|
|
|
Fire in the Water, Earth in the Air: Legends
of West Texas Music
"Indeed, Oglesby's introduction of more
than two dozen musicians who called Lubbock home should be required
reading not only for music fans, but for Lubbock residents and
anyone thinking about moving here. On these pages, music becomes
a part of Lubbock's living history." When in Austin, |
-continued
from page
1- Trent: Just to add to that, because I’ve thought
about this quite a bit: You were isolated,
being in Lubbock, from the rest of Texas and the rest of the
real world, with little pockets of culture coming in occasionally.
But we would do with them what we would. It makes a pretty
decent test market, because we are so isolated. When you do get a group of people together that are like that, there is a sense of rebellion…which is a GREAT feeling! And nothin’ wrong with it! Some of the best, most exciting,
greatest moments in my youth was "rebelling" and that
feeling of "I’m free! I’m doing what I want to
do!" Trent: We drank together. That's kind of how it all
starts. Trent: We played some of the same venues. They were
doing a lot of original stuff and had a unique act - with the
stand-up bass and all that. And we were playing original music
- but we couldn’t cover a whole night with just originals,
and neither could they. We started talking about, "Man,
wouldn’t it be great if we could get up there and play just
a set of our stuff?" Chris: That doesn’t surprise me too much. They’ve been banned from a lot of bars in Lubbock; pretty rowdy. So what was your first recording experience? I know y'all did the Squarehead album that y’all did at Caldwell’s. Trent: That’s actually about 3 or 4 recordings
later. I started - with the Intentions
- recording in a trailer house…It was actually at a Christian
music, little recording station in Lubbock. They started in a
little trailer house, and they had a cheap recording studio.
It didn’t sound very good, but we had a great time. They
were Then we recorded with Broadway Studios which was owned by Wally Moyers. Chris: Wally Moyers - the steel-guitar player. Trent: Yea. He owns Broadway
Studios. Then we recorded at Caldwell
Studios with Mark Murray.
Did you know him? He played with The
Mosquito Bites, a great musician and a great engineer.
We recorded with him and did a couple of little singles to release
on the Texas Tech radio station. That was Squarehead.
After Squarehead had ended, I wrote & recorded some jingles, and Lloyd played with me on some of those. I guess I hired him out, and Lloyd played steel guitar on a couple of jingles that are still playing in Lubbock. He’s a phenomenal steel guitar player. Chris: It’s very important in Lubbock to have that small community of people there who are always supporting that music. There aren't many of those people, but the one's that are there are so important. Trent: You know what? When I got out of Squarehead and started trying to do jingles as a way to go, I went and talked to Don Caldwell, and I told him I wanted to write some jingles for him. Don told me not to get within 50 feet of the jingle business. He wasn’t interested in it at all and didn’t think I should get into it. One particular firm at that time had kinda wrapped up the jingle business there. I did do a few of ‘em and I realized that there wasn’t a living in it. And Don did tell me not to mess with it. Chris: What was his theory there? Trent: Lubbock is the size town that if you’ve got a real outstanding advertising firm and you’ve got a pretty outstanding marketing person on the jingle side, then there’s that kind of that "good ol’ boy" thing; They got it pretty wrapped up. Chris: So you weren’t gonna be able to make a living doing that. Trent: No. And that was their goal. At the time, I called a guy named David Alderson and told him that I had contracted with an Italian restaurant called Orlando’s and I said, " I got the jingle, got it written, got the musicians lined up, I just need a place to record it and some direction." And they wouldn’t even talk to me. They didn’t want me in their business. Not because it was me, but they didn’t want anybody in their business. That pretty much soured me on writing jingles. Chris: So when you left Lubbock, had you just kind of given up on the whole music thing? When did that dry up? Trent: Somewhere along the way after I had my third child. As much as the parents and friends of the parents - the community
