Laramie residents Mike Vanata and Brian Harrington were just doing what two young, college 20-somethings do — making impromptu, off-stage videos of friends’ cool musical performances and posting them online to their YouTube channel.
Then in 2019, one of their cool “little” videos went viral.
It was Canadian Colter Wall, singing “Cowpoke” at the Bar Nunn Airport Hangar in Wyoming.
Before the two had any inkling of what was happening, they suddenly had a couple million views on that one video.
It had literally blown up. It’s still accruing views today, coming in at 12.78 million so far and counting.
That first viral video came with a pleasant surprise. A paycheck from YouTube advertising.
“It was just enough money to buy some gas,” Harrington told Cowboy state Daily. “So, we could keep shooting.”
The other thing the Colter video did was decide the channel’s name. Vanata and Harrington had been arguing over what to call their YouTube channel for some time.
Vanata wanted “AF” in there, while Harrington felt a business name couldn’t be taken seriously if it had a curse word in it.
They were grownups now. It was time to leave the college bravado behind.
But, as Vanata tells the tale, it was the name that ultimately made the difference for Colter when it came to agreeing to perform for the video.
“He passed at first,” Harrington said. “And then Mike told him (our channel) was called ‘Western As F***' and he changed his mind. He said, ‘Well that sounds cool.’”
Western AF’s Excellent Adventure
Vanata and Harrington were all set for an excellent adventure in 2020. They had their YouTube gas money, and they had more than 10,000 subscribers eager to watch whatever they came up with. Now, they have nearly 235,000.
And then came the COVID-19 Pandemic, pulling the rug out from under everyone and everything.
Or so it seemed, at first.
The festivals and concerts Vanata and Harrington had planned to go to were canceled.
But, as the old saying goes, whenever one door closes, another opens.
“There were all these songwriters who were just stuck in their houses,” Vanata told Cowboy State Daily.
Those songwriters were not just eager but desperate for a channel that could get their work out to fans, to keep their momentum — and rent checks flowing —and to showcase new songs they were working on.
Vanata’s low-key format, which strives to capture what artists might sound like if they were just friends sitting on your couch playing a tune on a Saturday night, was perfect for the pandemic.
“We want like the most stripped down and authentic version of the song, without a bunch of studio production and all of the overdubs and all that,” Harrington said. “We just want to hear the real music.”
That format meant there didn’t need to be big production crews.
It could be just a couple of people in a room, with plenty of social distance, and even more music.
Western AF, a Wyoming-based YouTube channel with nearly 235,000 subscribers, features up-and-coming country music artists, like Willie Carlisle. (Western AF via YouTube) 
Western AF, a Wyoming-based YouTube channel with nearly 235,000 subscribers, features up-and-coming country music artists, like Drayton Farley. (Western AF via YouTube) 
Western AF, a Wyoming-based YouTube channel with nearly 235,000 subscribers, features up-and-coming country music artists, like Sierra Ferrell. (Western AF via YouTube) 
Western AF, a Wyoming-based YouTube channel with nearly 235,000 subscribers, features up-and-coming country music artists, like Charlie Crockett. (Western AF via YouTube) 
Western AF, a Wyoming-based YouTube channel with nearly 235,000 subscribers, features up-and-coming country music artists. (Western AF via YouTube) 
Western AF, a Wyoming-based YouTube channel with nearly 235,000 subscribers, features up-and-coming country music artists, like Nick Shoulders. (Western AF via YouTube) 
Western AF, a Wyoming-based YouTube channel with nearly 235,000 subscribers, features up-and-coming country music artists, like The Lostines. (Western AF via YouTube)
The Pursuit Of Authenticity
In a world where Artificial Intelligence can smooth over every human flaw and imperfection, Western AF’s work stands out by not being afraid to let imperfect moments shine.
Singers mock themselves on camera, apologizing even before they begin, afraid they’re going to “blow it.”
Others cut up during a song, calling out off-camera friends for having too much fun.
Some talk about the life that inspired their words, like Noeline Hofmann and her song, “Purple Gas.”
She looks down, she looks to the side, she stops and starts as she shares words tinged by deep emotions.
It’s immediately touching, in a way that’s completely unrehearsed.
“Sometimes the little flubs are what makes a song beautiful and unique,” Harrington said. “And we just largely want to see that authenticity. I think, more than anything, it’s just something real.”
