Track By Tracks: The Comancheros - A Decade In The Mirror (2025)

THE SINGLES

1. The Day George Jones Died:

George Jones played his final possum on April 26, 2013. He was our bass player's entry point into country music. Jon "Deere" Green skipped school the day George died, bought some cigarettes, and spent all day smoking and listening to AM radio. The local AM station was playing George Jones all day in memory. We released this song on April 26, 2023, exactly ten years after the passing of a legend. The steel guitar was provided by Johnny Upshadid from Whitey Morgan's band.

2. We Own the Night:

They say "it never hurts to ask," but after a week of calling every major booking agency in Nashville I finally got a call back. I missed the call, but long story short, an agent was calling to cuss me out. I saved the voicemail, but if you're the gatekeeper, you should expect some knocks at the door. Either way, we got a cool song out of it. Here's to you, Nick.

3. Too Old to Die Young Now:

"Auld Lang Syne" is such a classic tune, and the idea of a "living folk tradition" has always been inspiring to us. The phrase "too old to die young now," was uttered by Tanner while watching an ominous green sky almost turn into a tornado. It became the inspiration for this song and the title of our second album. Thankfully, the 'nado never touched down and we are still too old to die young now.

4. Lonesome Old Singer:

This song was recorded for a cassette split with a local punk band named Gorbza. Tanner wrote the song and I recorded it in my spare bedroom. Two hundred copies were originally distributed on cassette and were never released online.

I STARE AT TRAINS EP, 2016

5. Crazy as Hell:

"Crazy as Hell" was the first song Tanner and I wrote as a full band. I wrote the lyrics and he wrote the music. I wrote the lyrics expecting a slow, somber tune. I went to take a poop at rehearsal and when I came back he had the the bones of this song as you hear it now. It was a very productive poop.

6. Jesse James:

Our band operates out of Columbia, Missouri, which is only a few hours from Saint Joseph, where Frank and Jesse James grew up. Our second EP (which this song appears on) was recorded in Centralia, sight of the infamous "Centralia Massacre" which Jesse James participated in when he was only 16. This was not planned, but was an ironic coincidence. This EP was released as 50 hand made CDs and flash drives shoved into used shotgun shells.

7. I Stare at Trains:

Jon and I wrote this song very early on, maybe even before Tanner and I had started The Comancheros. It didn't have much specific meaning until our good friend Sally passed away in an auto accident around 17 or 18 years old. Somehow, after that, this song became about her. Just so you know, you'll never be as cool as Sally being buried in motorcycle boots and a Triumph belt buckle.

8. Comanche Brave:

This song was intentionally vague, lyrically. I wrote the words, but Tanner came up with the concept. While it is not concrete, we always played this one for all the American Natives who served in the US military. Men like the Navajo code talkers displayed incredible courage. This is also my mom's favorite song of ours.

FOUR HORSEMEN EP, 2015

9. Black Wizard:

Our "Four Horsemen" ep was released digitally when we debuted the band. Tanner and I wrote and recorded all of these songs in the summer of 2015 in his uncle's spare room. It was fueled by PBR and extra large Break Time coffees. "Black Wizard" is about a man who's going insane.

10. Cold and Hungry:

"Cold and Hungry" is a duet between Tanner and my wife. She is a fantastic singer and I try to get her on any project I can. Katie, our lawyer friend, did the fiddle. The "popper stopper" on the vocal mic was a beer koozie.

11. Don't Forget My Name:

I wrote the chords and lyrics to this song, but Tanner finalized the melody. We played it full band for a few shows, but it was a bit too somber for our standard concert. We preferred more fun songs like "Crazy as Hell."

12. White Stranger:

Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" was an immense influence on this EP. This song is a bit of an homage to that album, but it draws on Doc Holliday. Unrelated, but Wyatt Earp and I were born in the same town of Monmouth, Illinois. Sadly, I arrived about 148 years too late to get involved in the O.K. Corral.

13. It's too Late:

Writing about whiskey is bit of a trope within country music, but meth is much more of a problem in the midwest than alchohol. I worked on a construction crew with two ex-producers, one had half the teeth cooked out of his head, and the other was running a mobile kitchen in the back of his truck when he was caught. The town my mom grew up in had a kitchen explode a few years back.

14. O Death:

My metal band, A Hill to Die Upon, recorded a version of this song for our 2013 "Holy Despair" which featured Timbre on the harp. It is such an important song in the American folk tradition, we wanted to do it on this EP as well. I added my "metal" vocals lightly under the words of Death as a way to differentiate the two characters.

LIVE FROM SPAIN

15. We Own the Night (live from Spain):

The Bilbao soccer/football team was playing some kind of championship the day our show was scheduled. Due to this last minute championship, the venue moved our show from evening to 1:30pm to avoid a conflict with the game. All things considered, we are glad they did. The city essentially shut down and it allowed us to pack up and join in the festivities. A special shout out to "Apache" bar in downtown Bilbao. They took exceptionally good care of us.

16. If I Could Pick a Way to Go (live from Spain):

Of the whole set that was recorded in Spain, somehow we only got these two songs. But they are the two songs that I would have wanted. "We Own the Night" and "If I Could Pick a Way to Go" very much express how we feel about doing this band.