Cooder Graw

Cooder Graw came together in Amarillo, Texas, during 1998 as a self-described “loud country” outfit whose sound blended the lively energy of Texas-style country with a rock & roll swagger. The musicians had first operated under the name Coup de Grâce, yet they soon changed it to a phonetically similar version that carried a stronger regional flavor after discovering another act already using the original. Their founding roster included Matt Martindale on vocals and acoustic guitar, Kelly Turner on guitar, Paul Baker on bass, Joe Ammons on drums, and Jim Whisenhut on pedal steel guitar. The players entered the music business at an older age than most, ranging from their late thirties into their early fifties; Martindale, the primary songwriter and front man, had previously served as assistant district attorney for Gray County, Texas, before committing to music on a full-time basis. The group rapidly built a devoted regional following that earned them KLIF’s “Best New Band of the Year” designation in Dallas, along with “Band of the Year” and “New Artist of the Year” honors from the Americana site Rockzillaworld, which in turn led to opening slots for established acts such as Willie Nelson and Alabama. Their self-titled debut arrived in 2000, produced by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel and by Hayden Nicholas, the guitarist and songwriter responsible for nine chart-topping hits by Clint Black. In January 2001 the band issued the thirteen-track live recording Segundo, which combined previously unreleased material with fresh interpretations of songs from the first album; by year’s end they had returned with the studio effort Shifting Gears. Another concert document, Live at Billy Bob’s Texas, appeared in 2002, followed in 2004 by the studio album Wake Up. Hardworking Cooder Graw declared their breakup in 2006 and staged a farewell performance in Fort Worth on New Year’s Eve. Martindale later maintained a low-profile solo career, yet the band mounted a warmly received reunion tour in 2012 and resumed activity with a revised lineup that retained Martindale, Baker, and Turner while adding Carmen Acciaioli on fiddle and mandolin, Danny Crelin on pedal steel guitar, and Kelly Test on drums. The reconstituted ensemble delivered the six-song EP Love to Live By in 2016, which yielded the well-received Texas singles “Heart of Breaking Up” and the title track.