Cowboy Church Band

Does anyone else play in a cowboy church band. I just started playing in one recently and I'd just like to network with any other pickers doing the same thing. I'm not a cowboy, I'm a country music enthusiast wanting to use my talents for the lord.

I think we need more info on this one! Way more info :shock:


I've been trying to play more Country Worship music in Church also.

I've used my bender guitars almost exclusively in all kinds of contemporary worship for the last twelve years. People are often surprised to hear a nice unexpected bender fill. Prior to that our church had a side group with steel player that played the big outside summer picnic and several benefits at the Greek Theatre here in Los Angeles.

One of my favorite worship bassist is Nashvillian Gary Lunn, who plays a lot of Gaither and country gospel style engagements, as well as with Amy Grant, Don Potter and other non-country singers.

While we're not necessarily a "Cowboy" band, or a country band, our band at church has a bass player who doubles on fiddle and a steel guitar player. So when you pair them along with my Tele playing you can find us getting in an occasional country groove or three. We could never pull it off all the time as it would drive us and most of the congregation mildly insane, but when we do go full-tilt in that direction it does plaster a huge smile on a few NJ rednecks we've got in the pews. In fact, at the end of service our reprise of "Sanctuary" as the congregation left the sanctuary morphed into a country shuffle before falling into something you could have stuck on an early Eagles album. The usual suspects decided to stick around a little longer for that one. LOL

The lead singer and I have talked a few times about putting together a Flying Burrito Bros. style band that would play out and do a mix of what many folks would call "sacred and secular" songs, but time just hasn't permitted. And again, I'm not sure it's something I would want to do full time - but it's fun when we do.

Does anyone else play in a cowboy church band. I just started playing in one recently and I'd just like to network with any other pickers doing the same thing. I'm not a cowboy, I'm a country music enthusiast wanting to use my talents for the lord.

Would this be defined as more musical style ( old school country)
rather than the instruments used?
I've played mandolin on my worship band, yet we didn't do
bluegrass style of music.
Does playing a pedal steel make it defined as country music?
I don't think so. (see Robert Randolph and the Family Band)

While we're not necessarily a "Cowboy" band, or a country band, our band at church has a bass player who doubles on fiddle and a steel guitar player. So when you pair them along with my Tele playing you can find us getting in an occasional country groove or three. We could never pull it off all the time as it would drive us and most of the congregation mildly insane, but when we do go full-tilt in that direction it does plaster a huge smile on a few NJ rednecks we've got in the pews. In fact, at the end of service our reprise of "Sanctuary" as the congregation left the sanctuary morphed into a country shuffle before falling into something you could have stuck on an early Eagles album. The usual suspects decided to stick around a little longer for that one. LOL

The lead singer and I have talked a few times about putting together a Flying Burrito Bros. style band that would play out and do a mix of what many folks would call "sacred and secular" songs, but time just hasn't permitted. And again, I'm not sure it's something I would want to do full time - but it's fun when we do.


We play hymns, praise and worship, and christian country and inspirational country songs. We also do Sanctuary. I play it in an alternating bass style of strum at about the same tempo as the P&W versions.

While we're not necessarily a "Cowboy" band, or a country band, our band at church has a bass player who doubles on fiddle and a steel guitar player. So when you pair them along with my Tele playing you can find us getting in an occasional country groove or three. We could never pull it off all the time as it would drive us and most of the congregation mildly insane, but when we do go full-tilt in that direction it does plaster a huge smile on a few NJ rednecks we've got in the pews. In fact, at the end of service our reprise of "Sanctuary" as the congregation left the sanctuary morphed into a country shuffle before falling into something you could have stuck on an early Eagles album. The usual suspects decided to stick around a little longer for that one. LOL

The lead singer and I have talked a few times about putting together a Flying Burrito Bros. style band that would play out and do a mix of what many folks would call "sacred and secular" songs, but time just hasn't permitted. And again, I'm not sure it's something I would want to do full time - but it's fun when we do.

Would this be defined as more musical style ( old school country)
rather than the instruments used?
I've played mandolin on my worship band, yet we didn't do
bluegrass style of music.
Does playing a pedal steel make it defined as country music?
I don't think so. (see Robert Randolph and the Family Band)


Our instrumentation for now is my son and I on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bass, and two, sometimes three vocalist. I'm playing acoustic because we don't have a drummer yet. We play a wide range of styles (traditional country, bluegrass, sorta blues, and contemperary country). Fiddle and Steel Guitar is the classic country sound, but I think you can play country with any intsrumentation. I think it is more about the the vocal stylings and rythym section than the lead instruments. To me country music is an art form that originiated in the church ie: The Carter Family.

2nd that about the Carter family>
I want to do their song someday "There's no depression in heaven"
I'm working really hard and making it one of my musical goals to lead worship and singing with my Rittenberry pedal steel.

I think we need more info on this one! Way more info :shock:



My wife attended The Wild West Cowboy Church of Pueblo (http://www.wildwestcowboychurch.org/) for several years.