The Rodeo Boys

It’s OK if you don’t take the Rodeo Boys seriously. The local cut-ups, whose somewhat slapstick songs make them class clowns among the scene’s more stoic musicians, consider their ironic humor lost on certain audiences. They suspect the kids of America might not pick up on subtle innuendos behind lines like, “There’s a monkey in the kitchen making beans and rice.” In fact, inside jokes and references to Scott Baio might explain the group’s poor track record with the under-21 crowd.

“I think the band walks an ironic line that’s a bit above most younger music-lovers’ heads,” says bassist Greg Midgely, who joined drummer Clayton Scrivner, guitarist-vocalist George Elliot and Rhodes-maestro Ben Warren when founding member Brett “The Switch” Luddeman moved to Chicago. “More intelligent high-school students would probably understand what we’re going for.”