Wide Open Country with Matt Alpert

(Click the player above to listen) Bill Carter is one of those songwriters who other songwriters go to for wisdom. After more than 40 years, he's still driven to craft songs that last, songs that have "penetrating magic in the imagination." His songs have recorded been recorded by a number of music icons, including Stevie Ray Vaughan ("Crossfire"), John Mayall, Waylon Jennings ("Jacksboro Highway") The Fabulous […]

Our guest today is Joshua Fleming of Vandoliers, one of our Bands to Watch in 2017. The Texas-based outfit traditional country music conventions with the energy of punk. That potent mixture stems from Fleming, the band's core songwriter — and a prolific one at that. In less than two years, Vandoliers have released two albums, 2016's Ameri-Kinda and the […]

Alabaman turned Texan Paul Nipper is one of the up-and-coming country artists in the Austin music scene. Earlier this year, we named him one of our Artists to Watch. Fans who appreciate road-weathered songwriters of the 70s, like Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, will find something both familiar and fresh in his music. Several […]

The Wide Open Country Podcast is back in action. We will have new episodes rolling out every Thursday. Check in each week to hear new conversations and performances with emerging and legacy country artists from all across the world of country music. We're kicking off this season with Brandon Rhyder, a veteran of the Texas country music […]

The Steel Wheels are an Americana group from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Their new album, Wild As We Came Here, is out this Friday (May 5). Their music fuses the spirit of Appalachian mountain music with elements of modern Americana. Rich harmonies and impeccable musicianship form the core of every song they play. I caught […]

Curtis Grimes is a country artist from Texas and a season one contestant on The Voice. Grimes has released four studio albums, including his recent project Undeniably Country. Grimes grew up in Gilmer, a small town in northeast Texas that has produced Eagles co-founder Don Henley, blues legend Freddie King, Johnny Mathis and others. There must be something in the water […]

The Drugstore Gypsies are a Southern band from East Texas. They recently released their debut album, and are currently tour Texas and the Southwest region. The group is heavily inspired by the rock groups of the 1970s and 80s, mainly the Eagles and Rolling Stones. Those two groups provide the inspiration for the backbone of their […]

Cody Sparks is an emerging Texas country artist. He leads the Cody Sparks Band, a three-piece outfit based out of Austin. A newcomer to the scene, Sparks is steadily rising in a notoriously difficult business to navigate. He credits his success so far to advice from the masters of this business, guys like Aaron Watson. His […]

Jeremy Steding has been a fixture of the Texas country music scene for a nearly a decade. He recently debuted his new album, Odessa, a collection of songs that Steding says are his best to date. He is currently on tour through the Lone Star State. We caught up with him and his band, The Rebellion, […]

Aaron McDonnell is a country artist from Oregon who has relocated to Austin, Texas. He performs around the Lone Star State with his wife Dani McDonnell and their band, the Neon Eagles. McDonnell's music is inspired by various forms of traditional country music and the Northwest's brooding singer-songwriters. On today's episode, we talk about McDonnell's […]