Biography

Houston's Galactic Cowboys combine art-rock, thrash, progressive metal, and Beatlesque pop into an idiosyncratic heavy metal stew. Emerging in the early 1990s, the band flirted with mainstream success alongside friends and contemporaries King's X, who shared a propensity for pairing sonic exploration with subtle Christian themes. Their eponymous 1991 debut and subsequent efforts like Space in Your Face (1993) and At the End of the Day (1998) elicited critical acclaim but failed to gain commercial traction, and the group ceased operations in 2000. Galactic Cowboys re-formed in 2017 and inked a deal with Mascot Label Group, which released their seventh long-player, Long Way Back to the Moon. Bassist Monty Colvin and drummer Alan Doss first played together in Houston in a band called the Awful Truth. When it split up, Colvin and Doss recruited vocalist Ben Huggins and guitarist Dane Sonnier to form Galactic Cowboys. Signed soon after by DGC, the combo released a self-titled debut in 1991 and Space in Your Face two years later. Both efforts found favor with progressive-leaning audiences, but the onset of grunge pushed the band even further outside of the mainstream. Following the release of Space in Your Face, the group was dropped by DGC and Wally Farkas replaced Sonnier (who formed the Sonnier Brothers Band). By the end of 1995, Galactic Cowboys signed with Metal Blade, releasing their first album for their new label, Machine Fish, in January 1996. Several months later, they released the Feel the Rage EP, followed in 1997 by The Horse That Bud Bought. The well-received At the End of the Day appeared in 1998, and two years later Galactic Cowboys returned with Let It Go, but it would be 17 years before the band would return to the studio. All of the members continued to be active musically, even getting together occasionally for a one-off show. In 2016 Galactic Cowboys announced that they had inked a deal with Dutch progressive label Mascot, and the following year saw the release of their long-awaited seventh studio album, Long Way Back to the Moon. ~ John Bush & James Christopher Monger, Rovi