Cowgirl Thang

The idea for “Cowgirl Thang” came from Brian’s wife, Inge, as they returned home after a day of branding cattle at a local friend’s ranch. Brian was especially impressed by one cowgirl who roped calves as well as the best of them, at times even beating the most seasoned cowboy. As the conversation progressed, they began listing other typical “cowgirl” tasks, and then Inge suggested Brian write a song about it…

And he did just that. As soon as he got home, Brian sat at his computer and wrote the entire lyrics for the song in just under 30 minutes. Then he grabbed his acoustic guitar and worked out the melody line, and in just over an hour, he debuted the song to his wife, who promptly gave him a thumbs-up. Brian knew he had a hit.

In the past, when recording a new song, Brian would create score sheets for each instrument and vocal part, book studio time, hire session musicians, and spend a day or two trying out sound and arrangement ideas and mixing. But while he was working for Disney, he had upgraded his home studio with state-of-the-art gear and thought, “What the hell, I’ll just do it from home.”

Because recording at home was different, Brian spent the next two weeks recording each instrument and documenting the process for future projects. He played every instrument himself, including the drums, which he ultimately farmed out to his old friend, drummer Steve Gadd, who also had his own home studio, because Brian is not really a drummer.

After leaving Disney in 2022, Brian founded his own label, Musty Dungeon Studios, so he and his team could continue working in Hollywood. With a label comes design and media departments, and “Cowgirl Thang” would be their first test of putting a single out to the masses. Brian was pleasantly surprised when his team reported over 50,000 streams within the first week of release in May 2022.

Since its release, “Cowgirl Thang” has won SGA & SCL awards for best lyrics and best composition, has been featured on Spotify’s and SiriusXM’s artist spotlight, has appeared on Good Morning America, and is enjoyed daily by millions worldwide, according to Nielsen/Luminate.