Whiskey Daredevils

Just five months after Cleveland's legendary Cowslingers rode off into the sunset, beer bottles in hand, a new day dawned for members Ken Miller, Greg Miller, and Leo P. Love.

They rustled up a new band -- and brew of choice -- dubbed the Whiskey Daredevils. But instead of favoring cowpunk -- a revved-up, rumbling thing located at the intersection of Johnny Cash and the Clash -- they steered to a more stripped-down, garage-fueled, rock-'n'-roll place.
"It's just a natural extension of what we were doing," says Greg Miller, the band's lead singer and an Erie native like his brother Ken. "It's a little more garage-y maybe, a little harder, a little looser."

Yet because the band features three former Cowslingers, the same reckless spirit prevails.

"Oh, yeah, we go out and try to crush,"Miller says. "We're not real laid back, we get after it. It's the same full-throttle, smack-you-in-the-middle-of-your-forehead, no-frills rock."

What also prevails is that same Cowslingers' yearning to do anything in the name of fun, no matter how stupid. For instance, you can buy the Daredevils' shirts -- usually mechanics' garb or racing gear --right off their backs after their show. You'll even get a Polaroid of the Daredevil who was wearing it.

"I thought it was a real good stupid idea,"says Miller, who's sold two shirts so far.
A far better idea was enlisting two Cleveland-area guitarists for the Daredevils -- Bob Lanphier of the honky-tonk band Crooked Mile and Dave Bowling, formerly of Hayshaker Jones. They fit in right away.

"These guys played in other bands locally, and it was like, 'Hey, we should get something together,'" Miller said. "The way we did it was we learned four different cover songs and got together to see if it'd work, the way we play. And it was good. I started writing songs with Bob, and that went well. So it was really easy. It all came together."

Sure did. Last Thursday, Whiskey Daredevils won the best-new-band award from Cleveland's Scene Magazine. The same night, the Lords of the Highway, a revved-up, rockabilly band, won as best live act. That makes Friday's Daredevils/Lords double-bill at Beer Mug a double-barreled don't-miss.



On CD, the Daredevils got it going, too. A month ago, they issued their debut, cheekily titled "Greatest Hits." Each song lists a made-up title for the album it came from, like "Pork Rind Opera."
With twin guitars, they cook up some blazing rock ("AMC Hornet,""Mickey's Bigmouth"), Old 97-ish fun ("Jesus Walks Beside Me,""Cool Cool Water"), and even fling a couple Cowslingers-like tunes your way ("Ironic Trucker Hat,""Ida Jane").

Miller expects to see lots of Cowslingers'fans. In other cities, including Cleveland, their old fans climbed aboard.

"There were a lot of expectations," he said. "People are naturally going to compare and contrast. 'Oh, they're like this, or they're not like that.' But I think we managed to maintain most of our old fan base, and we're adding on."

Just don't expect hear "West Virginia Dog Track Boogie" or other Cowslingers' songs. They're retired, laid to rest, put out to pasture. This is a new band, new start.

"Sometimes, we get Cowslingers' requests, but we're not playing any of those," Miller said. "That was that, and this is this, and we're keeping it separate. Usually, after we start playing and the new songs are coming at you, people like them, and they're not so concerned about hearing some 10-year-old song."
Whiskey Daredevils, Lords of the Highway will appear Friday at 10 p.m. at Beer Mug, 1108 Liberty St. Admission is $4.