The Yawpers

Jenn Cohen | June 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

by Tim Wenger

Few bands have climbed the ropes of Colorado’s music scene faster than Boulder’s three-piece Americana rockers the Yawpers. Formed just under a year ago, the band has already landed a relationship with the Vinefield Agency, support from Adventure Records, and will be touring nationally for much of the summer. Not bad for three guys that came together out of the ashes of previous groups in support of front man Nate Cook’s songs.

The group just added a new drummer, James Hale, and has two tours coming up. In June and early July, the band will head to the west coast for about 30 dates over the course of five weeks. Later in July, they will be heading east for a two-month romp on the east coast.

The band started working on their full-length record May 11. “We are aiming for a release of June 15,” says Cook, “right in the middle of our tour.” The album is being recorded at UI Sound Studios in downtown Boulder. “[The guys who work there] are super cool,” Cook says.

Besides the typical music industry news of a new album and tour, the Yawpers did something pretty amazing for Record Store Day this year (4/21). They played six shows at six record stores in one day. “That was f***ing brutal,” says Cook with a laugh. “I’m still kind of recovering from it. The set up and tear down was pretty gnarly!” The set lengths were pretty short, but the amount of work that went into it was hefty. “There was literally no time where we were just standing around,” Cook says. “It was always like, ‘finish, throw the shit in the van, and get out of dodge.’”

They were hoping to set a Guinness World Record with this epic extravaganza, but it didn’t quite work out. “We couldn’t afford the proctor,” Cook says. “The other thing we couldn’t afford is the appeals process.”

Even without the title of world record holder, the Yawpers are still well on their way to being one of the big players to come out of the Front Range. Check their Facebook for tour dates and where to find their new album.

Online: facebook.com/yawpersmusic