Chaos in Tejas: a look into the music of Texas

Chapter 1: Don't Mess with Texas

There stars at night are big and bright (clap clap clap clap), Deep in the Heart of Texas. But definitely not deep in the heart of the Houston suburb known as Sugarland. This is where I spent 23 of my formative years learning about music and figuring the facts of life and who I wanted to be. You know the usual adolescent conflicts surrounding rule breaking, the opposite sex, becoming a man, and finding a purpose. The person I have become today owes itself to having grown up in Texas!

For starters, growing up in Texas, you are filled with state pride like no other. You are bred to love your state, and if someone talks shit on Texas they get in a head-butt to the nose, no question. We had a whole year of social studies dedicated to Texas history, helping us to understand our proud heritage and learning a lot of pro-Texas skewed facts. Our focus on our independence from Mexico definitely instills some antagonistic views towards the country (not personally for myself), and no one in Texas will ever forget the Alamo. While there are a lot of proud moments in Texas history, we definitely like to spin negative aspects in our favor, but that is no different than any other states, countries, or empires history. Overall this instilled pride either pushes you away and want to plant roots somewhere else, or sucks you in fully to the point you are ready to sign the petition to secede, I would say these days I am somewhere in between

Texas suburb living was pretty easy, not too much going on really. You would play at the creek and avoid alligators or football in the fields until everything started to get developed, and then soon there was a mall and a movie theater within walking distance. You didn’t walk though, fuck that shit I am gonna drive or be driven just down the street to the Starbucks. So it pretty much went from a nice outlier to a suburban metropolis of strip malls, real malls, dirty theaters, and national chain restaurants and stores. I am disappointed now  due to missing the simplicity of old Sugarland, the loss of local businesses to the corporate model, and the sharp rise in population, but back when I lived there as a youngster that was the most exciting thing going on, and having a theater down the street made my weekends all the better.

Even with all the entertainment and consumerism being built up around, it was not enough to make me feel satisfied. I looked to find something that made more sense for me and something that was a little bit “dangerous”. This is where music really came into play in my life. I grew up listening to whatever my parents and older siblings listened to. Over the course of my young years before I really had my own musical identity I listened to an array of beach boys, vanilla ice, garth brooks, Weird Al, and early 90’s top 40. Alternative music provided a short little insight into the idea that other music was out there, but this was also top 40 in a degree. Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer were about as dangerous as a lamb in baby Jesus’ manger. Then it happened, I found my ride and have been riding that train to this day. That was Punk Rock.

Punk rock became my ticket to breaking the figurative suburban shackles (as it is for many middle class suburbanites across America). I definitely do admit that by the time I got into punk, it was much tamer and was already adopted by a lot of mainstream America (this was at the height of the green day, offspring, rancid surge into radio land). But for a 13 year old kid from suburban Houston, in a pretty conservative, well-kempt side of town, punk was still relevant as a source of expression and energy. My parents were definitely hesitant, what with that image that those punk rockers purvey. The names of the bands, the song titles, and subject matter were all things that you didn’t find in commonplace Sugarland.  I was never much into the punk image, tried a few things (spiky hair, studded belt, a patched up jacket) and realized it wasn’t for me. It was the music, message, and just attitude that grabbed me. I didn’t care about how I needed to dress as long as I was comfortable, that’s punk rock in and of itself right? It was a pretty controlled rebellion, but what those ideas led me to later is what I find important. In Houston I was serenaded by the pop punk of 30 foot fall, the ska of The Suspects, and the weird punk-ska-funk fusion of Middlefinger. While none really broke the national circuit to a large degree, these bands and many others represented that there was something real happening, and encouraged me to dig deeper, to get involved in some way.

 (Middlefinger, still can dig it...)

So why am I talking about my musical youthhood if this a piece about Texas music? Well its two pieces about Texas and this one are to help understand that Texas music is not in just the confines of what the media has portrayed. Texas has seen its fair share of subversive cultures, and musical icons. You look back in the early 80’s and Texas was leading the punk charge with the likes of the Big Boys, the Dicks, Verbal Abuse, DRI, and the Stains. Go back even further and 13^th Floor Elevators helped to start the psychedelic revolution in the Texas Hill Country before it really hit the national circuit. Even within the country realm, Texas has produced some of the artists who push the barriers the most in their respective genres. Townes Van Zandt alone puts Texas on the country map, but just in case we also had Willie and Waylon help to lead the outlaw country singers to gain national attention. Texas has always been a breeding ground for rebellion, countercultural ideas as based on its musical ventures. My reasoning for this is that when one set of ideals is strongly encouraged by the general mass, there will always be an alternative group of people who come back just as strong with their own expression. 

