Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Curley Wolf Football Legacy Carries Over To Music

An annual beating on the gridiron at the hands of the Prescott squad has led to the naming of an alternative band.

A group of former Booneville Bearcats have assumed the moniker "Prescott Curlywolf" as the name of their band because their squad was never able to handle Prescott on the football field.

In fact, Tim Kinard, bassist for the band, said, "I used to be a Booneville Bearcat, and we'd go down for our annual whuppin' in Prescott. I always thought to myself: 'I wish I wasn't a Booneville Bearcat, I wish I was a Prescott Curley Wolf,' and now I am."

According to the Arkansas Times, June 7 edition, the Prescott Curlywolf band is based in Austin, Texas.

While the Texas press raves about the band's debut album, "6ix Ways to Sunday," it is at best mediocre.

The Austin Chronicle calls the band's second album "Dang" a "crazy quilt of styles jumping from grunge rock to folk and back."

Reaction to the album has reportedly been favorable.

Usually, bands have to struggle for years before getting their first big break. Not so with the Curlywolf crew, made up of Kinard on bass and vocals, Keith Langford on drums, Ron Byrd on guitar and vocals and Robert Bernard, also on guitar and vocals

In fact, this band found itself with a label incredibly fast. Jeff Cole, of Austin's independent studio, Doolittle Records, heard an early demo of the Curlywolf quartet and had them under contract before they began playing clubs.

Cole said the fact the band has three distinct. Additionally, members of this band had played with other groups as well.

Bernard played with the Picket Line Coyotes, while Byrd was with the Grackles and Kinard with Latex Fist. Langford pulled a tour with the Grieves before hooking up with the Curlywolf.

However, in "6ix Ways to Sunday," and apparently in "Dang," the band never comes forward with its own identity. Instead, listeners will be able to detect the influence of other bands, such as Nirvana, the early Beatles or Van Halen.

In April 1995, the band was offered a contract with Mercury Records, the company that actually produced "6ix Ways to Sunday." The Curlywolf issue of "Dang" was on Cole's Doolittle label.

For those interested in finding out about "Prescott Curlywolf" on their own, the tape or compact disc can be ordered at On Cue in the Hervey Square Shopping Center in Hope.

Manager Eddie Sisson said the tapes are $9.99, while the CDs go for $15.99.