One Liner: If Hank Williams Sr. liked to get soulful and bluesy every once in a while.
Wikipedia Genre: Blues, country, AmericanaHome: San Benito, Texas
Poster Position: L12
Both Weekends.
Saturday at 1:35 at the Miller Lite Stage
Thoughts: I've been looking forward to listening to this guy. I really like him - definitely wish that he wasn't in the afternoon slots on Saturday. He might just get me to go earlier than normal to see him do his thing.
He was last here in 2018, and I missed his show then, which is disappointing. Dude sounds like Hank Williams Sr. with a little soul. Like someone turned "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" into a human being who liked to sing. Got a little rockabilly swing sometimes, got some straight blues other times, a little cajun swagger other times. Pretty cool sound. According to Rolling Stone, the guy claims that he can trace his ancestry back to Davy Crockett. Which is kinda rad. Originally from San Benito, a tiny chunk of the Valley (home of Freddy Fender and this water tower that I used to pass all the time when going to Harlingen).
Eight albums, 2015's A Stolen Jewel, 2016's In the Night, 2017's very cool Lil G.L.'s Honky Tonk Jubilee, 2018's Lonesome as a Shadow, 2018's Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza, 2019's The Valley, 2020's Welcome to Hard Times, and 2021's 10 for Slim. I started at the top and have played my way through here a few times now, and I'm enjoying it each time. Especially that 2017 album, which is all covers, and all cool old classic tunes like "The Lost Highway" and "I Saw the Light." Lonesome as a Shadow is also very good. Although it got critical love back in the day, I won't say that the first album is great - more bluesy than the later stuff. And not as tight, sounds self-produced. But that's all good, right? Start basic and then level up. And Welcome to Hard Times is classic as well. I just spent all day repeating it and it sounds great.
In addition to the music being good - I love the aesthetic. The album covers have classic type-faces and looks. His look is just perfectly throw-back creased. His sound is a classic throwback too. It reminds me of the way the Black Keys have crushed it with an old school look and sound - this guy is right there with them.
Another odd note from his Rolling Stone profile, he grew up dirt poor in a trailer park, but says he grew up listening not to roots music or country, like you might expect, but instead to chopped-and-screwed hip hop. Weird that this would be a thing in the Valley.
First, I'll give you a shot at his most streamed tune - "I Am Not Afraid," which has 9.8 million streams.
Pretty chilled little love ditty. That is a live version, which loses a little bit of the warmth of the original, which has a deeper, more solid bass line going underneath it all. His second most streamed tune comes from that covers album, this is "Jamestown Ferry," which has 7.4 million streams.
Apparently a Tanya Tucker song. I'm not familiar with it. Maybe they'll do a duet together at the Fest! Beyond the great pedal steel-work, I'm not sure that is my favorite of his tunes. Every time "I Wanna Cry" starts up, I think its gonna be "Live Forever" from the Highwaymen. Totally rings a bell. Fine song, but not old Billy Joe Shaver's classic. "Goin' Back to Texas" is cool as well.
Another odd note from his Rolling Stone profile, he grew up dirt poor in a trailer park, but says he grew up listening not to roots music or country, like you might expect, but instead to chopped-and-screwed hip hop. Weird that this would be a thing in the Valley.
First, I'll give you a shot at his most streamed tune - "I Am Not Afraid," which has 9.8 million streams.
Pretty chilled little love ditty. That is a live version, which loses a little bit of the warmth of the original, which has a deeper, more solid bass line going underneath it all. His second most streamed tune comes from that covers album, this is "Jamestown Ferry," which has 7.4 million streams.
Apparently a Tanya Tucker song. I'm not familiar with it. Maybe they'll do a duet together at the Fest! Beyond the great pedal steel-work, I'm not sure that is my favorite of his tunes. Every time "I Wanna Cry" starts up, I think its gonna be "Live Forever" from the Highwaymen. Totally rings a bell. Fine song, but not old Billy Joe Shaver's classic. "Goin' Back to Texas" is cool as well.
I'll give you one more as well, the title track from the 2020 album. "Welcome to Hard Times," with just over 6 million streams.
See! Even the type face on that video looks dope and old-school! HIs voice is so warm - he makes me think of Paul Westerberg too. Good tune.
Its too bad this guy is at 1:35 on Saturday, because he's actually pretty damn good.
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