Cowboy Nation was part of an ongoing series of musical collaborations between brothers Tony and Chip Kinman, who had previously led The Dils, Rank and File, and Blackbird.
From the Dils, a "politico-punk unit", "the brothers did an about-face and formulated the pioneering cowpunk band Rank and File...after that group folded, they gravitated to a harsher, almost industrial sound in Blackbird...Now they have done another volte-face with Cowboy Nation."
"[2] Tony Kinman's 2018 obituary in the Los Angeles Times underscored the themes of how the brothers frequently shifted gears and moved counter to prevailing musical currents.
It quoted a prior report on Cowboy Nation in the Colorado Springs Independent: "Once again, the Kinmans leave us, delightedly, unable to categorize them.
"[4] The Chicago Tribune observed of the final album, Cowgirl A-Go-Go, "Its 11 loping, authentic-as-a-saddle tracks, delivered in Tony's distinctive baritone, view the present-day world through a bygone-days prism.