#brent amaker

Surf and indie

Since forming his Seattle-based outfit Brent Amaker and the Rodeo in 2005, Amaker has reveled in an idiosyncratic style that doesn’t fit into preordained categories. A Seattleite since 1997, he’s a Southerner by birth, yet Southern crowds are frequently puzzled by his ambitious stage show.

Amaker revels in cross-cultural jubilation on Vaquero, out this Friday September 12th release via Rodeo Corp Ltd. It's a freewheeling new album that fuses his Western performance art with authentic mariachi backing, recorded last year across several trips to Mexico City. Pre-save the album here.

Named after the Mexican term for cowboy (which is to say the original cowboy, dating back to the 1500s), Vaquero came as a result of Amaker’s long-running friendships with Mexican musicians, who periodically stay at his home when they tour in Seattle. One day, his friend Miguel Servin, a veteran of Mexico City’s vibrant music community who owns a studio of his own, suggested that Amaker come down and make a Rodeo record there. The songwriter pondered the idea and had just one condition.

Today, Amaker and his collaborators share the album's final single, "Murdered In The Streets," which prefaces the boisterous mariachi energy of the record at large. The music video's neon cowboy stylings only heighten the experience.

Stream Murdered In the Streets:

From the upcoming full length "Vaquero"

When Brent Amaker decided to record an album with Mariachis in Mexico City, the MonkeyBee Records crew went to famous Salón Tenampa at Plaza Garibaldi, where Mariachis line up like prostitutes, trying to hustle you into hiring them for your party. The video for Murdered in The Streets, directed and edited by Jasmina Hirschl, reflects on the many months Brent Amaker spent in Mexico City working with Mariachi. It's an invitation to lose yourself in Mezcal, “Toques”, Tacos and lots and lots of live music while you dwell on the countless wrong turns you had to take in order to get here.

Broken Promises features mariachi horns that are bombastic and colorful, contrasting here with Amaker’s lamenting about what could have been

Stream Broken Promises:

From the full length album Vaquero (2025) on RodeoCorp, Ltd. First of three singles. Still to come is the single is the heartfelt "Broken Promises" to be released August 14th and the dark "Murdered in the Streets slated for September 12th.

Amaker revels in cross-cultural jubilation on Vaquero (out Sept. 12 via Rodeo Corp Ltd), a freewheeling new album that fuses his Western performance art with authentic Mariachi backing. The record was recorded last year across several trips to Mexico City. The jovial horns that accentuate “Tequila Cerveza”—paired with hoots, hollers, and rousing cries of “Tequila!” from Amaker’s hired-gun backing band—set the tone bright and early: This is music that crosses borders both literal and genre.

Named after the Mexican term for cowboy (which is to say the original cowboy, dating back to the 1500s), Vaquero came as a result of Amaker’s long-running friendships with Mexican musicians, who periodically stay at his home when they tour in Seattle. One day, his friend Miguel Servin, a veteran of Mexico City’s vibrant music community who owns a studio of his own, suggested that Amaker come down and make a Rodeo record there. The songwriter pondered the idea and had just one condition. “If I’m gonna record a record in Mexico City, it’s gotta be a Mexican record,” Amaker remembers saying. “Can you get me Mariachi?” Servin responded, “Hell yeah, I can get you Mariachi!” True to his word, Servin recruited a band in the most old-school possible fashion: by visiting Plaza Garibaldi, a hole-in-the-wall bar where Mariachi groups perform and go from table to table, handing out business cards and looking for gigs. (The lo-fi slice-of-life video for “You’re No Good,” shot and directed by Servin’s wife, Jasmina Hirschl, captures some of this process.) “We would watch each band go by and try to listen to them for technical ability,” Amaker recalls. “I don’t have as good an ear as Miguel does. I’d be like, ‘Hey, I like that one, good energy!’ He’d say, ‘Yeah, but they’re not as in tune as this group over here.’ We finally found the one. They were really well-prepared. It was pretty amazing—these are classically trained musicians even though the Mariachi sound is kinda sloppy, you know? It’s almost sometimes intentionally out of tune. ”The recording process proved fruitful, rowdy, and fun as hell.

As the United States of America grows increasingly hostile to all matters South of The Border, Brent Amaker and the Rodeo have embraced Mexico for their latest single and album. Continue reading Brent Amaker & The Rodeo release lament to tee up new album

Seattle’s favorite cowboy outfit Brent Amaker & the Rodeo recorded with real Mariachis in Mexico City on “I Need Love”, where trilling horns augment jaunty musings on love, loss, and boundaries.

Since forming his Seattle-based outfit Brent Amaker and the Rodeo in 2005, Amaker has reveled in an idiosyncratic style that doesn’t fit into preordained categories. He’s a country singer whose band is known for dressing in matching black cowboy outfits, yet Amaker is more inspired by art-rock icons than the usual country mainstays. A Seattleite since 1997, he’s a Southerner by birth, yet Southern crowds are frequently puzzled by his ambitious stage show.

Now Amaker revels in cross-cultural jubilation on Vaquero, announced today for a September 12th release via Rodeo Corp Ltd. It's a freewheeling new album that fuses his Western performance art with authentic Mariachi backing, recorded last year across several trips to Mexico City at the behest of his good friend Miguel Servin, who was instrumental at hooking up the Mariachi musicians in Mexico.

Seattle, USA-based troubadour, Brent Amaker collaborates south of the border for earnest new single, I Need Love. Continue reading Brent Amaker and the Rodeo is back with storytelling single and video

For Brent Amaker and the Rodeo’s latest music, they’ve hit the road, travelling south from Seattle, USA to Mexico City. Continue reading Brent Amaker and the Rodeo’s new video takes us to the heart of Mexico City