Doug Strahan
Doug Strahan
AND THE
GOOD NEIGHBORS
Catch Doug on tour now
with Uncle Lucius!
New single out!
The Ballad of Bootie West
gulf krush massive feat. doug strahan "natchez line"
Doug strahan's sunny day
austin, tx | 2014
STRAHAN & THE GOOD NEIGHBORS FEAT. BROTHER SHAW
TRIBUTE TO FLEETWOOD MACK "ALBATROSS"
STRAHAN & THE GOOD NEIGHBORS "I'll MAKE IT RAIN"
THE ABGB | AUSTIN, TX | 2016
I SEE THE WANT TO IN YOUR EYES (written by Wayne Carson)
"Doug Strahan's an old buddy of mine. He's a very versatile picker from blues to funky country to straight up heavy duty rock n roll. He makes guitar look so easy it pisses me off!"
-Scott H. Biram
"Waylon wouldn't have done it this way, but he'd have approved." - Tim Steggal, The Austin Chronicle
"Many try to resurrect that heroine sweat sound of the 70’s. They throw reel to reel seances. They blow all manner of money on vintage gear. But I’ve never heard someone get so close to the true heart of that sound as Doug Strahan does." - Saving Country Music
Moving south from Illinois for warmer weather and a barroom education of country picking was, according to Doug, among a plethora of bad choices, one of the best decisions he's made in his adult life. After 13 years of playing lead guitar in various bands, as well as recording and co-leading Austin's strangest boogie-doom-beast, Chili Cold Blood and cosmic country purveyors of funky tonk, The Moonhangers, Doug released his debut solo album entitled Coal Black Dreams, Late Night Schemes in 2014.
As much a stew pot of roots music as Chili Cold Blood and The Moonhangers' previous albums, the solo record eases on in the direction of Blue-Eyed Soul but finds home on the bar stool of the Dew Drop Inn, The Horse Shoe Lounge, your neighborhood watering hole. It was a different direction for Strahan, much to do with his time playing and writing with The Memphis Strange, but the Gary Stewart-esque vibrato remains.
In 2015, Doug and the Good Neighbors released his sophomore, self-titled album, Strahan & The Good Neighbors. It's country funk at it's finest, with touches of Little Feat, JJ Cale, and The Allman Bros. Two years later, Doug released his second studio album with The Good Neighbors, Twilight Drifter, which The Austin Chronicle called "an excellent new platter... representing diverse vocations: Southern boogie, outlaw country, blue-eyed soul, and barroom rock with thoughtful, left-field lyricism. RIYL Charlie Rich, Gary Stewart, and Lukas Nelson."
Doug's latest LP with The Good Neighbors, Sadie, was recorded in summer 2019 with plans to tour the NE and Midwest that were dashed by the global pandemic. Sadie was released "socially distanced" online in May 2020. Doug also performs around Austin with doomboogie trio Chili Cold Blood and their funkytonk alter-ego The Moonhangers, and The Memphis Strange.
Strahan & The good Neighbors
Projects
If you're going to catch Doug Strahan live these days, chances are he's with The Good Neighbors feat. Dave Biller (guitar), Jonathan Grossman (keys), Dave Wesselowski (bass), Michael Lefkowitz (drums) and a rotating cast of guest artists including Beth Chrisman (fiddle, guitar, vox) and Nate Fleming (pedal steel). To put it simply, Doug Strahan and his band Strahan And The Good Neighbors are an American Band or, if you're into the whole sub-genre thing, then call it American Old School. It's funky but it isn't funk; there's country, soul, and blues in there, but it isn't any of these; it's American, but it's not Americana. Like the favorite bands from the 60s and 70s, they’re steeped in old school American music, but they’ve evolved into something all their own.
Booking: strahanatx@gmail.com
CHILI COLD BLOOD
Chili Cold Blood has been seducing and pummeling the world with their "Black and Blues" for almost 20 years. From their home in Austin, TX, to Alaska, France, and all points in-between, they've become cult favorites with a large following of loyal fans. Their unique combination of two vocals, steel guitar, guitar, and drums forms the base for the heavy grooves and blistering solos CCB is known for. Featuring Ethan Shaw on vocals, steel guitar, bass, Matthew Purryear on drums, Doug Strahan on guitar, vocals. Each year, Chili Cold Blood hosts the CCB Chili Cook-Off in memory of Nick Curran, raising money with rock 'n roll and chili for Heath Alliance for Austin Musicians.
