy Cowgirls have kept on slogging it out in every beer joint in the country, spreading the devil's music to a select few. Now that Mr. Corgan has been forced to eat his words, it would seem that the Lazy Cowgirls' brand of down and dirty rock 'n' roll would finally have its day in the sun.

Well, not if they have anything to do with it. The new record Somewhere Down the Line is definitely a rocking affair, but their beer-drenched Johnny Thunder-isms of the past are rolled back in favour of more Hank Williams and Sun sessions.

"The youngest member of this band is 40 years old, so I guess we have a little more depth than a lot of bands out there now," says 46-year-old vocalist Pat Todd. "I saw the Stones on the Exile On Main Street tour in '72 and the Ramones in '77, so it's hard not to be influenced by that. This may sound a little big-headed of me, but I think a lot of young bands are influenced by a time they weren't around in, and y'know, we were there. Personally I wish I was around when Muddy Waters or Elvis were in their prime."

Given their tips of the Stetson to Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, these old farts aren't making winning over new recruits any easier. With bottlenecked acoustic guitars, piano and harp pushed further up in the mix, the Cowgirls choose to drive the wedge between themselves the black nail-polish set a bit further--and couldn't care less.

"I would really like those people to like us, but in the end I don't really care," says Pat. "You have to just do what you believe in and do your best and then just try and maximize it the best you can. I guess we're still stupid enough to just play for the love of the music." :

With Dead City Rebels at Jailhouse Rock on Wednesday, April 19, 9pm, $5