About
"We would hope that if Bob Wills magically walked in to a Western Flyers show that he would say "Ahhhh, haaaw, I like that band!" says Joey McKenzie, guitarist for The Western Flyers, a hot trio keeping alive the sound popularized by Wills in the 1930s and 1940s.
Western swing emerged in Texas, Oklahoma, and the lower Great Plains in the 1920s and 1930s as local bands searched for ways to keep dance hall audiences on their feet all night. It is a uniquely American musical amalgamation, combining the country string band music and old-time fiddle traditions of the Southwest with the big band jazz of the era. Musicians added accents from other local styles-including cowboy, polka, and blues-giving the sound an even stronger regional flavor.
Joey McKenzie's lifelong immersion in western swing and Texas fiddle styles has made him the preeminent authority over a wide range of traditional American genres. With over 100 fiddle contest titles and dozens of awards behind him, Joey is one of the most successful competition musicians in the States. He was a driving force in the creation of the Quebe Sisters Band, first as the sisters' fiddle teacher and then guitarist and music arranger for the band. While touring internationally with the Quebe Sisters, McKenzie established a rare rhythmic rapport with upright bassist Gavin Kelso, and the two decided to branch off into a band of their own. In 2014 they added singer and fiddler Katie Glassman, and The Western Flyers were born.
In the words of Charlie Seemann, Executive Director Emeritus of the Western Folklife Center, "They deliver everything from western swing and jazz to cowboy and country with an infectious energy and virtuosity that will leave you knowing you have just seen and heard the best of the 'real deal.'"