The Calf Branders: News

Thanks to all our fans that came out on Sunday afternoon to support us as we played downtown for the big Cinco de Mayo festival. Thanks also to the Willie 92.5 FM girls that taught me that roping can be fun! - Big Hank

Special thanks to Luis Romero for making the huge job of running that stage look easy, the kind words and incredible enthusiasm! Also to Warren at 92.5 for letting the Branders get on the stage at all! And a huge thanks to Danny (fellow vintage bike nut) and Michael at Sound Advice for the best sound we've ever had!-Tony

The Calf Branders had a great time opening for the amazing Railbenders for Jim Dalton's 21st Birthday Bash. We also were impressed with those Green Day guys that came and played a set.

The Railbenders were of course great as usual, and played till the police came and shut Benders down - Wow!

Thanks a million to Jim, Graham and Tyson for letting me sit in with them yet again! Not only did I have a kick-ass time but got to play onstage with the great John Macy, (pedal steel guru extraordinaire) and the fabulous Johnny Hickman from Cracker! What a night.
-Tony

The Calf Branders had a great time playing with the Memphis Boys last night and also appreciate the feedback we got on our new songs for a second CD. (All positive) We hope to have the sophomore release out sometime this summer!

We had a great time playing for the Elizabeth Fire Dept. last night. This benefit has been ongoing for several years, and we are glad to help raise money for a very worthy cause. We'll see ya'll next year!

We had a great time playing with Das Borrachos at the Curtis Street Tavern. They were excellent and we hope to do another show with them. Tony was so inspired by the accordian, that he told Big Hank that he actually has one and wants to get it out - Can a Tex Mex song fest with Tony on the accordian be far off?

Thanks to all our new fans in Kiowa who came out last night to help support pastor Scott Brown with his wifes battle with breast cancer. We enjoyed playing our "dance music" for y'all and had a great time playing with steel guitarist Glen Taylor (the Railbenders, Slim Cessna etc.) Glen sat in for Tony who had a previous engagement. The new chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys appears to be off to a great start. Meetings are the third monday of every month in Kent Garretts barn. (Kent once used the Calf Branders regularly to brand his calves when both the Calf Branders and Kent both lived in the Parker, CO area).

The Calf Branders had a great time playing for the Cowboys and Cowgirls at Swingstation. Thanks for coming out and buying our CD's and T Shirts!

We hope to play for an even bigger crowd next time as it appears Swingstation is going to put our CD on their famous Jukebox!

The Calf Branders are the "official" band of the all new El Paso County Fair for 2006. The theme for this years fair is "Your Brand of Fun" - (Right up our alley you might say). Check out the fair website at www.elpasocountyfair.com
We are playing twice at the Fair - right after the Tractor Pull and during the Demolition Derby!

Yeehaw!!!

I would like to sincerely thank the Railbenders for not only asking me to play with them at such a spectacular venue but for all their encouragment for this shy little Calf Brander to "let it rip" in front of nearly 2000 people! Met the legendary Oak Ridge Boys backstage and they all gave us great compliments on our opening set. They are all great guys and true pros. What a night! These memories will keep me going during the long winter branding chores back in Fondis.
-Tony Nascar

With kind donations, by the Roadkill Cafe and Big Eddy's Ranch Supply in Fondis, along with the money we have made branding calves, we finally, (after all these years), played several shows in the Denver area. As soon as we did, we found our guitarist - Tony - to be followed around by a herd of salivating guitar playing enthusiasts. Many of these new fans have come to find out - (what we knew all along), was that Tony is a GREAT guitarist! His playing is flawless, smooth and very appropriate for any type of music he puts his mind to playing or learning. People ask us all the time - where did this guy come from? We'll the answer is from FONDIS!

Tony now gets several requests a day to join this band or that, and finally in a moment of passion, an offer was received which Tony just had to jump on - opening for the legendary OAK RIDGE BOYS! - yes - the real OAK RIDGE BOYS!

Make sure you see this show! Tony, (the fastest guitar in the west) is playing lead guitar for our good friends the Railbenders at the Paramount Theater in downtown Denver, this Friday. The shows starts at 7:30 pm. The OAK RIDGE BOYS play right after Tony!

