Tag: New Braunfels

Alli Mattice on Only Vans with Bri Bagwell

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Today’s guest on Only Vans is my peace, love, and all-things-groovy friend, Alli Mattice! We talk about the making of her record, setting boundaries, her journey as a yoga teacher, and how she merges yoga practice with her art. You’re gonna love it!

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • AMAZON • MP3

Make sure you check out Alli Mattice’s full length record, No Drama, that just came out last year. In this episode of Only Vans we talk about her band, the Billie Jeans. It’s an all-female band that’s really incredible. We also talk about the studios at Fischer in Canyon Lake, Texas, which is near New Braunfels, where I live and Canyon Lake is where Alli lives. So, we talk about that really incredible studio, Alli’s journey as a yoga teacher, and more. As you can tell, I really love this girl. She’s peace and love and all things groovy. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to our sponsors, The MusicFest at Steamboat, Lakeside Tax, & CH Lonestar Promo!

Find our Only Vans episode archive here.

Dale Martin on Only Vans with Bri Bagwell

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

(Editor’s Note: BGS is proud to announce the addition of Only Vans with Bri Bagwell to the BGS Podcast Network! Read more about our newest podcast coming on board here. Find our episode archive here.)

Dale Martin is an accomplished music columnist and theater production manager in New Braunfels, Texas. He joins Only Vans host Bri Bagwell to talk about his hilarious journey full of Garth encounters, insane rider requests, and bridging genres with his writing over the past four decades.

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • AMAZON • MP3

Only Vans would like to thank CH Lonestar Promo for being the best merch company in all the land!

 

LISTEN: Josh Grider, “Life’s a Party”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Josh Grider
Hometown: New Braunfels, Texas
Song: “Life’s a Party”
Album: Long Way From Las Cruces
Release Date: November 12, 2021

In Their Words: “Bobby Hamrick, Jamie Floyd, and I wrote ‘Life’s a Party’ a couple years ago. Jamie brought the idea in and it struck a nerve with everyone in the room, and we knew it was special as soon as we’d finished it. The song has been in and out of the hands of George Strait, Reba McEntire, and Randy Rogers Band. For whatever reason it just didn’t end up getting cut, so when it came time to make Long Way From Las Cruces it was a no-brainer. (Jamie also released a beautiful version of this tune in 2020.) We didn’t track the initial session with steel, but the song was just begging for it, so Adam Odor (engineer) made a call to Zach Moulton (Mike and the Moonpies) and he came in and just nailed it. I think ‘Life’s a Party’ is one of the best examples in my career of song and production coming together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.” — Josh Grider

Photo credit: Chris Compton

WATCH: Seth James, “Moonpies”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Seth James
Hometown: New Braunfels, Texas
Song: “Moonpies”
Album: Different Hat
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Tiny Ass Records

In Their Words: “‘Moonpies’ is a true story about the new girl in town who walks to the beat of her own drum. That being said, I wouldn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. I planned to finish this song with Delbert McClinton, but he said, ‘You know, I think it’s done — I might change this one little line here.’ So when it came time to put the record out, I reached out to him about his publishing information and he said, ‘You’re out of your mind.’ So, according to Delbert, I wrote the song by myself. It’s a fun song — and pretty bizarre, musically. It’s kind of half Howlin’ Wolf, half Burt Bacharach.” — Seth James

Photo credit: Erin Valkner Photography

LISTEN: Dallas Burrow, “My Father’s Son”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Dallas Burrow
Hometown: New Braunfels, Texas
Song: “My Father’s Son”
Album: Dallas Burrow
Release Date: July 23, 2021

In Their Words: “A real storyteller’s song, this is an autobiographical history of four generations of men in a family line and the influence that fathers have on their sons, sparing no detail. My grandfather was born on the 4th of July and he was a Master-Sergeant in the Army Air Corps, and survived D-Day. They called him Junebug. He’s always been a mythical character in my mind, as I never got to meet him. My dad never saw much of him either, as my grandfather was usually either off at war, or otherwise absent. Then my father was a hippie and a hitchhiker, a rebel and an outlaw, a poet and a songwriter, and later in life, a teacher, a triathlete, and more than anything else, unlike his father, always there for me. So I absorbed all those things; the legacy of having a war hero for a grandfather who was there when our country needed him, but who was absent from his own children’s lives because of it, and the stories my dad told me of his own travels and exploits when America was young and wild and free, in the ’60s and ’70s.

