Save a Horse and Join Us With Sad Cowboy at Kilby Court

Salt Lake City’s Sad Cowboy is set to play at Kilby Court for K-UTE’s Gone Fishin’ live local music event on August 30, 2024. I had the pleasure of speaking with Siah Collins, on vocals and guitar for the band, about the upcoming shows and the life of Sad Cowboy.

Michaela: To start off, we'd love to get to know the band a little bit better. If you could just introduce all of the members and their roles in the band, how you met, and getting to where you are now?

Siah: The band consists of Brady Flores on bass, Tanner Waite on guitar, and myself who plays guitar and sings.

Michaela: How did you guys join forces to become Sad Cowboy and what has the music-making process looked like for you so far?

Siah: So I've known Tanner for about 10 years now. He and I both cut our teeth playing music in Spokane, Washington. Then, on separate accords we moved to Utah. I moved to Utah about a year after him. I've always admired his previous bands, so I asked if he wanted to work on a project with me. We had a project in Utah for about a year and then it came to an end when we started Sad Cowboy.

 Brady felt like a really natural choice to come in and play bass. We knew him from playing in a band called Toothpicks. He’s a pretty present person in the local music scene. We became fast friends, so the three of us collaborating felt really natural from the beginning.

Michaela: As far as the name of the band “Sad Cowboy” I feel like the name and the trope or genre is becoming more and more present. Is there a story behind that name? Do you have any inspirations regarding the “Sad Cowboy” term?

Siah: Yeah! After my previous project in Utah came to an end, I knew I wanted to keep making music and make it with Tanner. We didn't know Brady quite yet. At that point in time I had a long distance partner and she had come out to Utah to visit me, and then she went back to Arizona. I made her a playlist of sad music because I missed her. And the entire playlist just consisted of old, sad, country music. So I named the playlist “Sad Cowboy”. A couple of days later I was looking for the playlist on Spotify and I realized there wasn't a band called Sad Cowboy and I liked the idea of that name quite a bit. 

But I could not be further from being an actual cowboy. I've pretty much lived in cities my entire life. When asked why we’re called Sad Cowboy – I’ve never ridden a horse. I've never held a gun. I don't own a cowboy hat. So it's less like a “boo-hoo” cowboy and more like an embarrassing cowboy like “that’s a sad cowboy.” 

Michaela: And who are some of the sad cowboy artists? Do they inspire some of the music that you make under that band name? Can you name some of the sad cowboys you were listening to at the time?

Siah: Yeah, I was listening to quite a bit of Marty Robbins. I was listening to Johnny Cash, of course, Dolly Parton. A lot of classic country. Nothing post-seventies really–except for 

Dolly– Dolly is timeless. 

Michaela: Do you have any other musical inspirations that you and the band bonded over and that you think are especially present in your music?

Siah: I think the sound of Sad Cowboy is really inspired by the early 2000-2010s indie revival. Bands like the Arctic Monkeys, bands like The Strokes, lesser known artists like The Vaccines and The Pigeon Detectives. Loud guitar music that isn't screaming at you and has melodies that you want to sing with.

Michaela: I can definitely hear some of the melodic tendencies. I can hear The Strokes in your music and sometimes I can hear The Killers too, which I think is included in that era. I love hearing those sounds appear in newer music. I think it’s really exciting…As far as Kilby court goes, have you played there before? 

Siah: Gone fishin’ will be the second time. We’re really looking forward to it. I played Kilby Court a couple times before I lived in Utah and it was a big draw for me to want to come out here and try and do music out here. An all ages venue that is so community focused is so cool to see. Especially surviving after the pandemic.

Michaela: I definitely agree, and are there any specific moments, since you said you've played there a few times, that you want to mention? Any stories, or more about what the venue means to you?

Siah: Yeah! The first time I played Kilby was when I was on tour in… I wanna say 2017. And we showed up and we were on a D.I.Y. tour. We were excited to play, and as soon as the doors opened there was just this magical crowd that all were there, so focused on music. There was something so special about the first time I played Kilby. It felt like magic.

Michaela: Yeah, it's beloved by many people that play there and people that come back to see shows. Have you seen any shows there that you think are worth mentioning or that had that atmosphere, or were memorable to you?

Siah: Absolutely. Nicole Canaan’s EP release and a band called Milne opened it. It was my first time seeing that band, and it was my first time seeing Nicole Canaan and that was just insane. Two Salt Lake artists that made me both feel like I was the only person in the room along with everyone else in the audience.

Michaela: The venue definitely garners that feeling, and I’ve seen Nicole Canaan a few times. I think she’s great. Along with local artists what does the community and sense of support from fellow local artists mean to you?

Siah: The Salt Lake music scene is very special and very unique. The whole community opened their arms and welcomed me when I moved here two years ago. I think S&S clearly has done a great job of fostering an environment for these artists to play and get paid to play. The amount of incredible artists that are making stuff everyday, it feels unparalleled to anything that I’ve been a part of.

Michaela:  I haven’t been outside of Utah to see a lot of shows but I’m grateful to be a witness to that. Do you have any favorite songs to play live with the band?

Siah: Yeah, we have a song on our first EP called “We’re Not Talking.” 

Michaela: When it comes to writing the songs, what does that process look like? Is it all a collaborative process? Do you have separate ideas and then bring them together?

Siah: That’s a great question. Up to this point, everything that Sad Cowboy has done has started with me in my bedroom and an acoustic guitar writing a singer-songwriter version of something. Then I take it to Tanner and Brady and they make it really cool. Once the lyrics and general chord structure is written, it becomes the most collaborative effort between the three of us. It's wonderful to have partners that you trust creatively. Their taste, in my mind, is unparalleled from anyone else I’ve worked with.

Michaela: Other than your upcoming Kilby shows, do you have any other upcoming releases, are you in the process of writing more? More shows?

Siah: Yeah! As of right now Gone Fishin’ is slated to be our last show of the calendar year, we are in full recording mode as of right now. We are recording a full length album. No set dates or times for that album to be released; we are hoping for early 2025 at the earliest.

Michaela: Have you finished any of those songs that you've played live yet, or are they all waiting to be written?

Siah: Yeah, out of the new album I think there's 4 songs that we play and have played live. It's set to be 12 tracks, so three fourths of it has never been heard by anybody except for us.

Michaela: That’s exciting! We’ll be looking forward to hopefully hearing those at Gone Fishin’. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Siah: Yeah, support local music. There is a lot of incredible music that is happening in Salt Lake right now. It is a special time. You can go to any venue on any given day and experience some type of magic.

Be sure not to miss the magic of Kilby Court and some of Salt Lake’s lovely local artists on August 30th, 2024 for Gone Fishin’ brought to you by K-UTE radio. 

You can find your tickets here! See you there.