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| The Earps take to the road | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Chris Hansen Orf, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 12, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
“I only had a few days to learn the songs,” George says. “And then we were on tour.” George got his first taste of what the road would be like with The Earps when the oil-leaking behemoth smoked and belched its way up to Hoover Dam trying to get the boys — George, singer/guitarist Hotwheels McGregor, guitarist Ump Ump and drummer Marvelous Matt Maverick — to Las Vegas. “We were pulled over and hauled into this little bay where they check you out,” says George. “And the guy says, ‘We ain’t letting you over the bridge if you don’t play country and western.’ ” “He said, ‘Lemme see in the back,’ ” McGregor says. “This was in the days of heightened security, so he opens up the back and sees all the equipment.” “And we’re all wearing cowboy hats,” Ump laughs. “So he says, ‘You boys are all right!’ ” McGregor chuckles. “And he lets us through.” The band has plenty of hilarious road tales — some of which involve a transvestite fan of George’s who has seen 11 of the band’s dozen shows at the famed Vegas punk club the Double Down Saloon — as The Earps seek to expand their fan base beyond the Valley. “We have almost as many fans in Vegas as we do here,” says McGregor. The band purposely picked a name that would identify them as Arizonans. “I was thinking of the band and I didn’t want to be Truckstop Flames and Diesel Fuel,” says McGregor. “There’s a lot of those kinds of bands in California, like ‘Big (Expletive) Sanchez and his (Expletive) Cowboys.’ Those names are just a little bit too cute.” The band members — all of whom hail from other parts of the country (Buckshot George is from Kentucky, Ump Ump from Oklahoma, and Maverick and McGregor from Washington state) — settled on The Earps, after the famous law-abiding (and law-breaking) brothers who came from elsewhere to make history, courtesy of Tombstone’s famous 19th-century O.K. Corral gunfight, in Arizona. “If we’re playing out of state and people don’t know us and see our name, it’s like ‘These guys aren’t from around here,’ ” says Maverick. “It represents Arizona.” Contrary to what Hoover Dam security might think, The Earps are not a country and western band. Their firebrand mix of punk and country twang — the best of its kind in the Valley — has landed the band a record deal with indie Big Bender Records, and their debut disc will be released in early 2007. The release of the record will mean more road miles on the old van, and, undoubtedly, more dams to talk their way through on the Highway to Hell. >> The Earps perform 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, at Yucca Tap Room, 29 W. Southern Ave., Tempe. Free. (480) 967-4777 or myspace.com/theearpsaz Contact Chris Hansen Orf by email, or phone (480) 898-5684 |
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Reader comments (4)
This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below. Responsibility lies solely with the comment author.
Jerre Jones
Ump Ump could send his old aunt a CD of his music. She would really appreciate one and she loves looking the band up on the net. Ump Ump's Aunt J. Suggest removal of this commentOctober 13, 2006
Mamma
Love ya boys! Suggest removal of this commentOctober 14, 2006
Wyatt Hearpie
Hey,Them there Earps are REAL nice.
and PURDY too. Suggest removal of this comment
October 23, 2006
THE BIG UMP
Had a great time being with you on tour in November. You EARPS are great those who dont listen to you don't know what there are missing. VERY, VERY happy to be related to you. Suggest removal of this commentNovember 18, 2007