Premiere: Grand Old Grizzly roars

Gundowner fires first shot on Pure Country Pyrite CD

With their first album, Grand Old Grizzly was quickly nominated for “Best New Band” and “Best Country/Americana” act by the Houston Press, and their second album, CosmoNada, made it to the national Americana charts. On September 7^th, Grand Old Grizzly will release their third studio album, Pure Country Pyrite, full of rollicking guitar licks and pumping drums interspersed with tender melodies, irony and wit. Their live performances are exactly that: alive and kicking, and “Gundowner,” below, will give you a taste.

Grand Old Grizzly is Will Thomas (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Paul Beebe (lead guitar, keys, mandolin, backing vocals), Mark Riddell (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Isaias Gil (Drums). Frontman and primary songwriter Thomas is a fierce storyteller who concedes “I have some weird shit to say that no one else is saying.” “Gundowners” opens the album with a trailblazing chase featuring a pair of murderous rampaging lovers on a crime spree, and it doesn’t end well for these two. As Thomas says, “If rock ‘n’ roll ain’t killing you, you’re probably not doing it right.”

Of “Gundowners,” specifically, writer Will Thomas told Elmore, “’Gundowners‘ is really just a classic sociopath’s love story. It’s thick with irony and irrational conflict, and hopes to make a statement deeper than the surface story might suggest. A couple of murderous thieves faced with some feelings they weren’t planning on, nor were they prepared to handle, get their comeuppance, kinda… While it’s a pretty fantastic story in itself, it’s actually pretty relatable on an everyday level. It’s a Romeo and Juliet-meets-Bonnie and Clyde-meets “Ghost Riders in the Sky” type song. Heavily influenced by both Marty Robbins and AC/DC. It was written from beginning to end in one sitting. Not terribly common for me. Very little changed from that point on. Actually, the first thing I wrote was the opening riff, then the rest just spilled out. One of the more straightforward songs I’ve written Also, ‘Gundowners’ continues the album theme of always having a Western story song. We have one on each of the first two albums.”