Cheyenne closed their set last Saturday night (Nov. 10th) with "The Whale", which is the title song of the band's upcoming CD. The new CD will be released on Dec. 11th and the band is having a release party at Joe's Pub on December 8th.



After the show on the 10th, I had the chance to sit down and talk with Beau...

Background:
BrooklynRocks: How and where did Cheyenne come together?

Beau Jennings: The band started in 2002 in Oklahoma. We got to be good friends with one of the bigger bands in the area, the Starlight Mints, and played a number of shows at their venue, The Opolis, and toured with them as well. Cheyenne released its first EP in 2003 and played a number of shows around the mid-west.

After my girlfriend moved to New York, Heath [Fisher – Drummer] and I moved to Brooklyn in 2005. As more friends and acquaintances from Oklahoma relocated to New York, Cheyenne was reconstituted in New York.

Current:
BrooklynRocks: How often does the band play live and is Cheyenne your full-time job?

Beau Jennings: The band played a lot over the summer to support the release of “The Land Rush” EP (available on eMusic and iTunes) but all of the band members have full time jobs. Members of the band work as an architect, computer tech, writer, etc.

BrooklynRocks: How many releases does Cheyenne have out?

Beau Jennings: The band currently has out one full length (on the Record Machine label), a 7”, and “The Land Rush” EP. The new CD “The Whale” will be released on December 11th and the record release party is December 8th at Joe’s Pub.

NYC Scene:
BrooklynRocks: As a relative newcomer on the NYC scene, are there any bands or clubs that you particularly like?

Beau Jennings: Wynn Walent is great and they opened for us on the first night of the residency. Jaymay (who records for Blue Note) is another great artist. Piano’s and Lakeside Lounge are some of our favorite clubs to play. In terms of major acts, Springsteen at MSG was fabulous.

Piano’s Residency:
BrooklynRocks: I did an interview with Michael Nau earlier tonight and he mentioned that you had invited his band to play tonight. How do you know Michael & Cotton Jones? How was the first night of the residency?

Beau Jennings: We opened for Page France earlier this year and both Cheyenne and Page France are on the Murkville soundtrack. Page France also stayed with us when they played the Bowery Ballroom a few months ago.

The residency has been going well. It has been a lot of fun and we have been able to do some different stuff. We played an acoustic set the first night without a drummer.

The Oklahoma Scene:
BrooklynRocks: What is the Oklahoma scene like?

Beau Jennings: Most of the Oklahoma scene centered around a love of The Flaming Lips and Woody Guthrie. The Evangelicals were a big band on the scene and were good friends of ours. The Oklahoma scene was big and close-knit so it was really hard to leave it.

What’s Next for Cheyenne in 2008:
Beau Jennings: The goal is to make Cheyenne a full-time gig. If I don’t have this as the ultimate goal, it will never happen. For so many good bands, the stars didn’t align so I plan on doing everything possible to make this happen.

Links:
Cheyenne's MySpace page