Taken from KANE COUNTY CHRONICLE Friday, July 17, 1998 Entertainment PLUS, Section D, Page 7
COUNTRY ROCK BAND SHOWS EVEN TOUGHEST
COWBOY HAS SOFT SIDE
By Eric Schelkopf

ST CHARLES- They may call themselves Kampfire Kowboys, but these guys can rock That was evident Thursday night, when they brought their unique country/rock/folk sound to Chord on Blues for a concert celebrating the release of thier new CD, "somewhere blue." With thundering drums and searing guitar licks, the four-piece group played with the intensity of a larger band and should have no trouble handling a bigger venue like Synergy II in West Chicago, where they will perform July 24. Kampfire Kowboys is fronted by St. Charles resident Tom Colton, whose country-ish, out-on-the-dusty-trail voice is perfectly suited for the band. He also handles guitar duties.

Rounding out Kampfire Kowboys are co-founder Dave Piper, also of St. Charles, on bass and vocals; Brian Tedeschi, on lead guitar and vocals and Gary LaPLante, on drums. The show opened with a campfire-like setting, with only a lone harmonica and guitar playing. Then the band ripped into "You Waited Too Long To Reply," from its new CD. But Kampfire Kowboys showed they can tackle other people's music as well, when the group did a countrified version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop The Rain" while keeping the rock edge of the song intact. Several of Kampfire Kowboy's songs deal with relationships, such as on the title track of "somewhere blue."

As the song's chorus says, "It's good love, good love will find me, somewhere blue." In another song, "Break the Silence," Colton sings, "I still want to be loved again, loved by you." So it seems it's not true that a cowboy's best friend is his horse. You can't lump Kampfire Kowboys' music into a certain category. Just when you think you know what to call this band, it throws something else into the mix. Such was the case with it's rockabilly-influenced "My Pretty Little Baby and Me," which really got the crowd at Chord on Blues jumping. The band treated the audience to an extended version of it's instrumental "Waygone Daddy," the three guitars provided plenty of raw energy. Later on in the show, Colton and Tedeschi got into a guitar duel on "Tin Can Man," trading licks as they tried to out-gun each other. In my opinion, it was a tie. Kampfire Kowboys will make an appearance and perform "unplugged" on the Kevin Matthews show on AM1000 July 23rd.