When y'all say REK "never broke through"…what does that mean? Like Nashville ? Or like Aaron Watson? Turnpike?Or what ? I figured these guys like keen and max stalling are the way they are because that's what they want to be. I think these guys are so good, they could flip the switch and go big time whenever they felt like it….like Pat green did?? No?

no.

these are guys that have been around a long time, through all the iteration of country and all the iterations of the record industry (tapes to CD to streaming, etc).

If they were going to break BIG they would have broken big.

Yeah, they might like being seen as outsiders or above/beyond all the rest of their peers, but no musician wants to have their music heard by fewer people than they otherwise could.

So what does Luke Bryan have to offer that Aaron Watson doesn't offer? Aaron Watson sings about stuff I know and live. Luke Bryan does too but it man a much more disconnected and unbelievable way which means he's not my people and that's funny because he and I probably had very similar early lives.

So what's the catch? Why does one take off and one doesn't? I mean, the industry is big but it's not that big.

JD Shellnut said:

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Charlie Robinson retires (medical related) and now REK. Really making me feel old. I was fortunate enough to be at Aggieland during the "heyday" of Texas Country.

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When was the heyday, and when was the rise and falll?

I graduated in '93. I was there for the debut of grunge, but Texas Country wasn't a recognized genre. A few people knew about "Road goes on Forever" by REK, but I heard a lot more about REM. I guess I was there for the heyday of what we now call "90s Country". Also, Waylon and Johnny were still dropping new tracks.

Was in town 00-06. Took advantage of the heyday of the Texas music smorgasboard that was going on at the time. Grateful for the opportunity to see so many band for a pretty small ticket price and $2 wells til 10 pm.

$240 Worth of Pudding said:

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TXAG 05 said:

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Philo B 93 said:

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JD Shellnut said:

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Charlie Robinson retires (medical related) and now REK. Really making me feel old. I was fortunate enough to be at Aggieland during the "heyday" of Texas Country.

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When was the heyday, and when was the rise and falll?

I graduated in '93. I was there for the debut of grunge, but Texas Country wasn't a recognized genre. A few people knew about "Road goes on Forever" by REK, but I heard a lot more about REM. I guess I was there for the heyday of what we now call "90s Country". Also, Waylon and Johnny were still dropping new tracks.

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The early to mid 00s. Charlie Robison, Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Roger Creager. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen were just getting their start. Before every dude that could halfway play a guitar and string some songs together about Texas started showing up and trying to make a go at it.

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All those guys got their start well before that. Roger Creager and Pat Green played at a couple of our parties in the 90's. Jack Ingram wasn't exactly country when he was playing back in the early/mid 90's. More Jack O'Pierce ish.

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Yeah. Pat Green was playing Willie's picnic by the late 90s.

And wasn't it Cory Morrow who played Wednesday nights at the Tap back in the mid 90s? Pretty sure it was him, although the only thing I really remember is he did a pretty good cover of Whiskey River.

Jesus. How old are you?

C@LAg said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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So what does Luke Bryan have to offer that Aaron Watson doesn't offer? Aaron Watson sings about stuff I know and live. Luke Bryan does too but it man a much more disconnected and unbelievable way which means he's not my people and that's funny because he and I probably had very similar early lives.

So what's the catch? Why does one take off and one doesn't? I mean, the industry is big but it's not that big.

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that happens all over the place, across every genre.

**** just happens. Some get lucky up front , Some get a single big break that makes the rest of their career.

Others don't get their big break until they are dead. It just happens/.

Hell, even Lyle Lovett, who kinda crossed over 30 ash years ago , never was a BIG star in sales or concert revenues. He did very well for himself for sure, but you can compare him to no talent punks ass rappers or factory generated pop stars come out of nowhere and make 10x what he did in 1/10 of the time.

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Yeah, I suppose you are right. I stopped listening to the "mainstream" stuff when around Garth, Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson were popular. I liked them but then for me it got unrelatable and I was at TAMU, and resnet with Winamp and then streaming services introduced me to an entire genre of music that seemed to be written about me. I know that's true for millions of people so it's interesting to me how it never really went anywhere but you're right. What you talk about happens everywhere and in ever industry. Why did Facebook work and MySpace not? Why did Ford work and Edsel not?

We can even look at Alan Jackson and Garth brooks. Between them all there is a large discrepancy in net worth.

I appreciate your insight.

BrazosDog02 said:

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When y'all say REK "never broke through"…what does that mean? Like Nashville ? Or like Aaron Watson? Turnpike?Or what ? I figured these guys like keen and max stalling are the way they are because that's what they want to be. I think these guys are so good, they could flip the switch and go big time whenever they felt like it….like Pat green did?? No?

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Big picture, I think REK had higher aspirations than what he reached. He tried Nashville in the mid 80s and it didn't pan out. Then he comes back and has the regional success that did put him on the map. Then goes back to make a couple of records with big labels and while there are some good tracks, it just never sustained an upward trajectory. It's probably more the national market and trash people like to listen to, but either way, i always thought he was close to breaking through as more of a national name than he is but it just never happened. And I'm not trying to put down his career. He was very successful. But there are some tiers I think he had his eye on but just never did

From what I can see, the trick is to be able to play a few chords on a guitar, be a decent songwriter, be an excellent performer (think Garth brooks, no one hates Garth brooks at his shows, he's entertaining), and then snag a spot on Americas got talent or American idol. You can skip all the bull crap. You're out in front of America and ready to go.

$240 Worth of Pudding said:

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TXAG 05 said:

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Philo B 93 said:

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JD Shellnut said:

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Charlie Robinson retires (medical related) and now REK. Really making me feel old. I was fortunate enough to be at Aggieland during the "heyday" of Texas Country.