you grew up with - loves you and wants you to do what you want
to do, they’ve got certain standards; "By the age of
25, you ought to be in your first job, movin' up, living in a
certain neighborhood, driving a certain car." Chris: You’re material possessions are very apparent in Lubbock, for sure. Everyone notices them. Trent: That’s right. And I wasn’t moving in that direction, at least at quickly as I think some of those people wanted me to. So they began to question me on it. Chris: That’s family or just people in the community? Trent: Family, and friends of the parents. I mean,
when you’re as involved in the community as my parents were,
you’ve got tons of people who know ‘em. Dad’s
big in real estate, big in the church, big in The Kiwanis; Dad’s
got a big heart and does a lot of stuff in the community. But
people started saying to him, "What’s your son doing?" Chris: And that’s when you left town? Trent: No. I sold cars for a little while until I decided
what I was gonna do. And then I got my real estate license and
sold real estate with my dad. Then I got an opportunity to own
a restaurant. Chris: Were you feeling that it was something you just oughta be doin’? Trent: That was it; It was an obligation thing. So I thought, "The time that I’m putting into all this stuff is not worth the money; So what I need to do is figure out a way to make more money with less time. I ended up getting hired and went to Alabama for a franchise opportunity with a restaurant. Once again, the time and the stress factor that were involved didn’t allow me to be involved with my kids like I wanted to…or with my wife, or anything else. Then I went to "corporate"; I got an offer from a corporation, and we were making more money than we ever had made, living nicer than we’d ever lived. But it was more time away and less time with the kids, more responsibility. Then I realized that I didn’t even own a guitar anymore!
Somewhere along the way I had sold it; I don’t even remember
what for. And one day, I just snapped and told Diane, "I’m
just not happy." And I was sure she was thinkin’, "Oh
my God! He’s gonna divorce me!" Chris: And that’s when you moved back here to Austin. I remember - when I heard that you were moving back here without a job or place to live or anything - thinking, "Oh God! He’s gonna move back here to try make it into the music business in Austin? There’s A LOT of people trying to make it here!" Trent: Well, that was just naïve. But I did. Trent: It’s stupid to do something like that,
but I’m really not a planner. That’s one of my weaknesses.
But that was what I wanted to do. Chris: A lot of musicians in Austin have that problem now. Trent: Especially with kids. Because if it was just
Diane and I, we could live on top of a restaurant. But when you
have kids, you gotta give ‘em at least a decent environment
to live in: a yard, not a lot of crime, and all of that. I had started writing again while we were still in Alabama.
Right before I made this decision I was singing songs in my head,
getting’ some tunes goin’. Once I told Diane that I
wanted to get back into music, we went and bought a guitar and
I wrote two or three songs before we left town.
Then I started looking for a bassist. Diane came to me one
night and said, "How’s your search for a bassist going?"
My wife asked me, "Can I have a shot?" Now, Diane
plays the flute, she plays the piano, but she’d never played
the bass; And she’s taking care of my kids and all of that.
But I said, "Yea, you can give it a shot." Chris: How was she planning on teaching herself to play? Trent: I don’t have any idea; Except at the time,
she had already purchased a bass - which I did not know about!
