A&E

Supergroup: Vegas-scene drummer Courtney Carroll picks her dream bandmates

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Coco Jenkins by Fode Diop; Courtney Carroll by Steve Marcus
Jason Harris

Here’s how it works: I ask a local musician to pick three favorite (famous) songs. Then I choose one and ask the artist to piece together the dream (local) band he or she would cover it with. The catch: The musician can’t have been in a band with any of them—ever. This supergroup has to be brand new.

Courtney Carroll is the perfect subject for this, since she’s probably played in more bands than anybody else on the local scene. Currently, she drums for folky girl group Dusty Sunshine and electro duo Kid Meets Cougar. Her long-standing country band, The Clydesdale, is on hiatus, so naturally she’s gearing up for gigs with a new iteration of indie outfit Hungry Cloud.

For her song, Carroll chose “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” off The Smiths’ seminal 1986 album, The Queen Is Dead. “It’s hard to pick a favorite song of theirs, but ‘Bigmouth’ always makes me feel like dancing,” Carroll says. “Even though I don’t really ever dance, I’m dancing on the inside.”

It’s a perfect three-minute pop song, so how would Carroll make it her own? “I want to do a more funky, more dancey version of the song.”

Putting together the right band comes with challenges. Along with an explosive Johnny Marr guitar solo, capturing the high backing vocals—on record it was a voice-modulated Morrissey—would also be quite demanding. But Carroll has a plan ...

Lead Vocals

Me! “I like playing the drum part for this song, but I like singing it even more. I have a very good Morrissey singing voice, but it also sounds like Kermit the Frog a bit.”

Guitar

Diego Cano (Dopamine Flux) “I’ve always wanted to play in a band with him. His guitar sounds and style are innovative, and he would bring an interesting touch to this song.”

Bass

CoCo Jenkins (Rhyme N Rhythm) “Gotta have another lady in the band. Always good vibes and always smiling, she is a really friggin’ good bass player!”

Drums

Bobby Lucy (GoldBoot) “He would bring a clean, hype, dancey element to the song, which I think would be fun.”

Backing Vocals

Joe Ervin (Dreaming of Lions) “He’s one of the best singers in Vegas. He could pull off doing some sort of version of the high backups, while I’m singing the Morrissey part.”

Tambourine

Checko Salgado (Catapult/Schizoid) “He got me into The Smiths when we were roommates, so he has to be in the mix somewhere. He’s gonna be pissed that he’s not playing bass.”

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