Dallas-Fort Worth is certainly a bountiful region of music. There are so many homegrown greats here that it's hard to keep track of the more well-known acts, let alone the newer bands. But we're here to help you, the conscientious music consumer. Here are four of the area's most promising performers, acts that just happen to represent wildly divergent perspectives of Americana.
Shawn Fussell
Fussell has been a consistent performer around these parts for years. But recently his star has really begun to rise. In the spring of 2011, he won a multi-week Battle of the Bands contest at Hat Tricks in Lewisville, where he hauled in a ton of prizes and a fair share of attention, beating out area up-and-comers Foxtrot Uniform.
He also was recently the subject of an artist spotlight on the popular, Ray Benson-hosted television series, The Texas Music Scene. Thanks to his catchier-than-hell tunes "Tulia, Texas" and "Ride," it's likely you've heard his music, even if you may not have known who was responsible for it.
Jake Murphy and Daniel Slatton of the Will Callers are young but play like grizzled vets.
The Will Callers
Jake Murphy and Daniel Slatton, the core members of this Fort Worth-based act, are young, but they play like grizzled vets. Part of that is due to the tragedy and triumph that's a vital part of their past.
The group's Ray Wylie Hubbard-produced full-length album, What Else is Left, is getting to finally see the light of day thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign and good old-fashioned determination.
The album will be out soon, and they'll be hitting Dallas-Fort Worth (and beyond) really hard to spread their swaggering gospel.
Until you can get your hands on the record, check-out their ReverbNation Page for some great audio and video.
Big Gus & Swampadelic
Along with being an award-winning radio DJ, "Big Gus" Samuelson is a darn fine band-leader. Swampadelic, his outfit of crack musicians, busts out a wealth of styles and, in a live setting, can really do it all.
Western Swing, blues, honky-tonk and Cajun-flavored nuggets are sprinkled throughout their butt-shaking, recently released album, Parlangua. However, Samuelson has been on a recording roll as of late — possibly building up a war chest of tunes for another album? Who knows.
Check out "In the Water," a track that was recorded after the Paralngua sessions. That sweaty track has us feeling all swampy and low-down-dirty.
Denim Wonder
If you like a bit of mystery and intrigue mixed with your local music, then you're in luck. A band (or solo performer) going by the name Denim Wonder hit up several local music-media types on Twitter a few weeks back, encouraging us to check his or her tunes out. It was a bit disheartening to see only two songs available on Denim Wonder's Bandcamp page. Thankfully, both songs are solid and show great promise.
While the brain, or brains, behind Denim Wonder are still a secret, we were able to gather via a brief Twitter exchange that a full-length album will be recorded with Matt Pence at the Echo-lab in Denton very soon. For now, enjoy this indie rock-meets-Americana bit of goodness.
Don't let their calm demeanor here fool you. Big Gus & Swampadelic can be pretty wild.
