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Surreal McCoys stage brief comeback
By KAREN RIVERS, Tribune Staff Writer
After 13 years, the Surreal McCoys are back! For one night only at The Sports Page in Granger!
Remember the Surreal McCoys?
OK, you probably don't. They were a self-proclaimed "cowpunk alternative" band made up of University of Notre Dame Law School students. They rocked South Bend for all of three months back in 1992.
For those of you who frequented McCormick's, Club 23 or the former Alumni-Senior Club, perhaps the memories are coming back, most likely in a drunken haze.
Yes, the Surreal McCoys were the ones who wore overalls and sang in front of velvet Elvis tapestries. They drank Pabst Blue Ribbon and handed out jelly doughnuts.
And now they're back.
"This is what we're doing instead of having midlife crises," singer Erik Huey says by telephone from Washington, D.C., where he is an entertainment industry lawyer.
The other band members are brothers Tim and Patrick Smith, Shawn Ryan and Clint Feddersen. All of them now are practicing attorneys. Ryan, the drummer, is a lawyer right here in South Bend, which makes his return to the stage particularly brave.
Tonight, the band will play two sets for a total of 36 songs. Their repertoire includes a number of Johnny Cash tunes, as well as such favorites as "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)."
"These guys are great musicians, really. My vocals, they're not so much, but what I lack in talent I more than make up for in posturing," Huey promises.
As always, the Surreal McCoys will have costumes, props and a good deal of audience participation. If you go, be prepared. At any moment, they may need you to sing or play a cowbell solo.
In addition, Huey has it "on good authority" that back in the day, their shows set single-night beer sales records in more than one establishment.
Tonight, they hope to keep that tradition alive.
"The more you drink, the better we sound," he says. "There will be copious amounts of alcohol consumed -- and I'm just talking onstage."
-- Staff writer Karen Rivers