Whether they were playing to make enough cash to buy new guitar strings or to subsidize the lab fees for one member’s school tuition, The Prairie Dogs never really had aspirations for major fame. But the legendary Amarillo purveyors of “cow jazz” have still managed to keep making music together for a half-century.
All nine of the band’s legacy members will reunite for a special 50th-anniversary show at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Church at Austin Park (a/k/a Westminster Presbyterian Church), 2525 Wimberly Road. Admission is by donation.
Food trucks will start serving at 6 p.m., and don’t expect to stay out all night: “We’re not going to keep people out too late,” cofounder Byron Williamson said. “All of our people are old. They want to go to bed.”
Williamson, the band’s bass player, dug into The Prairie Dogs’ history with me ahead of the show. (This interview has been edited and condensed.)
Chip Chandler: So how did you guys get together in the first place?
Byron Williamson: We were friends in high school. Music brought us together. We were just sitting around, jamming in somebody’s house, and finally we were asked to play out one time. One of the guys, Dennis Garvey, was going to Amarillo College and had to take several labs and didn’t have enough money for all the lab fees. So we were offered to play a back-to-school gig in the fall of 1976 and gave him the money that we made.
CC: Is he still playing with you guys?
BW: No, but he is playing at the reunion. There has only been 10 members ever; there’s five right now. We’ve had very little changes over the years. (For the record, that’s Mike Borger, Randy Palmer, Garvey, Bink Binkley, Williamson, Greg Meador, Dane WIlliams, Gary Guinn, Larry Martin and Kevin Clowe.)
CC: What made y’all work together so well?
BW: We liked music that wasn’t—well, I don’t want to say it wasn’t popular, but we liked music you did not hear on the radio. We liked Jerry Jeff Walker, but not the songs (of his) that they played on the radio. We liked Guy Clark—all the singer-songwriter, Red Dirt stuff before anybody ever used those terms. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, The Maines Brothers.
CC: That’s ’76? ’77? So, a little Gram Parsons, maybe?
BW: Yeah, him, Emmylou Harris, The Flying Burrito Brothers. Of course [Amarillo native] J.D. Souther. He lived down the street from Dennis. We never wanted to do a bunch of cover songs. None of us were quitting our day jobs and trying to make a living doing it. We were just doing it for the pure enjoyment of playing together.
CC: Did it ever cross your minds that this could be something of a full-time gig?
BW: Once in a while, somebody would listen to us and say, ‘Hey, I’ll pay you to do something,’ and that was a bonus. We could buy some new strings or whatever. Randy [Palmer] went to Nashville and is still, today, making his living doing music. A couple of the guys were certainly good enough. But nobody had stardom on their list.
CC: Has this been a fairly continuous 50 years for you guys?
BW: Yes. We played down in Palo Duro Canyon before “Texas” for 13 summers. We met Bob Phillips there, and he asked us to play for a little shindig for people who had been on his show [Texas Country Reporter]. One of the people at the party said that he ought to do it every year, so for 27 years, we played what was called the Texas Country Reporter Festival and has now been changed to the Crossroads of Texas Country Festival in Waxahachie. It’s the largest one-day outdoor music show in Texas. We’ve had the opportunity over the years to open for some really cool bands. But we say that they close for us.
CC: So give me a quick explanation of ‘cow jazz.’
BW: We say it’s the kind of music that makes cows walk funny.
This week’s other can’t-miss options:
Downtown Women’s Center Spring Luncheon: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday; Amarillo Civic Center Complex Grand Plaza, 401 S. Buchanan St.; tickets $40, sponsorships available; 806-372-3625
Amarillo Sod Poodles vs. Wichita Wind Surge: 6 p.m. Tuesday, 11:05 a.m. Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday; Hodgetown, 715 S. Buchanan St.; ticket prices vary; 806-803-9547
Ben Kweller: 8 p.m. Tuesday; Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave.; cover; 806-374-9237
West Texas A&M University Concert and Symphonic Bands: 6 and 8 p.m. Wednesday; Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall in Canyon; free; 806-651-2840
Cameron James Smith: 6 p.m. Thursday; Walk On’s Sports Bistreaux, 3506 Soncy Road; 806-398-2003
Guidi & Friends: 7 p.m. Thursday; Georgia Street Taphouse, 2001 S. Georgia St.; 806-803-7000
Amarillo College’s Spring Awakening: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; Amarillo College Experimental Theatre; tickets $10 adults, $8 students and seniors, $6 AC students, faculty and staff; 806-371-5358
Amarillo Little Theatre’s School of Rock: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday; ALT Allen Shankles Mainstage, 2019 Civic Circle; ticket prices vary; 806-355-9991
Dave McNeir and Bergundi Rose: 7 p.m. Friday; 2801 S. Virginia St.; no cover; 806-352-3317
Tennessee Tuckness: 7 p.m. Friday; Shark Beach Burgers, 1505 E. Farm-to-Market Road 1151; 806-335-5644
Chancy Bernson: 9 p.m. Friday; Western Horseman Club, 2501 E. Interstate 40; 806-379-6555, Ext. 2999
Daikaiju vs. Social Anxiety: 9 p.m. Friday; Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave.; cover; 806-374-9237
Insufficient Funds: 9 p.m. Friday; Blind Pig, 609 S. Independence St.; no cover; 806-412-4251
Touching Voodoo: 9 p.m. Friday; Hoots Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road; cover
Early Bird Hike: 7 a.m. Saturday; Palo Duro Canyon State Park, 11450 Park Road 5; free with park admission; 806-488-2227
Hope & Healing Place Half-Marathon: 7 a.m. Saturday; Fourth Avenue and Polk Street; registration from $88.08; 806-371-8998
Cornhole for a Cause: 11 a.m. Saturday; Santa Fe Federal Credit Union, 7600 Hillside Road; registration $50 to $70; 806-341-6462
Cheers at Wildcat Bluff: 4 p.m. Saturday; Wildcat Bluff Nature Center, 2301 N. Soncy Road; admission $5 members, $10 nonmembers, $20 all-inclusive; 806-352-6007
Rak-45: 7 p.m. Saturday; Shark Beach Burgers, 1505 E. Farm-to-Market Road 1151; 806-335-5644
Souljacket: 8 p.m. Saturday; Bomb City Distillery; 306 S. Cleveland St.; 806-220-2662
Clay Hollis: 9 p.m. Saturday; Western Horseman Club, 2501 E. Interstate 40; 806-379-6555, Ext. 2999
The Jimmy Lee Jordan Band: 9 p.m. Saturday; Broken Spoke Lounge, 3101 S.W. Sixth Ave.; no cover; 806-373-9149
Speakeasy Soiree with Groove Anthem: 9 p.m. Saturday; Blind Pig, 609 S. Independence St.; no cover; 806-412-4251
Star Gazing Party: 9 p.m. Saturday; Palo Duro Canyon State Park, 11450 Park Road 5; free with park admission; 806-488-2227
The Stray Sons: 10 p.m. Saturday; Hoots Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road; cover
Gungor: 7 p.m. Sunday; Stoex Design Gallery, 723 S. Georgia St.
Kevin Schlereth: 7 p.m. Sunday; Stoex Design Gallery, 723 S. Georgia St.
Email submissions to info@brickandelm.com.
Movie options:
Opening Thursday: concert film Billie Eilish–Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, video-game sequel Mortal Kombat II and cozy mystery story The Sheep Detectives (Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive, and Cinergy, 9201 Cinergy Square)
