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Song

Born To Be A Thief

Artist

The Outlaw Orchestra

The Outlaw Orchestra backstory

Hampshire’s hardly an outlaw country hotbed.

Or so you’d think.

But Rushonrock’s favourite hillbilly hellraisers have always put the deep South into Southampton.

Hard gigging and hard living, the super-talented trio are trailblazers for all things whiskey soaked and rhinestone patterned.

Last summer’s sublime set at Call Of The Wild festival confirmed everything we already knew about Dave Roux and his buddies.

There’s no hoedown like an Outlaw Orchestra hoedown.

Having cut a slew of foot-tapping covers in the last two years it’s time for Dave, Pete Briley and Ryan Smith to plough their own furrow.

And Born To Be A Thief is the third single from this year’s brand new album of original material.

In frontman Dave Roux’s own words

“We wanted to capture what it is we do in a studio or sitting around busking ideas onto the finished album.

“It’s three instruments and our voices and not layering lots of overdubs.

“It’s us as we are live and a great sound for just tres hombres.

“We’re Outlaws and we wouldn’t be Outlaws if we weren’t thieves as well.

“I started young pinching sweets from Woolworths Pick’n’Mix and progressed to guitar picks from music shops, pints of beer at gigs to rolls of gaffer tape from roadies.

“However, when chatting with the Planet Rock stage crew I was assured no matter how light fingered us musicians might be, we’ll never out thieve the road crew.

“They’re the best in the business.”

The verdict on Born To Be A Thief

The banjo. The beanie. The familiar beat of the Thundersmith drum.

Steal yourself for another killer clip and a cracking tune from this criminally underrated crew.

Born To Be A Thief’s video should have been up for a gong at last night’s BAFTAs, it’s so good.

But if The Outlaw Orchestra are NWOCR’s best kept secret then we’ll keep banging on about Southampton’s finest until someone gets the hint.

Pete Briley’s riotous retro-styled fretwork is reason enough to add Born To Be A Thief to your country playlist.

But Dave Roux seems determined to turn this three-and-a-half minute thrill ride into some kind of blues rock party.

Just skip to the furious denouement of a deliciously unpredictable banger.

Everything about The Outlaw Orchestra is reassuringly off-trend.

Roux and co. are a law unto themselves. And Born To Be A Thief is their most arresting effort yet.

What’s next for The Outlaw Orchestra

New album La Familia is slated for a ‘mid 2024’ release.

We’d love to think there were some live dates coming soon…

…but after trawling the internet it looks like a case of ‘watch this space’.