An independent U.S. record label that managed the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd has signed with two middle-aged rockers in Okotoks. Florida’s Musik and Film signed a record deal with Keith Hambrook and Dwight Koenning last summer. Hambrook and Koenning began the original country rock band The Prairie Dogz in January after working together in the cover band Throttle Up. “When it first happened it didn’t seem real,” said Koenning of the deal. “All my life I’ve always wanted to be on a big stage in front of 50,000 people and rock out. Now might be my chance.” Koenning and Hambrook paid money to get their songs recorded just for fun and put them on Music Xray’s online platform, hoping to get feedback from professionals in the industry. “One day there was a lock put on one of our songs – that means nobody else can bid on it,” said Koenning. “Then we get this email and we have no idea who this guy is. He said, ‘I want to sign you.’ We end up looking this guy up and it’s real. He’s a voting member of the Grammy Awards, he distributes for Sony Music and all this other stuff.” Shortly after signing the deal with Musik and Film, radio stations around the world began playing The Prairie Dogz’ first single I Don’t Remember Last Night. “We’ve only been doing this since January,” said Koenning. “It’s happening really fast.” Hambrook said the two were performing together in their local cover band last year when they began talking about writing music together. “We felt there was an opportunity to make original music and sell it on our own,” Hambrook said. “With online marketing there was so much information on how to do it.” The musical duo found they worked well together. “Nobody writes a drinking song like he does,” Hambrook said of Koenning. “My lyrics are more serious than his.” The duo found a Calgary producer and began recording their songs. They created a video for their single I Don’t Remember Last Night, filmed at Twin Cities Hotel in Longview last summer. “We had no plans to look for a record deal,” admitted Hambrook. “We had stuff on iTunes getting some sales and streams.” When they received the email from Musik and Film asking for every song they recorded, they panicked. “I’ve been playing guitar for a lot of years and in my whole life that’s the first time I ever had that call,” Hambrook said. “We ran around screaming for a couple of hours. We learned they worked with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tom Petty and tons of names. To me it’s just iconic.” Their deal with Musik and Film connects The Prairie Dogz with more than 240,000 radio stations worldwide. “They sent live links to all the radio stations,” Hambrook said. “That list is as long as your arm and it’s all over the world.” Since then, Hambrook said a lot of radio stations around the world have picked up their songs and are putting them on their play lists. “It’s a surreal experience,” he said. “I’ve had independent stuff on the radio when I was younger. It will seem real for me when we get an offer to do a tour.” Hambrook said they originally delved into cover music because it’s more challenging to make money off of original music as many people expect original musicians to perform for free. “If you want the experience you have to play in a cover band and you’re pretty fortunate to do that,” he said. “You really cut your teeth doing that.” Koenning agrees it’s much easier to make it as a musician performing cover tunes than originals, so when they decided to start their own band it was more for fun than anything. “We paid the money to get the songs recorded for shits and giggles, really,” he said. “All of a sudden we start pushing them out there and people start liking them. We thought maybe we’ve got something.” To learn more go to theprairiedogz.com
