Here are 14 artists helping to rev up Bastrop's music scene

Bastrop’s bevy of talented musicians has its flag firmly planted in the Central Texas scene. Its corral of artists ranges from the heyday of Austin’s gonzo-cowboy music era, to hip hop, to a talented 17-year-old guitarist songwriter named Winter Dawn.

Here are 14 of the musicians having an impact on the Bastrop music scene.

Jon Inmon

Guitarist supreme from Austin’s famed Cosmic Cowboy era, Jon Inmon is going strong in his Bastrop recording studio, Blue Sugar Audio. Inmon said he’s been working with Liberty Hill guitarist/songwriter Sarah Pierce and her husband Merel Bregante, who played drums with Loggins and Messina, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

“They put together a track and sent it to me and said, ‘We need a (guitar) solo,’” Inmon said. He also recently united with the Gonzo Compadres band for some Central Texas dates and at a Mother’s Day gig at the acclaimed Birchmere Music Club in Alexandria, Va. “When (Bill) Clinton was president, he came to see us at the Birchmere,” Inmon said.

The Gonzo Compadres were formed by the late Jerry Jeff Walker in the early 1980s as an offshoot of the famous Lost Gonzo Band, of which Inmon was a founding member. The Compadres now consists of Inmon, Bob Livingston (original bass player for both Gonzo bands) and drummer Freddie “Steady” Krc. Although Inmon said he had no upcoming gigs planned, that could quickly change.

“I love playing live," Inmon said, "and I love what I’m doing now in the studio.”

Gary Blake

Between running Blake’s Music Shop at 1112 Main St. and playing on and producing other artists’ recordings, Gary Blake is a busy man. He bought Bastrop’s iconic LarryLand Music store from guitarist Larry Wilson in 2020, just as COVID was digging in, but Blake has stayed afloat.

“With my upbringing in the sticks of Louisiana, I didn’t have money for a nice guitar," Blake said about his start in music. "My second guitar at 14 was a Lotus – a Les Paul copy. I never took lessons, never learned from books. I was playing mostly to attract the girls, besides playing for my love of music. I learned guitar from guys who played well. I would notice the shapes of chords they were playing. I got invited to play in bands with older guys.”

Recently, Blake, together with musician Jason Farley, has been helping to shape local musician Winter Dawn’s first EP release.

“I play a little piano. I’m helping Winter in creating songs. She comes up with fine ideas for music and lyrics. I help with some words,” Blake said. “We bring our own recording stuff to the room (at Spiderwood Studios in Elgin) and also blend the tracks.”

As for playing outside gigs, Blake is on hiatus. “I just don’t have time. I’m working nine days a week running this store,” Blake said.

He gave plus and minus marks for the local music scene.

“I see a wide variety of (home-grown) music here, more than I expected when I first got here. We definitely have some top-tier talent. But we as a community need to work on getting more venues for the musicians. We need more (outdoor) festivals, sure, but we especially need more indoor events – especially with the heat.”

Deezie Brown

When it comes to the realm of hip hop, Deezie Brown doesn’t believe in being musically confined.

“Rappers are finally understanding their sensitive side. The constant of the music is changing,” said Brown, who was born and raised in Bastrop. “I’ve figured out a way to play with a five-piece band and have fun.”

Brown is letting up on his live performance pedal, for just a bit, after a full schedule.

“I’ve had a very busy summer and past year,” said Brown, citing a residency at Austin’s C-Boy’s Heart & Soul club, a performance at Austin City Limits and Bastrop’s Juneteenth fest, and a Texas tour with West Virginia country artist/rapper David Morris.

Brown recently released a nine-track album, “The Big Apple Tree Chased Me Down the Rabbit Hole,” with Little Syracuse Gymnasium, “my first A.I.-generated artist,” Brown said. “Momma Don’t Let Them Recruit Me” is the sizzling first number of the album.

Brown also continues to garner strong reviews for his 2022 EP, “5th Wheel Fairytale.” Brown said he also was impressed with Bastrop’s music scene.

