Stretching nearly 25 years of playing and a move from Lubbock, TX to Knoxville, TN, Thrift Store Cowboys will bring their unique blend of alt-country sounds to the Barley's stage on March 1st at 10PM, with rising star Sarrenna opening. (All for the low cost of $5)
Longtime Thrift Store drummer Kris "Tugboat" Killingsworth coined the phase "cinematic alt-country" to describe their unique sound influenced by the deserts and life in West Texas, which has been an inspiration to artists and bands you may be fans of.
Tugboat further elaborated over text:
"I’ve heard it said that in order to sell something you first need a package. People would always ask “what kind of music is this?” over and over and we got tired of describing it so I finally just started saying it’s “Cinematic Alt-Country” because all of our stuff was so heavily influenced by Ennio Morricone and we thought in very textural, “Sonic landscape” terms. It sounded cool and ended up sticking because people would say “Oh, OK!” and took it at face value without asking the inevitable “well, what’s that mean” question."
The band formed in Lubbock, TX during simpler, pre-millenium times in 1999.
The initial band consisted of frontman Daniel Fluitt, Amanda Shires, Colt Miller, Clint Miller, and Jeff Dennis, later joined by Corey Ames and Kris "Tugboat" Killingsworth, the band's 13th drummer.
The band's first album, Nowhere With You, launched in 2001, recorded in Studio 84 over the course of a year when the band was all 19-20 years old.
The followup, The Great American Desert, released in 2004, sees the band beginning to truly develop their sound and aesthetic.
Fluitt describes it as "a huge leap forward" for the band at the time, and includes some of their best songs.
2006 saw the release of their third album, Lay Low While Crawling Or Creeping, recorded and mixed in nine days at WaveLab Studio in Tucson, AZ, and made it in the top 50 of the CMJ Charts.
Thrift Store released their most recent album, Light Fighter, in 2010, also recorded at WaveLab.
Fluitt describes the album as their "most progressive" sounding, and the album showcases a very polished and mature version of their sound.
Not long after, founding band member Amanda Shires left the band to pursue her solo career, and the band continued touring.
In 2014, Fluitt moved to Knoxville, TN, where he still resides and is a proud Knoxvillian (even a Vol fan, despite his allegiance to Texas Tech, though much of that can be summed up with mutual dislike for Texas A&M)
The band now continues in almost two iterations, a Texas and Tennessee band.
The Tennessee band now consists of Daniel Fluitt (vocals & guitar), Sam Quinn (bass, vocals), Robert Richards (guitar), Jonathan Keeney (pedal steel), Daniel Markham (guitar), and Kris "Tugboat" Killingsworth (drums).
Markham and Tugboat will not be joining the March 1st show, with Jon Whitlock filling in on drums.
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Opening for Thrift Store Cowboys will be Sarrenna, a talented singer-songwriter presenting her songs written deep from the heart.
An experienced performer from multiple bands with a style and aesthetic all her own, she began her solo career last year in 2023, and plans to begin recording within the next few months.
Sarrenna describes her influences as
"...Madi Diaz especially the last year and then Julia Jacklin has been my fave for quite a while that I really admire."
Thrift Store Cowboys with Sarrenna will be performing at Barley's in Knoxville's Old City on March 1st, beginning at 10PM with a $5 cover. It's going to be a great show, you have to be there!
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