The Yeehaa Cowboys - January/February 1999
by Sarah Chauncey
Sound: A coarsely blended margarita of edgy country, heavy fiddle, with a pinch of punk.
Cowpunks: El Cleo (lead vocals); Stevan Krickovic (guitars); Dino Verdis (bass); James Swan (violin); Cowboy X (drums).
To Contact:To contact: Steve - SomaSky Entertainment, 10 Lindsey Ave, Toronto, ON M6H 1C9 (416) 532-4647, FAX (416) 532-3907,
“We were a movie idea first,” explains the Yeehaa Cowboys’ guitarist and songwriter Stevan Krickovic, “which turned into a stage musical, and somewhere in the middle, we turned it into a band.” Krickovic and pal Cleo Alves (a/k/a El Cleo) developed the idea for a “wacky, wild farce about two punks searching for integrity” several years ago, which Krickovic was still in a Toronto band called Jessica’s Chill. They decided their search for a movie producer would be enhanced if they sent songs along with the pitch, and although “We didn’t know too much about cowpunk … We thought, what the hell, let’s try to give our own interpretation of what cowpunk was.” One producer suggested they turn the idea into a stage musical, which they performed in Toronto in 1996-97.
Encouraged by the response, the new “band” headed into the Mississauga studio of Mike Pedrow’s Rumenal Records. “He was the cheapest guy around,” Krickovic recalls, “charged about $15 an hour, and he had amazing equipment.” The result was “Cowpunk, Baby, Cowpunk!”
“The band comes first,” says Krickovic, who is now in the process of adapting the musical into a film.