Likewise, there’s no editing when Frankie Zwick cracks up as she’s singing, “Fellas, don’t let your ladies learn how to be cowgirls, don’t let ‘em pick guitars and drive them old trucks. Let ‘em stay home with the babies and such.”
The laughter both on- and off-camera, her shaking head and the jokes with her fellow cowgirls as they finish up a day of branding on the Hell and Back Ranch are all part of an authentic environment where her song not only can live and breathe but become something more than its words.
Sometimes, though, it’s not the people who bring the surprise. It’s the environment itself that brings the “pow” that’s somehow perfectly imperfect.
Like the Red Clay Strays’ video of “Sunshine,” shot in an old barn at the Terry Bison Ranch.
“Right about when we were about to roll, it just started down-pouring,” Harrington said. “And the building had a tin roof, so you can hear a bunch of rain in the background.”
The recording didn’t stop for the rain, though, and ultimately, it’s what makes the video what it is. The mood the rain brings is perfect for a song that’s all about the hope that things will get better, no matter how bad they might seem.
“When you hear it, when you see it, it’s special,” Harrington said. “And that band, the Red Clay Strays, has exploded since then. I mean, they’re like the top name on big music festivals now. And that video just went wildly viral and blew their career up, so it’s been good for all of us.”
Living Documentary Of Our Times
Red Clay Strays signed a record deal with RCA not long after that.
“We were just in Mobile shooting again with them, and that will come out July 30,” Harrington said.
Seeing artists that they’ve filmed making it big because of the exposure Western AF brought them has been a big treat for Vanata and Harrington. It underscores the importance of what they’re doing, creating what they see as a living document of voices that may not have been forgotten, but have certainly not yet been lifted to the stratosphere.
“There were singer-songwriters on our channel who were playing bars for like $50 a night,” Vanata said. “And now some of them are opening up for some of the biggest names in country music, like our buddy, Willie Carlisle, who is now opening for Tyler Childers, which you never thought would be possible.”
Not only is the channel making the industry take notice of these emerging artists, though, it’s also bringing new artists into Wyoming.
“People usually assume we’re from Nashville and ask us, like, when can we shoot a video?” Vanata said.
That’s when he tells them the videography team actually lives in Wyoming.
“There are bands now that come out to Wyoming just to search for us to try to shoot a video with us,” Vanata said. “And that’s pretty wild.”
A Big Luke Bell Connection
One of the first videos that Vanata and Harrington shot was of Vanata’s late friend, and famous country musician, Luke Bell.
“I had grown up with him in Cody,” Vanata said. “And then he went off and left Cody and became a country singer. He came out with an album that just blew up, and he was opening for like Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakum.”
Mental health issues plagued Bell, however, Vanata said, resulting in his death two years ago.
But it’s because of Bell that Vanata and Harrington first found themselves traveling in musical circles, and they both credit him to this day for getting them to where they are.
“He broke the trail for us,” Harrington said. “We found ourselves in his music scene a lot of times, in his friend circles.”
Bell often told Vanata and Harrington about this “vibrant, musical community out there,” a world they both longed to access and document.
“He was the catalyst,” Vanata said.
A catalyst that has led to many epic musical adventures, the latest of which was a showcase in Europe, taking three Nashville artists, Pat Reedy, Kristina Murray, and Todd Day Wait, on tour.
That’s something they hope to do again with different artists from time to time.
“It was really popular,” Harrington said. “Folks have been asking us to come back already. We haven’t fully rested up, but when we do, we’ll go back.”
It’s all about spreading the gospel of country music, and the codes of the West, both in Wyoming and the wider world, Vanata said.
Bringing The Music To Wyoming
But the duo aren’t just touring with musicians in Europe. They’re also actively working to bring them into Wyoming for shows.
Harrington and Vanata have planned a big showcase at the Cowboy Saloon in Laramie on July 20 which will bring four bands, including the Deslondes out of New Orleans, to Wyoming.
“We dream of Laramie being one of those places someday that you think of as like a Music City,” Harrington said. “I mean, we’ll never be Austin, never be Nashville, but we could be some middle of the country place that you really want to stop over if you’re a band.”
Laramie already has a history with music, Harrington said.
“There’s Teenage Bottle Rockets from Laramie,” Harrington said. “There was Chancey (Williams). I mean there’s plenty of musical history in this town.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
