HWY 261

Sterling is taking care of personal business today, and there was no guest artist scheduled, so The Reverend flies solo and spins tracks from a number of artists who are playing locally in the near future. The Reverend also takes a few minutes to pay tribute to Arley Blankenship of Wimberley's Volunteer Fire Ants, who passed away last week.

Artists played on this episode of HWY 261 included The Doors, Nathan Hamilton, Bri Bagwell, Volunteer Fire Ants, Dallas Burrow, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Lynn Crossett, Lyle Lovett, David Beck, ZZ Top, Steve Earle, and King's X.

Rob Dark Smith joins The Reverend and Sterling in the KZSM studio to talk about the release of his new EP, Anvil. Produced by Keith Davis (who joins Rob in the studio and accompanies him on the live songs) and featuring a cast of talented local musicians, Anvil is a solid EP, perfect for fans of Americana, Red Dirt, and singer-songwriter music. Rob, Keith, Sterling, and The Reverend swap stories, and Rob & Keith play Final Drive and Keep Up live in on the air. Both songs are on the Anvil EP. The show closed out with the recorded version of the EP's title track. The Rev and Sterling also spun prerecorded tracks from Okkervil River, Ryan Culwell, Court Yard Hounds ft. Jakob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Robert Earl Keen, and Band of Heathens.

The Reverend and Sterling don't have a guest artist this week, so they spend part of the episode celebrating the music of local singer-songwriting phenom Adam Carroll, who turned 50 this week. They also give a shout-out to Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, who turned 74 this week. Prerecorded tracks included songs from Pearl Jam, Paul Cauthen, The Flatlanders, Brooks & Dunn, Asleep at the Wheel, and 4 songs from Adam Carroll.

The Reverend and Sterling spin some heavier rock and roll tracks with Texas connections to send off Spring Break 2025 for students at Texas State University and in San Marcos CISD, and to ring in Spring Break 2025 for students in Hays CISD. Artists played on today's episode include 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson & the Aliens, Ministry, Pantera, Dustin Welch, Dangerous Toys, Janis Joplin, ZZ Top, and Queensryche.

Sterling is out to play a gig in Luckenbach with Dallas Burrow, so The Reverend welcomes Lynn Crossett back into the KZSM studio for his second appearance on HWY 261. Lynn is releasing a new album, Autumn to August, in June of 2025. Produced by Lloyd Maines, this is Lynn's second record with the venerated Texas producer, and in the lead-up to the album's release he'll be dropping a single per month, starting today. The Reverend played the first track from the album, Refinery Town, along with tracks from former guests of HWY 261 over our first year on the air: Nathan Hamilton, Etta Place, Nichole Wagner, Dallas Burrow, Foscoe Jones, and Dennis Jay.

The Reverend and Sterling are joined in the KZSM studio by singer-songwriter Melissa Engleman. Melissa just released the EP "Love" on Feb. 1, and plays two tracks from it live in studio. The EP is the first of a planned trilogy, "Love, Death, Mexico." Pre-recorded tracks that are thematically linked to Valentine's Day (love songs, breakup songs, etc) from artists including Dixie Chicks, George Jones, Los Lonely Boys, Los Spark Notes, and William Beckmann round out this week's episode.

The Reverend and Sterling, along with new KZSM Intern Matt, spin some longer blues tracks from SRV, Los Spark Notes, and Lightnin Hopkins, along with a few songs by artists nominated in various categories for the 2nd Annual San Marcos Music Awards, being held at The Price Center in SMTX on 01-31-25.

The Reverend and Sterling welcome Texas State Geography professor, urban planning researcher, and local singer-songwriter Eric Sarmiento into the KZSM studios. Eric talks about his current research project that involves early East Texas blues, and he plays two great songs live, both of which were released in 2024 as part of Eric's personal goal of releasing a song a month for the full year (a goal he accomplished, releasing 12 new songs across the 12 months of 2024).

Sterling is out this week, so The Rev is hosting solo from KZSM studios in beautiful downtown San Marcos, TX. He's joined by Muchacho Sanchez and Andrew Banton, who play together as a duo and perform two phenomenal songs by Muchacho, "Again" and "Marie Laveau." The Rev's youngest daughter, Layla, also makes a guest appearance in Sterling's chair in the opening quarter hour of the episode.

The Reverend and Sterling are joined in the KZSM studio in San Marcos, TX by Dennis Jay, who is a singer-songwriter in the "Western and Country" style. He's got a brand new album out he's plugging, Cowboy Rhythm, which was produced by the great Lloyd Maines. Dennis plays Adios Moonlight and The Last Great Necessity off the new record, as well as reminiscing about Kent Finlay's Songwriters Circle, the music of Tom Russell, and where listeners can find Dennis' recorded output in hard copy or online.