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The Waco Brothers
At the Metro, Chicago 2011
Background information
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Alt country
Years active	1994-present
Labels	Bloodshot Records

The Waco Brothers are an alternative country band in Chicago, Illinois. The band has recorded eight albums.

History

The Waco Brothers was formed by Jon Langford of the Mekons. The group grew out of Langford's wish to play more country-influenced music as the Mekons concentrated more on a punk sound. They were originally put together simply for local Chicago shows, but the success of their Bloodshot Records albums allowed them to tour the US occasionally. Many of the members also participate in Langford's Pine Valley Cosmonauts project.

The band recorded the first of its eight studio albums in 1995. Their album, Waco Express: Live & Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern is a concert recording which Ken Tucker, the pop music critic for NPR's Fresh Air and Editor-at-Large at Entertainment Weekly, described as "country as it should be written and played, with a long memory for roadhouse honky-tonks rather than TV-ready music videos."^[1] Author and music critic Sarah Vowell told the Chicagoist, "I’ve never been able to find a live band in New York as consistently thrilling and funny and fun as the Waco Brothers."^[2]

In 2012, the Waco Brothers collaborated with Nashville mainstay Paul Burch to produce Great Chicago Fire. The Chicago Tribune said of the album, "If the Rolling Stones were still making great records, this would be it."^[3][4]

Members

Dean Schlabowske, Tracey Dear, Jon Langford, Alan Doughty and Joe Camarillo performing on March 15, 2018

• 
  Jon Langford (Mekons, The Three Johns, Skull Orchard, Bad Luck Jonathan, Four Lost Souls) - vocals, guitar


• Joe Camarillo (Number Nine, Gear, Skull Orchard, Bad Luck Jonathan, Hushdrops,^[5]NRBQ^[6]) - drums


• 
  Alan Doughty (Jesus Jones, Skull Orchard, Bad Luck Jonathan) - bass


• 
  Dean Schlabowske (Deano and the Purvs,^[7] Dollar Store,^[8]Wreck, Ice Cold Singles, TV White, Ramblin' Deano^[9]) - vocals, guitar


• Tracey Dear (Dear Productions^[10]) - vocals, mandolin

Former members

• 
  Tom Ray (Bottle Rockets, Devil in a Woodpile, Neko Case) - bass


• 
  Steve Goulding (Mekons, Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Graham Parker & the Rumour) - drums


• 
  Mark Durante (Revolting Cocks, KMFDM) - steel guitar

Discography

• 
  To the Last Dead Cowboy (Bloodshot Records, 1995)


• 
  Cowboy in Flames (Bloodshot Records, 1997)^[11]


• 
  Do You Think About Me? (Bloodshot Records, 1997)


• 
  Wacoworld (Bloodshot Records, 1999)


• 
  Electric Waco Chair (Bloodshot Records, 2000)


• 
  New Deal (Bloodshot Records, 2002)


• 
  Nine Slices of My Midlife Crisis (Buried Treasure Records, 2004)


• 
  Freedom and Weep (Bloodshot Records, 2005)


• 
  Waco Express The Waco Brothers Live and Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern (Bloodshot Records, 2008)


• 
  Great Chicago Fire [with Paul Burch] (Bloodshot Records, 2012)


• 
  Cabaret Showtime [compilation] (Bloodshot Records, 2015)


• 
  Going Down in History, (Bloodshot Records, 2016)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Waco Brothers.

• 
  The Waco Brothers at Bloodshot Records
  


• 
  The Waco Brothers at AllMusic
  


• 
  Waco Brothers collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive