Still A Few Cowboys Left

"It isn't about being an actual cowboy. It’s about a lifestyle, a way of living and a way of treating people. It’s a song about respect, honesty and hard work – and a nod to women that there are still a few good guys left in the world." 

(Ben Gallaher / bengallaher.com, 26. August 2022)

It was the fall of 2014 when the hopeful 22-year old singer, songwriter and guitar player from the state of Pennsylvania was given a development deal by major label Sony Music Nashville. But Ben Gallaher (and his fans) had to wait until August of 2017 until the label released his first project (an EP by his name with only 5 songs included).

Today the 30-year old artist with the distinctive raspy voice is signed to the small label Stone Country Records. In 2019 Sony Music Nashville parted ways with him for no apparent reason, other than lack of commercial success. After all that's all it takes in todays rough music business.

In June of 2021 Ben Gallaher released another EP, titled "Every Small Town, for which he wrote 5 songs in collaboration with several other songwriters. They tell oftern heard stories about small town life put to swaggering country rock. Among them the prominent 'Town Ain't Dry', which is a sigh of relief, that alcohol is not outlawed in this town. After all it's the only way to handle all the broken-hearted memories, that turn up at every corner in this town.

Since the beginning of 2022 Ben Gallaher has now been working on new material for a potential full length debut album. The first 4 songs of which were released in the spring. In the style of old vinyl records they were put out 2 at a time, with rock guitar driven songs as the A-side ('Country, Boy' and 'Country in the House') and slower tracks on the quasi B-side ('Roots Grow Down', 'Anything but You').

On August 26, 2022 the latest single 'Still a Few Cowboys Left' was released. Written together with Neil Thrasher, who has already written big hits for Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Jason Aldean among others, and Tony Martin, the midtempo track sparks with a lonesome-cutting electric guitar, that weaves a golden thread through the song.

"In a literal sense, I’m not a cowboy, but figuratively speaking, I have a lot of cowboy in me", says Ben Gallaher about the theme of the song. "If you get knocked off, you get back on again." So while the lyrics paint an idealized picture of the hard worker on the back of his horse, who braves all challenges of the wilderness, the songwriters' intention is to make it a metaphor for a way of life that relies on traditional values, too often lacking in today's world.

And at the same time the song makes a soundtrack for Ben Gallaher in his search for commercial acceptance.

The video for the song, shot on a working ranch in Texas, features the 89-year old (real) cowboy Boots O'Neal, who has been living his passion since 1947. In 2019 he was given the first-ever Ranching Heritage Association Working Cowboy Award as a recognition for an outstanding individual who makes a living primarily on horseback caring for livestock on a daily basis.

"It's not how you look or where you live that makes you a cowboy; it's who you are and where you are going. Grit, integrity, and resilience all define Boots O'Neal and the boys who look up to him."

(Still a Few Cowboys Left / YouTube, November 2022)

The importance of traditional values for Ben Gallaher is also visible in the theme of the B-side track of the new release. For 'Quote the Bible' focuses on family, values and the bible, with a chorus that pays respect to a father with the words: My old man can quote the Bible, without saying a word.

I ain't ever heard any blame or hate rollin' off his tongue,
I've seen him drink a couple beers, but I ain't ever seen him drunk.
Yeah, the truth is that I've probably cast a thousand stones by now 

but every chance he gets I swear, he just sets them down.

(Quote the Bible / Ben Gallaher, Carlton Anderson, Zarni De Vette)