Check out the latest issue of the Feb. High Plains Rider to read about the Internationally famous Fondis Ice Festival, (where we played) and also about my cousin R O Deo's new breed of Quarter Horse he developed in Fondis.

The Calf Branders had a great time opening for Drag the River on Friday night the 3rd. Sorry that some of you got there after we had played (expecting the Calf Branders to be on right before Drag the River), but due to circumstances beyong our control, we ended up playing 2nd on a four band bill. We had a fun time however (as always), and we continued to be fascinated by how many people are in Denver, and how few calves there are there to brand. - - Big Hank

Thank you to all the people that came out to the Grand Opening of the 3 Kings Tavern last night. We had a great time opening for the fabulous Orangatones!

The Calf Branders learned a new dance called the Twist, and Tony has decided that he would like to be a dance instructor for this fun new dance craze. I'm sure it will not be long before we figure out how to play the Twist on our instruments as the Orangatones gave us both of their CD's so that we could put them in the Jukebox at the Tavern in Fondis. Maybe when the Calf Branding lets up a little, we will have enough quarters saved up to play some of their songs and learn how it goes?

Big Hank

Thank you to all Elbertonians that came out and supported that little band from Fondis, the CALF BRANDERS, the BIG band from Denver, the RAILBENDERS, and the gospel band from Elbert, E BAR C. All the bands had a great time and we raised $489 for the Rosberg medical bills. Your support is greatly appreciated!

The Calf Branders have garnered a front page news article regarding our upcoming show with the Railbenders at the South Forty. Check out this weeks Elbert County News for all the details!

Big Hank and Tony are going to be playing this new fangled music they call rockabilly at the Royal Hilltop in Aurora on Tuesday January 17th. We will be playing with Jim and Graham of the Railbenders who are going to show us how you play it. C'mon down as I think it will be better than any sitcom you'll find on TV that night?!

We had a great time opening for the Railbenders at Lincoln's Roadhouse last night. I was honored and excited to play the banjo with them on a few tunes, and hope it didn't sound too bad, or ruin it for anyone. The Railbenders have great fans and all those that we have met so far have been real nice to us country boys. We hope to play with them more often.

Big Hank

Thanks to all you new fans that came out and saw us play on Friday night. (Thanks also to you that have seen us before as well - we appreciate the support when we play so far from home.)

I thought we played pretty good considering we played with some bands that were real good, but not at all like us in terms of musical style. (I had previously thought that there was 2 kinds of music, Country and Western, but as we get to town more, we're finding that there is more music out there than I suspected?!

Big Hank

Thanks very much for the warm response all new fans of the Calf Branders gave us at Benders Tavern last night. We had a great time and got to play with two great bands! (The Angie Stevens Band, and the Railbenders). We hope we can get the chance to play with these two groups again sometime.

Thanks to all you fans that bought our CD's and T Shirts as well. You are what makes it worth while for us to get off our horses, put down our ropes, and take a break from branding calves to make some music!

Big Hank

Thanks everyone, (especially you all from Fondis), that helped make our Tuesday night at the Royal Hilltop a very special after Christmas celebration. We played everything we knew and then some, and the response seemed very good for our new material. Maybe we should do a second CD soon?

Thanks to Jim Dalton of the great band the Railbenders, and the owners and staff of the Royal Hilltop for having this intimate show for musicians and fans alike.

Big Hank

Thanks again to all you Denver people that are becoming branders and branderettes for coming to our show last Friday at the What the Hell Saloon. We had a great time and got to open for a band all dressed in leather (like we do when we brand calves), but they were playing this frantic fast style of music they called Rockabilly. Me and the boys had never heard or seen such a thing, but just like Mikey - we liked it! We may have to try and steal some of their licks and incorporate it into our show!

Anyway, thanks for having us and we look forward to playing in Denver and its suburbs again.

Big Hank

We would like to thank all the new fans that discovered us at the Larimer Lounge. It was a little intimidating to play for more people than live in our home town, but you made us very welcome. - Thank you

Cactus Jack also thanks you and says he is looking forward to playing the banjo for you at one of our future gigs!?