“Then of course there was my own journey, taking up the mantle of being a storytelling musician, the struggles, the trials, the beauty, the wonder, all of that, which would eventually lead me to meeting a woman, and having a son, which ultimately, radically changed my life from one of a wandering troubadour with an insatiable taste for the wild side of life, to a relatively responsible, grounded adult, still a troubadour, and still with a wanderlust, but with an entirely different set of priorities and lifestyle choices. This tune tackles the job of weaving all of those nuances of my family line into a neat little folk song that captures the idea that no matter who our fathers were, we are who we are in part because of those that came before us.” — Dallas Burrow

Photo credit: Ryan Vestil

LISTEN: Dallas Burrow, “Leaving Colorado”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Dallas Burrow
Hometown: New Braunfels, Texas
Song: “Leaving Colorado”
Album: Southern Wind
Release Date: September 20, 2019
Label: Subliminal Hyminal

In Their Words: “I had been on a dry spell for a while, and then out of the blue, I wrote ‘Southern Wind’ (the album’s title track) and ‘Leaving Colorado’ in two days, back to back. While the first was more of a wholesome account of building a family, ‘Leaving Colorado’ on the other hand scratched an itch for adventure and mischief, through the eyes of the mythical wandering frontiersman, in a story that could have just as easily have taken place in the 1800s or today. It’s the timeless tale of love, love lost, adultery, betrayal, murder, and mayhem — soaked in whiskey and smelling of sixgun smoke that is always alive and well in the imagination of the Wild West.” — Dallas Burrow

Photo credit: Lyza Renee

WATCH: Leigh Nash and Matt Lovell, “Dime Adiós”

Posted on by Editor

Artists: Leigh Nash and Matt Lovell
Hometown: New Braunfels, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Dime Adiós”

In Their Words: “‘Dime Adiós’ was born out of us wondering how to tell someone ‘goodbye’ in Spanish. We wrote it in Nashville one day in 2016 in the middle of a string of writes. We had a little help from some friends who are certifiably more fluent in Spanish than we are. It’s a goodbye song with a little sweetness and dignity to it, and it has been making us smile since the day we wrote it. We recorded it with the help of a band of friends, which included Leigh’s husband, the illustrious Stephen Wilson Jr. It was produced by Matt Odmark and tracked live. When we went up to the control room to listen back, we both grinned really big and threw our hands in the air. It was one of those rare moments when you catch something that is just right in one take. I’m sure we’ll be smiling about this one for a while.” — Leigh Nash and Matt Lovell

Photo credit: Jimmy Fisco

BGS 5+5: Sean McConnell

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Sean McConnell
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: Secondhand Smoke

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I would have to say David Wilcox. When I was beginning to write songs as a kid, David was a massive influence on me as a songwriter, guitar player, and vocalist. Nobody writes a hook like David Wilcox. He’s the king. Songs like “Language of the Heart” and “Show the Way” are still to this day on my desert island list.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

One of them would have to be playing two back-to-back sold out shows at the historic Gruene Hall last year in New Braunfels, Texas. Taking the stage both nights with a thousand people singing my songs back to me was completely intoxicating. The energy was [unlike anything] I’ve never experienced before.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

Literature is a big one for me. I’ve always been a big reader. I don’t read books to intentionally look for song ideas. It’s more that what I’m reading expands my worldview, opinions, spirituality, and such. That then directly affects what I’m writing songs about. That is most definitely the case with my latest record, Secondhand Smoke.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

The moment I played a chord on a guitar I just knew it. That sounds like a bullshit line out of a movie, but I can’t deny that it’s true. I first learned to play on my mothers 70s Yamaha. I had a chord book and figured out the basics. From the moment I felt those chords start ringing under my fingers I was hooked. Later on I would sneak up to my parents bedroom and take my fathers Taylor 515 Jumbo from underneath the bed and that only confirmed my addiction.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

What a great question. I think Glen Hansard pairs well with a strong IPA and a basket of fish and chips.

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins