Roger Kunkel, in the studio on Listening Lyrics, April 11, 2025

Here Comes The Space Cow is more than just a new LP — it’s the sound of four musicians overflowing with talent but also bound by something deeper. This group plays like they were born to find each other, blending jazz grooves with just the right dash of funk. It’s tight, soulful, and polished in the way only seasoned artists can pull off. Roger Kunkel (in photo) stopped by the studio to give us a taste, spinning a few tracks and gracing us with a couple of mesmerizing live performances on guitar. It was pure magic.

Roger Kunkel -- Guitar, vocals.   Stoo Odom --  Stand up bass, vocals.   Bart VanDer Zeuuw -- Drums.   Max Hart -- Hammond organ, pedal steel guitar.

Roger spent his 20s touring and recording as the electric guitarist for Thin White Rope, a critically acclaimed Davis band that released five albums and played venues from CBGB to the Soviet Union to the Reading Festival. Though the group disbanded in 1992, their legacy endures, with The Guardian dubbing them cult heroes in 2015 and all five albums reissued in 2018.

In the late '90s, Kunkel shifted gears, forming the jazz-surf-rock group Acme Rocket Quartet, which gained a following in the San Francisco Lounge scene. By the early 2000s, he stepped back from live performance to focus on family and study acoustic instruments like bluegrass guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. More recently, he has returned to performing with the retro country band Mike Blanchard and the Californios, released a solo acoustic album, and revived Acme Rocket Quartet.