"At first, I really didn’t know Bastrop had a scene. I knew a handful of musicians, but it’s definitely an in-place scene now, where people want to come here to hear music,” he said. Next up for Brown is an Oct. 29 performance at Austin’s Chess Club.

Larry Wilson

Veteran bluesman/rocker Larry Wilson has kept his hat in the ring after selling his community-anchor music store, LarryLand Music, to Gary Blake. “Larryland Music shook up things real well. Some folks from my Picking on the Porch (monthly musicians’ circle) have evolved to hosting open mics,” said Wilson.

Wilson plays a blues night the second Friday of the month at Smithville’s Fat Cat Lounge and Cafe. He also helped produce the first Smithville Music Festival in 2022, with this year’s event set for Oct. 7. Wilson also recently recorded with Lazarus Nichols on his new music album.

“A bunch of artists and musicians have ‘found’ Bastrop,” Wilson said of the local music scene. Some of his upcoming shows include Sept. 8 at the Fat Cat Lounge; and Sept. 9 at Rising Sun Vineyard in McDade.

‘Winter Dawn’

At 17, guitarist/songwriter Winter Mills — she goes by stage name Winter Dawn — is a rising talent on the Bastrop music scene. She describes herself as “a singer-songwriter ranging from blues, soul and classic rock to modern country."

"I got started early on my music career," she said. "I am a self-taught guitarist. I first picked up the guitar at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. I taught myself with YouTube tutorials. My neighbor wrote down some chords on a piece of paper – E, A minor and G. After that it was just too easy. I was off and running.”

Dawn played an impressive gig during the Sizzling Summer concert series on Aug. 26 at the Hampton Inn. Although telling the audience she was a bit nervous at first, Dawn went on to demonstrate her soulful guitar playing and impressive voice. She is set to release a five-song EP and a single in September.

“I’m working on titles right now,” Dawn said. The EP is being recorded with local musicians Jason Farley and Gary Blake, who are producing and playing on tracks.

“Both musicians are incredibly talented with every single instrument they play on the EP,” Dawn said.

She plays a First Friday Art Walk gig Sept. 1 on Main Street, followed by a Saturday performance at 602 Brewing Company.

Ben Zuniga

Guitar slinger and songwriter Ben Zuniga plays with Phil Hurley and Libby Koch, as well as fronting the Ben Zuniga Band. Zuniga finds time to write in between a busy live schedule, which also includes solo gigs.

“I’ve written a handful of new songs since my album ‘People Who Dance’ came out (in October), but I haven’t started recording them yet,” Zuniga said. “I’m excited about one of the songs in particular – it’s called ‘See About Me.’ It talks about falling in love with someone who barely knows you, and won’t give you the time of day. The opening line is, ‘It’s another Friday night – I’m lonely and in love at the same time.’”

“People Who Dance” features a punchy two-stepper of a song, “Peace and Quiet.”

“It is definitely a popular song for dancing when we perform it, but so far it hasn’t made me a millionaire,” Zuniga said with a laugh when told the song has the ring of a hit with its cascade of guitars, including pedal steel, and its Eagles/Linda Ronstadt flavor.

Some future dates for the Ben Zuniga Band include Sept. 8 at Bastrop’s Copper Shot Distillery; Sept. 9 at Gruene Hall; Sept. 15 at the Railhouse Bar in Kyle; and a solo performance Sept. 16 at McDade’s Rising Sun Vineyard.

Phil Hurley

With a summer full of music that included multiple shows on the East Coast, guitarist-songwriter Phil Hurley is back home with an array of shows in Bastrop and Austin.

“My summer highlight was getting to make music with my brother Steve again,” Hurley said. “He joined me on my New England tour. Getting to play a Friday night gig in Boston to a full house was a real thrill.”

Hurley sees Bastrop’s music star on the rise.

“I am very optimistic about the current scene and the immediate future of the music in Bastrop,” Hurley said after his band’s recent showcase for the Bastrop Live Music Foundation at Neighbor’s, a newly formed nonprofit that helps promote local music, including a songwriters showcase hosted by Robert A. Kraft.

