Boy Howdy

Boy Howdy assembled as a country-rock group in Los Angeles during 1990, drawing primary inspiration from Little Texas while incorporating touches of the Eagles and CCR into their style and frequently performing classic rock covers. Jeffrey Steele, who sang and played bass, had already issued solo recordings before contributing the song “Driftin’ Man” to the compilation A Town South of Bakersfield, Vol. 2 under the direction of Dwight Yoakam producer Pete Anderson. Guitarist and mandolinist Cary Parks and guitarist and fiddler Larry Parks, sons of bluegrass fiddler Ray Parks, joined after Cary’s earlier stints with Randy Meisner of the Eagles and Rick Roberts of Flying Burrito Brothers; the connection with Steele occurred at an L.A. club where drummer Hugh Wright was also present, completing the lineup. Their debut single, the independently released “When Johnny Comes Marchin’ Home Again” from 1991, achieved local success amid the Gulf War and secured a contract with Curb. The band issued its first album, Welcome to Howdywood, in 1992 and appeared that year in George Strait’s film Pure Country. Wright suffered a severe accident when struck by a car, resulting in a five-month coma, yet recovered in time to rejoin for the breakthrough mini-album She’d Give Anything in 1994, which yielded two Top Five country singles in the title track and “They Don’t Make ’Em Like That Anymore.” The full-length Born That Way followed in 1995 but did not replicate that commercial performance.