Ever since then Diane’s been playing in the band. She’s started writing her own music and playing the guitar, too. She’s turning out to be really strong. Chris: Did you ever - all that time you were married - think that she’d ever want to be "in the band?" Trent: No. She was "my groupie!" Chris: What about your music? What would we hear if we go hear Something Johnson play? Trent: I tell ya’ what, this is the hardest question to answer. Chris: I know. It’s hard to describe music. Trent: Well, not even that…Because my range is
so wide. I don’t put any barriers on the musicians that
I play with, and I don’t put barriers on myself when I’m
writing. Without being a smart-ass, I just say, "Music!" Chris: That’s perfect. I think that’s what "Lubbock music" is. That’s one of the reasons you don’t hear it on the radio a lot, because people listen to -say- Jimmie Gilmore and think, "What the hell is that?" Trent: It’s hard to categorize it. "Where do you put it?" Chris: "We can’t put that on the Country station," but you sure as hell can’t put it on the Rock-n-Roll station. Trent: You can put it on 107.1 [Austin’s KGSR]. Chris: That’s about it. And that’s why all those artists love that station, because it’s about the only place that you get to hear that. So let’s get back to Lubbock. I just want to get some feelings about growing up in Lubbock and how music got in your soul. Trent: It’s interesting because I got introduced to music somewhere along the way, and I started playing it, loved it, and I pursued it. I was drawn that direction, and the older I’ve gotten, the more concrete it has become. You go through "money" and "responsibility" and all that. But ultimately as art and a form of expression, its in you; If music’s really what you enjoy doing, then you make the adjustments. There’s a sacrifice somewhere and you make the sacrifices and get adjusted. I’m kind of to the point where I’m definitely not satisfied but I’m real happy with the direction I’m going. But when you brought that up, I started thinking, y’know, my mom dated Mac Davis back at Lubbock High, and my dad was in the same class as Buddy Holly! Mac Davis was a sophomore that year, dating my mom who was a cheerleader. So Buddy Holly went off and did his thing, and Mac Davis went off and did his thing, and my dad stayed and did his thing... Part of the struggle for Lubbock musicians who stay there is that there’s not a big enough musical and artistic community - there a lot more per capita that are forced to make a choice, versus living a double lifestyle. Chris: You have to either live - what is in the view
of the community - that kind of "loser artist" lifestyle,
or you have to be the Number One band in town, and that isn’t
gonna last forever. A few people can make a living in Lubbock,
like John Sprott. But you
have to be willing to be kind of a "weirdo" like John
Sprott does. Trent: Right. And he’s beyond even your average guitarist. Chris: Right. He could be a "big fish in another pond"; He just decided to be the "Best Guitar Player in Lubbock." Trent: Well, look at us - You and me! We’re in Austin. And there’s a reason for it. Even though we still have fond memories and still think Lubbock is a pretty cool town, there’s more opportunity and less oppression here in Austin, so we can live a little freer and just get together as Lubbockites every now and then and reminisce. Chris: Do you ever miss Living in Lubbock? I mean,
it was crazy and a lot wilder. Trent: The biggest difference
between Austin and Lubbock to me is; You’ll have a lot more
tattoos and body piercing and weird clothes here in Austin, but
you have a lot more strange thought and unique thought up there
in Lubbock than you do here. Chris: Do you want end on something positive? How about some fond memory? Trent: Well, I’ll tell ya’; The best thing
about Lubbock is that - even today - you’re kids can get
out of school and get on their bike, doesn’t even have a
lock on it necessarily, ride down the block to their friend’s
house, play to just before night fall. Ride a mile or two to
get home. Show up just as the sun is setting, and mom’s
not worried about ‘em. Supper’s on the table because
Mom doesn’t necessarily have to work. You show up at supper
and you eat and talk about the day. I mean, "Family" But you know what? You just gotta be prepared to have your kids listen to music and decide they wanta go that direction and move on down the road! -END-
|
| home | Interviews | Stories | video | What's New? |
|
About Us |
| Copyright
2007 Chris Oglesby All rights reserved |
Donnie
Allison & John Sprott
and all those guys playing, you had a sensual experience regarding
the music. That’s why I went out to that, to share that
with people - just to sense you're alive.
shocked when we
brought in a case of beer. We recorded 2 or 3 originals and 6
or 7 other tunes, Buddy Holly & Beatles tunes. I’ve
got the recording somewhere.
Once we got in the
house, I just kept playing. This is the interesting part: I found
a guitar player; He waited tables with me- and he played the
acoustic guitar pretty good; I liked his attitude and everything
else. He wrote a few songs so we played together a little bit.
His name is Greg Moses.
She practiced
all day. She home schooled the kids and played bass until I got
home. I was working two jobs, so I was probably working 80 hours
a week. I’d get home, play the guitar a little while and
go to bed. And after about two weeks she said, "I’m
ready to try out." So I sat her down, and I’d play
a couple songs; She had already wrote the bass parts for 'em
and did the whole nine yards!
Country
songwriter;" and there’s stuff that you would hear
and think, "That’s something new I’ve never heard
before;" to "That sounds like some old early-‘60s
to late-‘50s stuff"…
is still king there. It’s
still a great place to raise kids, and to grow up.