Waco Brothers

Often likened to a blend of Johnny Cash’s brooding intensity and the raw rebelliousness of classic punk, the Waco Brothers stand as the most enduring side venture from Jon Langford, a founding member of the Mekons. Their sound combined barbed, politically charged lyrics with mandolin, steel guitar, and vintage honky-tonk melodies, a formula crystallized on the 1997 release Cowboy in Flames. Although their approach never catered to traditionalists, the conviction behind it left little doubt that their affection for the genre ran deep. A tougher rock orientation surfaced on 2000’s Electric Waco Chair, while 2012’s Great Chicago Fire paired them with Paul Burch; in 2023 they inaugurated Plenty Tuff Records with The Men That God Forgot.

During the 1980s the Mekons began absorbing American country influences encountered on U.S. tours, an evolution documented on Fear and Whiskey (1985) and Honky Tonkin’ (1987). Langford’s fascination with Johnny Cash led him to assemble the 1988 U.K. tribute compilation ’Til Things Are Brighter: A Tribute to Johnny Cash and, six years later, to issue the covers collection Misery Loves Company: The World of Johnny Cash under the name Johnny Langford & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts.

After moving to Chicago, Illinois, Langford sought a local club band chiefly for enjoyment and complimentary drinks. He recruited fellow British expats—himself on guitar and vocals, Alan Doughty (formerly of Jesus Jones) on bass, Tracey Dear on mandolin and vocals, Mark Durante (of KMFDM and Revolting Cocks) on steel guitar, and Steve Goulding (veteran of the Mekons and Graham Parker & the Rumour) on drums—alongside Chicago native Dean Schlabowske (of Wreck and Dollar Store) on guitar and vocals. Around the same time Langford befriended Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw, who were launching Bloodshot Records; in 1994 he supplied two tracks to the label’s debut compilation, For a Life of Sin—“Over the Cliff” performed solo and the Mekons’ “Hole in the Ground” credited to Iggy Yoakam & His Famous Pogo Ponies—while also designing the album’s artwork.

Although the Waco Brothers had formed without recording plans, growing local support and Bloodshot’s backing prompted the 1995 debut To the Last Dead Cowboy. Strong sales and reviews led to 1997’s Cowboy in Flames, which outsold its predecessor and elevated the group within Chicago’s alt-country community. Despite members’ outside commitments, they maintained a steady Chicago presence, undertook occasional tours, and issued four studio albums between 1999 and 2005—Wacoworld, Electric Waco Chair, New Deal, and Freedom and Weep—each fusing country and punk with left-leaning working-class themes. That period also yielded the 2005 collaboration Nine Slices of My Mid-Life Crisis with pianist Dave Herndon and the 2008 live document Waco Express: Live & Kickin’ at Schuba’s Tavern.

Their next studio effort, Great Chicago Fire, again involved Paul Burch and reflected lineup changes: Mark Durante departed, Steve Goulding rejoined Graham Parker & the Rumour, and Joe Camarillo (of Number Nine and Gear) assumed drumming duties. In 2016 the band returned with Going Down in History, its first collection of original material in more than a decade, delivered in lean, incendiary fashion and supported by a brief tour that included South by Southwest appearances and Illinois dates. February 2020 brought Resist!, a vinyl-only Bloodshot anthology of their most overtly political songs.

Drummer Joe Camarillo’s death in January 2021 after a stroke and heart attack prompted Dan Massey, a frequent substitute, to join full-time, while violinist Jean Cook was added. In 2023 the Waco Brothers issued The Men That God Forgot—their first new songs since 2016 and the inaugural release on their own Plenty Tuff Records.