THEM COULEE BOYS

Them Coulee Boys 

“from pure and genuine ballads to a leaping, countrified take on rock and roll”

Soren Staff and Beau Janke—co-founders of folk/rock/Americana outfit Them Coulee

Boys—met as camp counselors in northern Wisconsin in 2011. Their weekend workshopping of

Avett Brothers and classic country tunes led to original songs and adding Soren’s brother Jens on mandolin. As the years grew, the band turned into a more rollicking outfit, adding Neil Krause on electric bass and Stas Hable on drums.

The band’s name is a nod to the glacial melt-carved river valleys they call home, known by early

French fur trappers as coulees. 2023 marks the 10th year since launching themselves during a

now legendary apple farm hootenanny. To celebrate, the Boys recorded and released “Ten Years Tall”, an EP of songs written around the band's conception and re-recorded with a full decade of experience on the road with a full band. Known for wild swings of emotion during sets, it is not unusual to see fans in tears and minutes later dancing with abandon. The honesty and ability to talk and sing about the feelings and emotions that shape them has endeared them to a growing group of fans and friends.

With four full-length albums and an EP behind them, including 2019’s Die Happy (produced by

Trampled By Turtles’ Dave Simonett on Lo-Hi Records) and 2021’s Namesake (produced by

Grammy winner Brian Joseph), the band has garnered international attention and earned press

in American Songwriter, Ditty TV, Folk Alley, and The Bluegrass Situation, as well as tours with

Trampled By Turtles, Los Lobos, Old Crow Medicine Show and a spot on the songwriter’s Cayamo Cruise.

2021’s Namesake found the band following a new trajectory, combining their signature take on

folk-grass and Americana with comfort on electric instruments and playing rock and roll. The

record lives and breathes. It’s both intimate and bombastic. It’s the sweet aunt who makes

delicious pies and the wiley uncle who’s not afraid to hit a bit of the bottle. At the bottom is the

acceptance that comes with family and old friends; none of us are perfect, but there’s enough

love out there to make up for it.

In 2020, they were named Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Band to Watch. In 2021, they won

Bluegrass/Americana Band of the Year by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry.

For all things Them Coulee Boys, please visit themcouleeboys.com.