Interview With Cowboy Outlaws Rhett Calper & Reginald Nutter + Debut Music Video “Won’t You Let Me Love You”

Cowboy outlaws Rhett Calper & Reginald Nutter have just released their debut music video for “Won’t you let me love you?”, and we were lucky enough to catch Calper for an exclusive email interview…the bands currently on the run making a video interview impossible. No one know’s much about this band, asides for what they’ve revealed to the video creator, Josh Reimens of Thunder Crap, so if you watch the video and you’re curious for more, or just want to learn more about a man who lists his non musical influences as guns, jerked meat, hot sauce, camouflage blinds, taxidermy, homegrown marijuana and government protected marsh land, keep scrolling and buckle up for one hell of an interview!

Interview with Rhett Calper

As this is their first time meeting you Rhett, can you introduce yourself to our audience and tell them a little about yourself?

Howdy. The name’s Rhett Calper n’ I hail from a quiet little southern town that goes by the name of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. From a whipper to a snapper I bin scuffin’ my boots in an’ around the moonshine racket, dabblin’ in this here guitar and runnin’ from Johnny Law. 

We tried reaching out for a video interview, but we’re doing this interview via email due to the fact that you’re currently on the run after…did you say a bank robbery? What’s going on?

Well now the thing is, when ur a good ol’ boy livin’ the cowboy lifestyle, ranchin’ tends to leave ya with less than two nickels to rub together. Bein’ as it may, an outlaw tends only to last but a few years dole’n out e-legal hootch before them highway officers start tossin’ rattlesnakes in ur saddlebags. Seein’ as how the only thing I can strum cleaner than a six string is my daddies pistol, it was only a felony stretch before me n’ the boys had knocked off every bank from Jackson to Biloxi. Needless to say, the fuzz around these parts are madder than a wet hen.

What can you tell us about Reginald Nutter?

Reggie? Hell, more’n half the time he’s drunker than Cooter Brown, but he’s a Georgia peach when it comes to country music and his recordings are finer than a frog hair split four ways. 

Your new project, Rhett Calper & Reginald Nutter has just released its first single. What brought this new project together?

Bless your heart. When you wake up to the roosters crow, you start to realize what ur doin’ is about as useful as tits on a bull. We was wantin’ to make our presence known so as to put on for our mamas and our papi’s long standin’ family tree. Our grand-pappi’s legacy lies in our un-willingness to conform and our ever present fixation on makin’ real country music that sings to the soul, and puts a streak in man’s unrelenting hunger to stick it to the man.

Juggling a pandemic and a single release is one thing, but throw in being at large? How did you pull it off?

We was continuously starin’ large at Thunder Crap videos and we knew right quick that there was an outlet for us to articulate some of the unkempt visions we had been coagulating since we gave up haybails for hellfire. Similarly, we simply pointed our guns in the air and prayed to run down an angel or two.

What was the inspiration behind your debut track, “Won’t You Let Me Love You?”

A shared penchant for romance and an inexplicable willingness to claw our way out of the shadows. It is both a call to arms and a relinquishing of armaments. My guess is, the man upstairs saw a little bit of himself  in a rugged band a’ cowboys. 

The video animation was done by Josh Reimens from Thunder Crap, what drew you toward Josh’s animation style?

A salty minow in a freshwater pond. He was the first rube who answered our emails. That being said, we believe he is the only true cowboy outlaw in all of the Canadian north. He was the only cow we laboured to milk for this 2-bit rodeo. We love EVERY video Thunder Crap has ever done.

How did you end up working together and what was the experience like?

We told Yoshi we had to have the vigor of “kicked in the nuts” mixed with the steadfast honesty of “On the rag”. Despite the success of the end product, I guarantee he wouldn’t want to see us in a dark ally with a blind mule.

The lead guitar on the track was done by Abram Black, who’s that?

We’ve been mighty friendly with Abram since he was bitin’ at his pappi’s ankles. After he drove busses for the majority of the southern youth all over the redneck school district, he decided to tighten up his spurs and howl at the moon with a pack of wolves. Now he thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow.

Which artists would you say influenced the sound of “Won’t Let Me Love You”?

Wheeler Walker jr, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Travis Trit, Neil Young, The Allman Bros, Ennicio Morricone and Billy Strings.

What are some of your non musical inspirations?

Guns, jerked meat, hot sauce, camouflage blinds, taxidermy, homegrown marijuana and government protected marsh land.

How has the current global pandemic affected you as an artist and how do you think it will affect the future of the music industry?

I have no idea what any of those words mean.

What can fans expect next from Rhett Calper & Reginald Nutter?

Once we have a safe place to duck n’ cover, we’re gonna record a live version of “Won’t you let me love you?”. Keep your eyes and your ears frosty.

Do you have any last words for our readers?

If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay under the porch.