Two Cow Garage

Columbus, Ohio rock 'n' roll outfit Two Cow Garage released the aptly titled "III", their third full-length, April 24, 2007 on Shelterhouse Records. Comprised of Micah Schnabel (guitar/vocals), Shane Sweeney (bass/vocals), and Dustin Harigle (drums), the outfit, which plays more than 200 shows a year (and has for the past five years), has made their darkest, yet most rewarding record to date, writing songs that deal with the problems and dilemmas of growing up, coming to terms with ones dreams versus reality, as well as songs about the current state of the union and our political atmosphere, parades that end in death, and navigating the troubled waters of relationships. One song in particular that sums up the inner turbulence and confusion of being in a touring rock 'n' roll band while your friends all buy houses, get married, and start families, is "No Shame", a song in which Schnabel describes both the curse and pleasure of playing rock 'n' roll: "There's a guitar, that's leaning on my wall, the instrument of my ultimate downfall. And notebooks scattered all over my floor. Six hundred pages all filled with regrets, and hundreds of songs that ain't finished yet. And a job application getting harder to ignore." But, as Sweeny puts it, describing a time when he "questioned whether or not I wanted to be in Two Cow anymore. I was very angry. I really just wanted to explode but at the same time I was so incredibly disappointed I wanted to hide away and just give up." Two Cow Garage's solution when faced with problems like these, as Sweeney tells me is, "Seeing as how neither one of those would have been very reasonable I wrote a song about it." When down, questioning the band, or questioning themselves, each member of Two Cow Garage turns to the one thing they know, music, and it pulls them through. Enter "III", a record that has recharged and renewed the members of Two Cow Garage's momentum, as they once again hit the road, even prior to the album's April release date, gearing up to put a hundred thousand more miles on the van this year, and play 200 plus more shows at smoky bars.