Local musician establishes business to promote local scene
Cowboy Cat Productions is a new, independent music promoter that began booking shows around the Butler area in May. Since its inception, Cowboy Cat also started hosting open mic nights at Tannin and Tonic in Butler.
The organization is the brainchild of Murphy Thompson, known more commonly under his stage name, “Murphy Lawless.” He described his personal style as a “punky Johnny Cash,” as his music talks about his own experiences through outlaw folk.
While he was involved in the area’s music scene through his artistry, he had the idea to bring music and event promotion back to his home after getting hands-on experience with it.
“I spent some time in Pittsburgh helping some friends who did music promotion, and I wanted to bring it back to Butler,” he said. “I want to help bring the music to the community and bring fun things in. The music scene here isn’t as prevalent as it was when I was younger.”
Not long after starting, Thompson said local musicians were overwhelmingly accepting and supportive of Cowboy Cat, and he picked up traction with booking events and venues quickly.
“I’ve gotten to work with lots of local musicians, and we’re built on a ‘by musicians, for musicians’ mindset. The people who help me run Cowboy Cat are all part of local bands,” he said.
Thompson said turnout was high for the first open mic night in July, but dropped for the second night in August. He said he believes turnout was low due to Butler Italian Days coinciding and hopes the turnout will improve for the next one, taking place on Sept. 19.
Cowboy Cat is finalizing its plans for the fall season and has its open mic night, hosted by Tannin and Tonic at 126 N. Main St., scheduled out through the end of the year.
The night is not just open exclusively to musical acts, as poetry and comedy and other acts are also welcome.
Thompson said he’s also working on planning a festival to celebrate the end of summer and beginning of fall.
“It’s still in the works, but we’ve got some local and regional bands who are interested, we’re looking to have some games and other activities,” he said.
Thompson believes this is just the start for Cowboy Cat. Regardless, he said he already has seen his goal of building up a true community of local musicians coming to fruition, little by little.
“It was daunting to build it from the ground up here, but I did it out of love for the community and its music,” Thompson said. “At our events, I see everyone smiling and having a good time, and it brings me a lot of joy to know I helped cause that.”
