First things first: "Trailer Swift," the new CD by Gina and the Cow-Tippin' Playboys, has got the greatest title of any album in recent memory.
Gina Dalmas, lead singer for the Norfolk-based honky tonk country quartet, tells me she liked it so much she tried to convince her bandmates to make it the new name of the group. That didn't fly, so it became the album title, which is just as well because Cow-Tippin' Playboys is too good and too evocative to discard.
As to the album itself, which came out last month, it is one of the best CDs you will hear this year from a local artist. The band's first full-length CD (after 2010's 7-song set "Yeeha, Etc."), "Trailer Swift" is a delirious blast of cheatin', boozin' and high-spirited cow-tippin'.
Understand, it's not strictly autobiographical. When Dalmas disavows romance in the opening track "Love Means Nothing," you must keep in mind that she sings it alongside her husband, bassist Christopher May. And as for the lifestyle depicted in songs such as "Six Days Drunk" and "Bottle of Jack," well ...
"That's really tongue-in-cheek - it's the honky tonk tradition of writing about alcohol," Dalmas says. "I mean, we like to have a good time, but there's no jail time in our future that I can imagine."
(Similarly, there is the issue of her name. Gina is pronounced Jinna, honoring a beloved relative named Virginia. "But I tell people it's for gin and tonic," Dalmas says with a laugh.)
Since forming about five years ago, the band has earned a reputation as one of the area's most fun and energetic live acts. "Trailer Swift" should do nothing but reinforce that. By the time you're halfway through, it's hard to resist joining in on the call-and-response choruses.
Many of these songs are originals by Dalmas and her bandmates, but there are well-chosen covers as well. "Love Means Nothing" is a Robbie Fulks tune, as is "Lies" (which Dalmas turns into a cowpunk rave worthy of early Lone Justice). Perhaps the finest track on the album, "Rent Out My Heart," is by local songwriter Teddy Dean.
"He plays that song live but he's never recorded it," Dalmas says. "I fell in love with it the first time I heard it, and he was nice enough to say yes when we asked if we could play it."
In addition to Dalmas and May, the band features guitarist Greg Wikle and drummer Gabriel Baesen. May takes lead vocals on a few songs, including the raucous "Bottle of Jack" and the somber "Morphine." On the amusing "Sextet" (about a night when there are more people on stage than in the audience), Baesen comes up with some clever drum fills that seem to comment on the sad circumstances.
Dalmas says her father raised her on the classic country of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Merle Haggard. As she got older, she turned toward rock and roll but eventually as an adult got drawn back toward rockabilly and honky tonk.
"Sadly, my dad died when I was 24," Dalmas says. "He would really be thrilled by the music we're making now."
Upcoming shows: Gina and the Cow-Tippin' Playboys will play at Mojo Bones in Norfolk's Ocean View on Saturday night. They are also scheduled to play at the Bacon Festival in Portsmouth on Oct. 10.
With special guests SHIFTY SOUTH!
Poster by Manda
Buy it here now!
Update - There's been a couple snags which have resulted in some unexpected delays on iTunes - but Trailer Swift will be available there soon (and on Amazon and more). In the meantime you can download the whole CD, individual songs, or order a hard copy at CD Baby (here
).
Crab & Beer FEAST at Hunt Club Farm this Saturday! Come fill up on crustaceans and ale to benefit mammals (benefits the Go Rescue Pet Adoption Center)!
Check out HR Scene's take on our new recording here: "Break-ups, make-ups, drinkin’ and soul searchin’ – the ingredients for a perfect country record and Trailer Swift has it all."
Read or listen to Paul Shugrue's review of "Trailer Swift" here: "With Dalmas’ confident, vocal swagger and the band’s cow punk chops Trailer Swift is a rowdy, carousing blow-out …"
We will be performing live on Out of the Box with Paul Shugrue tonight July 22 at 7pm! Our new recording, Trailer Swift has been selected as CD of the Week! Check out Paul Shugrue's audio review here.
We had a great time in the studio today with The Hampton Roads Show on WAVY TV 10!
If you missed it, here's a link to our performance:
Gina & CTP's on The Hampton Roads Show 7/17/15
We'll be celebrating the upcoming relase of our new recording, Trailer Swift on July, 25, 2015! First 25 through the door who mention the giveaway will get free download cards for the entire album! We'll have new T-shirts and stickers for sale, along with new CD's and download cards, and we'll be haing give-aways all night long! 
Thank you! We are honored to have won Best Country Artist in the 2015 Veer Magazine Awards! We are grateful to be recognized, and winning is sweet, sweet bliss.
Thanks to Beth Austin Photography for sharing some nice pics she got at this year's Chelsea West Fest!
And Roy for catching us at the Thirsty Camel
and Mojo Bones
Thanks to Push Comedy Theater for having us as guest judges last Saturday night for the latest round of Improvageddon. No doubt we were the highest-caliber, most-qualified judges ever. We put our well-honed judging-other-people skills to good use and called the shots, and laughed our asses off while doing so.
If you live in Norfolk, or are visiting the area, make sure to check out the fab shows at Push Comedy Theater, almost as funny as we are.
We are really going to miss you guys.
but we're playing the upcoming Chelsea West Fest!
And work on the new record continues!
Check out the calendar page for our summer schedule!
Two shows this weekend, one for night-owl vampires and one for sunshine boardwalk fanatics! We'll be in Ocean View at Mojo Bones on Saturday night starting at 9:30pm and at Mahi Mah's at the Virginia Beach oceanfront on Sunday from noon-4pm. Take your pick, or go hardcore and attend both like we're planning to do!
Join us this Saturday night 3/22/14 at the Thirsty Camel in the Ocean View area of Norfolk - it's our last show for nearly two months, so come get your fill to tide you over the painful stretch of our silence. We are pleased to welcome Jessica Doran and friends as special guests, should be a great night!
Thank you to all who came out to two very special shows last week! The Thursday Sandler Center in Virginia Beach was a great crowd - despite the miserable weather we had a full house. Thank you to all who made the trek out in the rain. This appearance was part of the Sandler Emerging Artists Music Series in collaboration with Paul Shugrue's Out of the Box radio program. There is one show left in the series - check out Seth Stainback & Roosterfoot this coming Thursday 2.27.14 - great band with great musicians -they always put on a great show.
We had another great crowd Saturday night at Mojo Bones in Norfolk - thanks to special guests Sub Force Maybe, who debuted their first public performance! The guys easily wooed the audience and managed not to embarrass themselves in the slightest. For real, they are a great power trio - look for them playing around Hampton Roads and beyond soon. Also a big thank you to everyone who bought us shots, and a chagrined thank you to everyone else who did not buy us any more shots.
This Saturday night 2.22.14 we are back in Ocean View at The newly renovated (well, fairly newly) Thirsty Camel, one of our favorite joints to relax and have fun with music and the crowd. We may engage in slapstick - don't miss out on the hi-jinks.
