127. Tiff Hannay Discusses Mitski, Be The Cowboy

Send us Fan MailTiff Hannay, vocalist and guitarist for the Lansing-based band Rodeo Boys, introduces Al to Mitski’s fifth album, Be the Cowboy. Tiff talks about what they love about this album and how they think of it in relation to the other albums in Mitski’s discography. Tiff and Al also share their impressions of various lyrics from the album. Tiff  discusses Rodeo Boys’ latest album, Home Movies, and the band’s upcoming tour.Tiff recommended watching Mitski’s 2015 NPR Tiny Desk performance. You can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNFHD0lUAQ.Also, as promised in this episode, here is the link to Miley Cyrus’ performance of “Heart of Glass”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbdRLyixJpc.Follow Tiff and Rodeo Boys!@rodeoboysofficial on Instagram and YouTubehttps://www.rodeoboysofficial.com/https://rodeoboys.bandcamp.com/Al is on Twitter/X at @almelchiorBB and on Bluesky at @almelchior.bsky.social. This show has accounts on Twitter/X, Threads and Instagram at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.Subscribe for free to You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter and participate in weekly chats about this podcast’s featured albums! https://youmealbum.substack.com/1:15 Tiff joins the show1:25 Tiff talks about the album title, Be the Cowboy3:37 Tiff explains why they chose to discuss Be the Cowboy7:36 Tiff puts Be the Cowboy in the larger context of Mitski’s discography12:53 What does Tiff pay the most attention to when listening to this album?17:01 Tiff talks about some of their favorite songs on the album20:44 Al thinks some of Be the Cowboy goes over his head24:37 Tiff loves the beefy Stratocaster sound26:20 Kissing is a repeated theme on Be the Cowboy28:56 Tiff recommends Crying in H Mart to Al33:00 Tiff and Al discuss the songs where Mitski is telling a story from an older perspective41:12 Al is impressed by the economy of Mitski’s songwriting44:51 Tiff highlights a few other tracks that are among their favorites on the album48:26 Al makes note of some of his favorite lyrics on Be the Cowboy51:31 Al tries to explain his reaction to the album52:56 Mitski had a huge breakout on Tiktok55:55 Rodeo Boys once played the Masonic Temple in Detroit57:15 Al asks Tiff about covering Blondie’s “One Way or Another”1:02:39 Rodeo Boys are opening for Fishbone…and no one told them about itOutro is from “Sugar” by Rodeo Boys.Support the show