“I’m so grateful for the amount of live music that already exists in town. With the addition of the Live Music Foundation, the annual Bastrop Music Festival (Sept. 21-24), and numerous local groups, there’s a diverse community of musicians that are all supporting each other," Hurley said. "That’s what a real scene is composed of – we’re all in this together.”

Linda Greene

Singer Linda Greene’s roots in the Bastrop community go deep. Greene, a Bastrop High School alum, sings classic soul and R&B covers with the Smitty City band, named for Smithville. Greene says the local music scene has been bouncing back since the decline of COVID.

“It’s definitely coming back. There was a slump in terms of the number of venues during COVID – a lot were closed but now a lot of them have opened back up,” Greene said.

She lauded the diversity of music in Bastrop.

“The different genres of music are growing, thanks to open mics like at Copper Shot,” Greene said. “The open mics are popular because you can hear a lot of different genres in just one setting, one evening.”

Greene plays the Roadhouse in Paige on Sept. 16

Envy of Them All

Americana/bluegrass trio Envy Of Them All plays regularly around their hometown, the outdoor stage of 602 Brewing Company being one of their favorite spots.

"We just started recording this past year for the first time ever – at Bastrop studio Mister Pink Records,” said guitarist-singer Brendan O’Tierney. The studio is owned by musician/producer Jonas Wilson, who gave a stirring performance at 602 during the 2022 Bastrop Music Festival.

Envy has had three recent songs featured on Spotify, including “The Golden Age.” When performing live, O’Tierney said Envy “plays about 50/50 originals and covers. We’re bluegrass with a little country tossed in. We also perform alternative music – a lot of 90s-alt like ‘Creep’ by Radiohead.”

O’Tierney said the Bastrop music scene has sprouted.

“As Bastrop has grown, there’s been more opportunities for musicians – more venues, a more diverse scene and not just at bars and honky-tonks. There’s more variety of music because the need and desire for it is there right now.”

Envy plays Sept. 9 at Gracie’s and Sept. 22 at 602 Brewing Company.

Chubby Knuckle Choir

Perry Lowe, a founding member with Rory Smith of Bastrop’s Chubby Knuckle Choir, said the group favors a range of musical genres. Perry said the previous band description of their music as acid-funk still holds sway, but he added, “rock and soul is the description we use now.”

Perry plays propulsive drums for the trio, often downsizing to his favorite Brazilian Cajon drum. Chubby Knuckle occasionally infuses some country twang into their music, too – witness their June single release, “Hurricane Hannah,” written and sung by the trio’s third member, guitarist Cody Justin King.

Founded in 2009, Chubby Knuckle Choir often features guest appearances by former members – live and on recordings – including pedal steel player Slim Bawb, of Slim Bawb and the Fabulous Stumpgrinders. Perry said some upcoming play dates for Chubby Knuckle include Sept. 8 at Smithville’s Front Room Wine Bar; Oct. 7 at the 18^th annual Leander Bluegrass Festival, and the Bastrop Music Festival on Sept. 21-24.

Perry added, “Currently, we’ve got material to work on for an album.”

Hailey Tuck

After an extended period living in Europe, jazz/pop songstress Hailey Tuck is back in Bastrop. Tuck said her stay in Europe taught her much about music and life.

“Paris is where I metamorphosed at 18 – the seedy parts, the tourist parts, when I was broke, when I was in high cotton — the whole kit and caboodle,” Tuck said. “I’ve had some pretty life-changing adventures in Estonia, it’s a charming place where the whole country is like Wimberley. I also stayed in Istanbul for a while, and that really taught me about luxury, wildly different cultures, danger and the East.”

Things now are purposefully low-key for Tuck. “Nowadays, I just want to write songs – usually with my friends to reveal myself – to ameliorate the hard parts of my emotions and revel in the happier ones.”

As to whether the “jazz” moniker neatly encompasses the range of her music, Tuck said, “I definitely launch from that branch of music, and I’m sure I always will. However, I write and cover so many folk songs, or pop occasionally, even in my daily life I listen to a very broad spectrum of music.”

Tuck has played with a bevy of musicians, recently as a duo with Bastrop guitarist Colin Guerra.