Booking: chilicb@gmail.com
The MOONHANGERS
Chili Cold Blood's funky tonk alter ego makes rare appearances in Texas dance halls these days. Honest country and blues. If you get a chance, don't miss it.
Booking: chilicb@gmail.com
THE MEMPHIS STRANGE
The Memphis Strange is an Austin, Texas-based good-timing, rocking little country band...or a yee-hawing, country-flavored rock & roll band. Either way. For further information, write the good people at Memphis Strange Int'l HQ. Or just make it up as you go...
Featuring: Johnny Dango on guitar, vocals (The Boo Gees, Johnny Dango & The Stinkin' Roses), Todd Thompson on vocals, keys, Doug Strahan, Michael Lefkowitz on drums, Dave Wesslowski on bass
https://johnnydango.com/the-memphis-strange
Booking: memphisstrange@gmail.com
Press
For Sadie:
Kevin Curtin's Top 100 Austin Albums of 2020 (Austin Chronicle)
For Twilight Drifter:
Kevin Curtin's Top 100 Austin Albums of 2017 (Austin Chronicle) and 2017
"Doug Strahan, the smoky singer and guitar monster behind doom twangers Chili Cold Blood and cosmic honky-tonkers Moonhangers, has readied an excellent new platter called Twilight Drifter. The six-song effort spins like a collection of singles representing diverse vocations: Southern boogie, outlaw country, blue-eyed soul, and barroom rock with thoughtful, left-field lyricism. RIYL Charlie Rich, Gary Stewart, and Lukas Nelson." - Kevin Curtin, The Austin Chronicle, November 24, 2017
For Coal Black Dreams, Late Night Schemes:
"After years as both the garage blues-bashin' Chili Cold Blood and more countrified Moonhangers, this gritty local trio decided guitarist/vocalist Doug Strahan should go solo – with the same supporting cast: Ethan Shaw engineering and playing bass, steel guitar, and banjo, and Matt Puryear on drums. Gone "solo," Strahan revives the lonesome, orn'ry spirit of outlaw country, only this strain owes as much to Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Opener "Good Crosswinds," an electric, piano-drenched gospel ballad about love and alcohol that contributes the album's title, snakes crunchy blues like a cobra on absinthe, while "I'll Make It Rain" finds the frontman's Waylon-esque phase-shifted rhythm guitar underpinned by disco drums. In between there's pure mountain music ("So Damn Tired"), even some Stonesy rockin' ("Keep It on the Record"). Waylon wouldn't have done it this way, but he'd have approved." - Tim Steggal, The Austin Chronicle, May 16, 2014
"Many try to resurrect that heroine sweat sound of the 70’s. They throw reel to reel seances. They blow all manner of money on vintage gear. But I’ve never heard someone get so close to the true heart of that sound as Doug Strahan does on this album. He doesn’t strike the mood of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors or Eric Clapton’s Slowhand, he hits on the vibe of the albums that inspired those—that deep, gritty shit from JJ Cale, The James Gang, and Faces before Rod Stewart started screwed everything up. This is the real deal folks. The textures on this album are sublime, delivered with this incredible depth perception that few have the patience or expertise to pull off, making this album a vintage Audiophile’s paradise even if Strahan was reading from a phone book or covering Bobby McFerrin." - Saving Country Music, April 27, 2014
"Chili Cold Blood is like John Lee Hooker and Black Sabbath stuck in a local elevator. Three white dudes whose gothic blues wears its American macho costume loud and proud and is made up of steel guitar, drums, and electric guitar." - Martin de Leon II, The Austin Chronicle, June 17, 2005
"Chili Cold Blood is anything but typical. Shaw's pedal steel is played like a slide, adding some psychosis to the act's gutbucket blues. Doug Strahan trades vocal duties with Shaw, his vocals stretched and splayed through a treated mic. Fingerpicking like the blues greats – thumb included – Strahan's lanky figure nods to the beat, his cowboy hat tipping with each measure. The newest member of the band, Matt Puryear, is the glue that brought CCB out of obscurity. His disco beats erase any need for bass." - Darcie Stevens, The Austin Chronicle, December 23, 2005
