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I heard you were nominated for an award?

Yep - it is true. I was nominated for some incredible stuff. Being nominated for stuff like this is huge for me. I am wired about it! The RISING STAR AWARD nomination at the Texas Music Awards is really a blessing. I am in some great company on that. I was also nominated for some great awards such as "Songwriter of the Year" through PAYNE COUNTLY LINE (Stan - you are great!), too. I can't thank my fans enough for these honors.


What was your experience with creating 'She Drove'?

Well... glad you asked. We learned a ton. From the song selection, to the studio selection to the musicianship?, this was one of the most exciting and challenging times of my career to date (check my bio). What's really outstanding is that between all that we've learned and the many friends we've made, I think we're really positioned well to come back and turn She Drove into the full-length album that it needs to be. Can't wait for that! Oh yeah - before I forget - If you're an artist thinking of putting together your first CD project, feel free to send me a note (via our contact page) and I'll help you out however I can. We gotta stick together.

She Drove - Song Selection. Knowing we'd only be able to put 5 or 6 songs on this CD made this tough. My main goal was to show folks who I was and that I could sing, so that's why these songs were chosen. Folks that know me best new I'd have to have a fun song on the CD (Double-Wide Life) and we couldn't have felt right not featuring songs with fiddle (Double-Wide Life and To A Broken Man's Heart). Welcome To Texas, Y'all is a fun tune I wrote with my dad, and This Or That was my first successful country rock tune, so it had to be there, too. And She Drove has as sentimental place for me and is my first ballad... so, it had to be the title track.
She Drove - Musicians. You know how when May rolls around, all you can think about is summer? Well, when it was time to think about musicians for round one of the She Drove recording, all I could think about was "man, the guys I've been playing with have got to be there with me when we do this." I played a lot of the initial tracks myself, and Hank Hamberg, the Magellan Studios mastermind, played some of the lead guitar parts (he was great!). Keith, my uncle (drums), Matt - my best friend (vocals, keys), my dad (guitar), and Matthew (a young man from New Braunfels who played with me in some early gigs) all contributed mightily to those first tracks. In going back for "round two", we added the renown percusion of Rick Richards and some awesome electric fiddle played by Jeff Hale - these guys are incredible and really make the songs shine (thanks again, guys).

She Drove - Studio Experience. I'm pretty laid back, usually as some of you know. But it's amazing how stressful studio work can become. You play a piece that you think is not quite right and it actually fits great... then, you play another that you feel is your best ever, only to find that it doesn't quite mesh right. Yes - parts of this experience are frustrating - including the expense (though the studios we used were very reasonably priced.) We used Magellan Sound Studios (Hank Hamberg - Sugarland, TX) to get the basics in place and an initial mastering done. "First Round" feedback indicated that we should tighten up some key parts and change the sound some, so we brought in a couple more musicians and moved to another studio (Red Shack - Rock Romano) to finish the CD. I wouldn't say that everything went perfect, but everything went real well - and the best part is that patience and good decisions paid off big for us.

She Drove - Artwork and Presser Selection. It seemed like we toyed around with the "CD Art" forever, but I'm glad we did. We ended up going back to where everything started in terms of the art... the town of Barbarossa, TX (which my band is named after and the nearest town to where my grandparents live). We had some professional pictures taken - some showing off the local flavor - and we used some of these when working up the art for the CD. Matt Johnson, my best friend, and my dad Gary get most of the credit when it comes to working up the art. They did a great job and managed to hit the "presser's" art requirements on the head. We chose Crystal Clear (Dallas) to do the mass production of the CD and they did a very good job - we'll definitely use their services again!




What's been happening in radio land?

I've always been fascinated by radio. In February of '05, we decided to ask for a first round of reviews for the songs on She Drove. Part of that involved sending the song to a few country and americana radio show hosts. One of them - George Peden - was impressed enough to add the rough cut of This Or That to his Melbourne, AU show. To say the least - I WAS STOKED. Since then, more stations have picked up my songs - mostly This Or That and She Drove. Recent adds have included a Belgium station (thanks Alain!) and the most popular internet station for Texas Music - RADIO FREE TEXAS. (MORE SOON)




What reviews have you sought/received?

Being fairly new to this business, I was not sure what to expect in sending the first draft of "She Drove" out into the world... And honestly, it was an education. We got a ton of feedback - and most of it was really constructivea and VERY helpful. We found some common threads running through that first round of reviews, as I mentioned above, so those common points were what we focused on for improvement. It's been months since that first round of reviews (and honestly, I'll need to dig through some notes to do this list real justice), but some of our first reviewers included: Katie Key, Jayme Hammond, George Peden, TC Smythe, and many other greats. Their honest feedback was critical and much appreciated.

Reviews of the Finished Product. Well, it's all over but the cryin'... or singin, I mean. The finished product is being sent for reviews right now - but this process has only just started (heck, we haven't even done the official "release" yet). Initial requests have gone out to: Debbie Green, Joy Villarico, Mark Mundy, David DeVoe, and Jack Saunders. As the review process blooms, we'll add more to this section.




So, where have you played lately?

The Gig Gods continue to smile on me! Let's see, here are some big 'ole gigs to talk about... The "Impact A Hero" event in the town of Sugarland (where I spent some years growing older if not "up"). This was a big show - tons of people and exposure. The San Marcos Triathlon (Nick Seidel - this guy rocks) and the first annual Texas Toobs Race were really exciting local shows for me. Then - we got the news that I'll be opening for Charlie Robison (previously Kevin Fowler) this April. We also got the chance to play for the Bayfest VIP party (this was great!) and some shows in Bandera at the Koyote Ranch (can't wait to get back out there to God's country again). Austin's huge ADA event, and Houston's Feliz! Now and 2006 Marathon were a blast, too. Of course lots of other shows have been in there, too. I love doing "benefit" shows and usually donate some part of what I make (or discount the fee greatly - or both).




What do you play? How did you learn? Influences?

I live to make music, and I make music to live. I love old time and new country and americana, so that's what I play. Willie and Waylon were and are something truly special to the Texas Music Scene - they are the godfathers of an incredible audio tsunami... I'm just a surfer compared to those guys. But what a ride! My favorite instrument is my voice - which I've been working to improve through visits/lessons with Debbie Beinhorn - one of the most respected vocal trainers in this part of the world. She's incredible - and I suggest that anyone using their voice for a living contact Debbie right now. I've always loved all kinds of music, but I played in my first band as part of the Hightower marching band (clarinet and drum line) and jazz band (bass). Mr. Soto was our band director there at Hightower and he's all about teaching more than just music theory - a truly great individual. I learned guitar from my dad somewhere around 1997 - 1998, but I've been writing/composing since before that. My guitar is a Taylor 814-CE. It treats me well, so I try to return the favor. Big influences for me have been: Rod Soto, my dad, Willie/Waylon, George Strait, Dwight Yoakum, Ricky Van Shelton, Kevin Fowler, Green Day (yeah, the rock band), and Pat Green (my personal favorite).