“Jazz accompaniment by its nature is often a pirouette of changing musicians, and some that stick around,” Tuck said. “I’m lucky enough to have played with bands in so many countries on the map.”

Tuck plays Oct. 21 at the Fat Cat Lounge in Smithville and Oct. 27 at the Bastrop Music Foundation’s Songwriters Showcase — on the first and third Friday of the month — at Heritage Hall at 1020 Main St.

“I’ll probably sneak some shows in between, but I really needed right now to take a break to focus on recording some new material, and also just to resuscitate my heart and mind,” Tuck said.

Even after Paris, music can still be a grind, at least when it comes to landing gigs, Tuck said.

“I’m a Johnny-come-lately regarding the local scene, I just moved back last year,” Tuck said. “No matter where you are it takes such a long time, more than one to two years, before people actually think of you to fill the bill of a random gig, because it’s not a door-to-door salesman job. Being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed doesn’t help you if you are not needed for three months. People have to know that you are around, to fit you into their puzzle, and that takes a long time. But I’ve done this before, and I’m looking forward to finding out.”

Wyatt C. Ellis Band

Wyatt C. Ellis got an early start in the country music business.

“I started playing at 12 and wrote my first song at 14,” said Ellis, who has played at many Central Texas dance halls.

“We’re doing a lot of private parties now. It pays better,” Ellis said. “I’m not writing as much right now as trying to get into an appropriate studio to re-record all of my original songs. I wasn’t satisfied by how the sound turned out on previous recordings. We’ll probably do all singles in the studio, see how that goes, and then put them on platforms – Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music and YouTube.”

Ellis said his current band is a five-piece: fiddle, pedal steel, guitar (Ellis), bass and drums.

“My Fender Telecaster is my favorite electric guitar,” Ellis said. “My mom bought herself a Gibson acoustic guitar and said, ‘Take it and see how you like it.’ Well, I took it and liked it fine and now I play it,” Ellis said with a laugh.

Ellis and band play Sept. 30 at Watterson Hall in Red Rock.

Tommy Schaper

When Tommy Schaper’s tour of duty with the Marine Corps ended in 1969 — after surviving the cauldron of the Vietnam War — he bought a guitar.

“I picked up a little old $50 guitar. It’s always been therapeutic for me to play the guitar,” Schaper said. He has been rocking and playing country/western originals and covers for over five decades — a good slice of that time as frontman for Bastrop band the Shop Dawgz.

The Dawgz, as they are affectionately known by fans, can fill up a dance floor quicker than one can say “Roll Over Beethoven.” But this summer’s searing heat took a bite out of the Dawgz’ usually busy calendar, Shaper said.

“We’ve been kind of taking it easy because the heat got to a couple of us during one gig; we pretty much shut down playing outside gigs after that,” he said.

The Dawgz are shifting back into high gear this fall, though. They will help dedicate the opening of a new brewery addition to Rising Sun Vineyards in McDade on Sept. 2 and play the annual SlaterFest on Sept. 9 at Bastrop’s American Legion Post 533.

Jeff Haney

Bastrop blues ace Jeff Haney said he’s has been concentrating on family time recently, but he’s also readying a new band for an Oct. 7 debut at the Fat Cat Lounge in Smithville.

“I’m recording an album too, which will have about 15 to 16 songs,” Haney said. “The album is kind of Americana – from blues to rockabilly. I play all the instruments except for drums on the recording, and that’s whoever I can hire, depending on the type of song I’m doing.”

Haney said East Los Angeles band Los Lobos had been a continuing influence for his album because of the diversity of their music sounds.

“I’ve been inspired a lot by Los Lobos the past few years. They don’t label themselves as one type of music.”

Haney, often with longtime harp player and buddy Barney Sledge, said he occasionally squeezes in guest appearances with local faves.

“We sat in with Larry Wilson on his New Year’s Eve show at Fat Cat,” Haney said.

Haney, a Smithville High School Class of 1998 grad, said the Bastrop music scene has picked up substantially in talent over recent years.

“You don’t have to go to Austin anymore to find good quality shows, which are happening right here," he said. "Blues, rock, hip hop and country-western are all here.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: These 14 artists are helping to rev up Bastrop's music scene