"Track upon track of low-down blues kick whip-smart guitar and an uncompromising backbeat ("Road Behind Me") that includes a bona fide treasure in singer/guitarist Doug Strahan's "Put It Down."" - Margaret Moser, The Austin Chronicle, May 22, 2009
"Dropping XXL riffs with enough roadhouse twang to put Tony Lommi into a cowboy hat and bolo tie, Chili Cold Blood dials its Texas doom boogie to Seventies metal in a Southern Gothic style on album No. 7." - Kevin Curtin, The Austin Chronicle, December 27, 2013
Moonhangers press:
"You couldn't catch a Chili Cold Blood show these days if you turned on the lights of every moontower in town, but Doug Strahan and Ethan Shaw still kick up country dirt at the Mean-Eyed Cat nearly every Friday as the Moonhangers. The cosmic cowboys' third LP arrives straight from the Old West, tales of "Doin Time" with "heartaches put to rhythm" and not trustin' nobody when you're in Mississippi dotting a red-hot Texas landscape. The Moonhangers mosey "Chicken Funk" more country-fried than "Country Thighs," with the J.J. Cale-style Tulsa two-step of "You're in Love" booming Shaw through the mic like he's a strummin' Paul Bunyan. Waylon to Strahan's Willie, the latter breaks hearts on "Devil Off My Feet" and "Let's Do It Wrong," two that'll have folks swaying slowly on their porch swings. They surely don't make 'em like this anymore." - Chase Hoffberger, The Austin Chronicle, December 23, 2011
"Women, drink, and broken hearts: The Moonhangers like their country honest. And when Doug Strahan's delicate voice starts a-quiverin', it's lights out. His warning shot, "Steppin' Out," deals in regret, just like the rest of these New York Sessions." - Darcie Stevens, The Austin Chronicle, February 8, 2008
"The alter ego of Chili Cold Blood, the Moonhangers have studied their Waylon Jennings records very carefully. Yes, your beer will eventually hold tears." - Joe Gross, Austin Statesman
"Chili Cold Blood ladles Bloodchili Music – two Fritos packets' worth. The local trio's publishing company copyrights a dozen originals as its shit-kicking country alt.ego, the Moonhangers. Consider the group's Waylon Wednesdays at the Hole in the Wall a tip of Home Grown's hand. Ethan Shaw's pedal steel and Doug Strahan's guitars – Matt Puryear on drums – translates vocally, trading off track-by-track, into Strahan's more leavened tenor and Shaw's deeper Sun Records, and when they duet on "Homegrown," it ain't nuthin but good. Standouts "For Bein' in Love" ("... you sure don't ever call"), Willie-esque lament "Tumble Down Whiskey," and boot-scootin' instrumental "Bouncin' Buds" rustle up acoustics with the call of the steel, not a clunker in the bunch." - Raoul Hernandez, The Austin Chronicle, June 9, 2006
"Ethan Shaw and Doug Strahan are the men behind Chili Cold Blood and their honky-tonk-loving alter ego the Moonhangers. Home Grown showcases a dozen laidback, well-done Hanger originals. An inside photo shows Shaw and Strahan sitting around a patio in cowboy hats talking and drinking a 12-pack of High Life, and that’s pretty much the vibe the music inspires. Waylon and Willie as well as Doug Sahm and Joe Ely are definite touchstones for the Moonhangers on songs such as “You Don’t Love Me Anymore,” “Tumble Down Whiskey,” and the album-opening “Drivin’ Home.” The nifty instrumental “Bouncin’ Buds” and “For Bein’ in Love” showcase Shaw’s sweet steel playing, an album strongpoint." - Andy Turner, Pop Culture Press
The Memphis Strange press:
"Johnny Dango, Doug Strahan, and Todd Thompson make a dangerous combo." - Doug Freeman, The Austin Chronicle, August 18, 2017