---

When was the heyday, and when was the rise and falll?

I graduated in '93. I was there for the debut of grunge, but Texas Country wasn't a recognized genre. A few people knew about "Road goes on Forever" by REK, but I heard a lot more about REM. I guess I was there for the heyday of what we now call "90s Country". Also, Waylon and Johnny were still dropping new tracks.

---

The early to mid 00s. Charlie Robison, Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Roger Creager. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen were just getting their start. Before every dude that could halfway play a guitar and string some songs together about Texas started showing up and trying to make a go at it.

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All those guys got their start well before that. Roger Creager and Pat Green played at a couple of our parties in the 90's. Jack Ingram wasn't exactly country when he was playing back in the early/mid 90's. More Jack O'Pierce ish.

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He covered Willie, Merle & REK himself on his debut, which also included Beat Up Ford. I would say that qualifies as country.

TXAG 05 said:

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Philo B 93 said:

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JD Shellnut said:

---

Charlie Robinson retires (medical related) and now REK. Really making me feel old. I was fortunate enough to be at Aggieland during the "heyday" of Texas Country.

---

When was the heyday, and when was the rise and falll?

I graduated in '93. I was there for the debut of grunge, but Texas Country wasn't a recognized genre. A few people knew about "Road goes on Forever" by REK, but I heard a lot more about REM. I guess I was there for the heyday of what we now call "90s Country". Also, Waylon and Johnny were still dropping new tracks.

---

The early to mid 00s. Charlie Robison, Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Roger Creager. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen were just getting their start. Before every dude that could halfway play a guitar and string some songs together about Texas started showing up and trying to make a go at it.

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Heyday? Texas Country is far from dead or fall from falling. All of those guys still tour save Robison but I've seen Robison countless times and came to A&M in 2010.

I got to see the starts of (like playing at Harry's) and now the blow ups of several - Cody Johnson, Turnpike, Eli Young Band, Granger Smith, Parker McCollum, Koe Wetzel ….

The genre is far from dead. These are just a few who have gotten big. There's a TON of talent there.

JCA1 said:

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This sent me down a rabbit hole and I would have to say 1997 or 98 would be the start. 1997 saw the release of George's Bar and Cory Morrow's Texas Time Travelin and 98 was Charlie Robison's Life of the Party album and Roger Creager's Everclear song. REK's Live No. 2 came out just before that in 1996.

And if you want to go more red dirt, Cross Canadian and Reckless Kelly released their first albums in 98.

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I agree with this. Then around the time of Wave on Wave, Pat went and changed up his whole sound and went to *****

JCA1 said:

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This sent me down a rabbit hole and I would have to say 1997 or 98 would be the start. 1997 saw the release of George's Bar and Cory Morrow's Texas Time Travelin and 98 was Charlie Robison's Life of the Party album and Roger Creager's Everclear song. REK's Live No. 2 came out just before that in 1996.

And if you want to go more red dirt, Cross Canadian and Reckless Kelly released their first albums in 98.

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What makes Reckless Kelly "red dirt"? Those fools are from Idaho/Oregon (and have really move more into the Americana realm anyways)

ElephantRider said:

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JCA1 said:

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This sent me down a rabbit hole and I would have to say 1997 or 98 would be the start. 1997 saw the release of George's Bar and Cory Morrow's Texas Time Travelin and 98 was Charlie Robison's Life of the Party album and Roger Creager's Everclear song. REK's Live No. 2 came out just before that in 1996.

And if you want to go more red dirt, Cross Canadian and Reckless Kelly released their first albums in 98.

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What makes Reckless Kelly "red dirt"? Those fools are from Idaho/Oregon (and have really move more into the Americana realm anyways)

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You can certainly dispute it. Really doesn't matter to me. But, in my mind, that's as good a category to put them in as any. YMMV.

As for where they're from, don't see that as being prohibitive. I mean, Jerry Jeff was from New York.

I just assumed that was the difference in "red dirt" and "Texas country" (being from Oklahoma or Texas). It all sounds the same

Quincey P. Morris said:

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Cody Johnson is meh at best?

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He has a few songs that I like, but I never really got into his stuff for the most part.

Always thought "red dirt" was a dumb term.

Koe wetzel, Parker, Eli young, all blow. Cody is good, but he is going Nashville even though he says he won't.

ElephantRider said:

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I just assumed that was the difference in "red dirt" and "Texas country" (being from Oklahoma or Texas). It all sounds the same

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That is one way to look at it and is generally true. But unless you think that precludes Jerry Jeff from being considered Texas country (and I don't know anyone who thinks that), it doesn't quite work universally.

While they are similar, I think Red Dirt generally has a tinge more rock n roll to it. For instance, even though they're from Texas, I would say Whisky Myers is more red dirt than Texas country.

JCA1 said:

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ElephantRider said:

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I just assumed that was the difference in "red dirt" and "Texas country" (being from Oklahoma or Texas). It all sounds the same

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That is one way to look at it and is generally true. But unless you think that precludes Jerry Jeff from being considered Texas country (and I don't know anyone who thinks that), it doesn't quite work universally.

While they are similar, I think Red Dirt generally has a tinge more rock n roll to it. For instance, even though they're from Texas, I would say Whisky Myers is more red dirt than Texas country.

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I definitely don't think it precludes anyone not from Texas or anything. I just assumed it was a deal where the people from Oklahoma didn't want to be called Texas Country or something like that. It all sounds more or less the same and I agree with the post above that red dirt is a stupid term anyways