(Willie showing why hes a rebel in Tejas)

The political climate of Texas definitely has an effect on its youth, creating a more outspoken core of vagabonds who just want to stir up trouble. I know for myself, being raised in a state seen primarily as a haven for red-thinking conservatives, I felt pushed in the other direction. It was less about a conservative vs. liberal ideology for me, it was about questioning what I was being told and developing ideas based on what I read and what I experienced.  I remember being young and having a lot of what would be considered conservative/right-wing ideas, and they were really just the ones I learned from my parents.

 It was probably around 18 when I would say I officially became a left-leaning individual (I dont want to categorize but the it fits), and started to distance myself from earlier conservative stances. It was around this time that George Bush had become president, and my current band was writing anti-bush songs. A once unknown idea of who Bush(while he was our Governor for a majority of his terms) was quickly became overtaken by this image of some idiotic bible-thumping redneck now representing Texas to the whole nation (dude is not even from Texas, he was born in Connecticut).  I know I wanted to distance myself from that as best as I could, whether it was through the discontinuation of saying “yall” or just making arguments against Texas. I was allowed to talk shit on Texas though because I had grown up there, lived in, and was present for the fight. If someone else was to talk shit on Texas who was not from the state, they would get a pop in the mouth. Texas became like an embarrassing younger brother for a while. I could rag on him, and give him noogies all day long, but the moment someone else tried to give him shit, you better believe I would stand up for my blood. 

(Roky Erikson of the 13th Floor Elevators)

Texas aint perfect by any means, no state is. Every place has room to grow, and ways to better themselves, and that is human life. I definitely have talked shit on Tejas, but I definitely have love for my home state and can appreciate a lot of aspects of my life growing up there and how it helped to shape me. The conservative climate, Christian presence, and blatant racism that were present a lot of the times pushed me to think differently. I definitely appreciate the challenges that Texas presents to me, and it has made me more aware of what I do want to see in myself, my state and in my country. How can I know what I am fighting against, if I don’t know what I am fighting for?

So looking back I feel I have definitely presented an image that Texas music is all liberal, rebellious and out there due to the overly conservative climate, and hopefully everyone knows that is not the case and recognize that I understand that as well. I definitely have a very personalized view of Texas and its music, as everyone should. It should be based on their own experiences, and I also encourage that we not let the boundaries that we set for ourselves keep us from exploring. Texas has some of the greatest rock n roll, country, metal, punk, jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk, hardcore, ect out there, and not all of it is bleeding through their hearts. Texas music will reflect on what is the counterculture, but just as much on the pro-Texas ideology that is birthed with every baby born in the state lines. 

 (Sweet Big Boys video!)

To end this piece, I was at a bar up here in Portland with my buddy and Texas fanatic, Jack Karlin. We were having a good discussion out one evening when a couple of girls comment on our conversation surrounding Texas, and their response to that being where I grew up was: “Oh I am sorry, that sucks”. There may have been a time I would have agreed, but not that night. This opened up a verbal debate on the merits of Texas, and positives that have come from Texas. To make this short, we debated between Texas, and they both realized quickly that both Jacko and myself were much more highly educated and aware of the history, policies and culture of Texas (mind you that Jack is from Montana too) than either of them were about Texas or even their home state (Florida, which is the second worst state in the Union). I do not care if people don’t like Texas, but I do care that if you start up a debate about the quality of my state that you have something to back it up with. Education is important; before you start ragging on my state make sure you at least know the history, and qualities of your own.

Link:  SFMTC - Vol. 8a - Dont Mess With Texas 

SFMTC Vol. 8 - Chaos in Tejas Chapter 1 - Don't Mess with Texas 

01. Race Against Time - Race Against Time

02. Buddy Holly - It Doesn't Matter Anymore

03. Ornette Coleman - The Face Of The Bass

04. UGK - Short Texas

05. The Sword - The Horned Goddess

06. The Gourds - Lament

07. 13th Floor Elevators - Thru the Rhythm

08. 30 foot fall - Fuck Ya'll We're From Texas

09. Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Strange Things Happen

10. Townes Van Zandt - Texas River Song

11. Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys - T for Texas (1937)

12. T Bone Burnett - Palestine, Texas

13. Trippin Daisy - On the Ground

14. Blind Lemon Jefferson - Oil Well Blues

15. Pantera - 5 Minutes Alone

16. ZZ Top - La Grange

17. DRI - Money Stinks

18. Robert Earl Keen - Amarillo Highway

19. Big Boys - Gator Fuckin

20. Old 97's - West Texas Teardrops

21.  Bitter End - Terrified Eyes

22. Janis Joplin - Summertime

23. Freddie King - You Can Run but You Can't Hide

24. The Black Angels - The Prodigal Sun

25. Waylon Jennings - Luckenbach Texas

26. Stevie Ray Vaughn - Texas Flood

27. Butthole Surfers - Hey

28. Geto Boys - Still

29. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead  - Monsoon

30. Hayes Carll - Girl Downtown