Local Talent Making Names In Music Scene

For lovers of great music such as myself, I have looked far and wide to satiate my lust for truly enjoyable sounds to blast through my stereo speakers and MP3 earbuds. Great Britain has given me The Beatles, The Animals, Sting and Seal. Australians like The BeeGees and Men At Work, Africans like Jonathan Butler and Hugh Masakela, and the powerful sounds of Ireland's U2 and Wales' Tom Jones have been entertaining me musically for many decades. And my prodigious record collection boasts singers and bands from all over America. But today I need look no further than my own home town and neighboring cities to find ample musical talent. I have collected a few new CD's to add to all those outstanding sounds from years gone by that were recorded by men who either grew up in West Columbia, Texas, or have sturdy family roots in my hometown. Zack Walther And The Cronkites are difficult to categorize when listening to their new CD entitled "Ambition," their debut Sustain Records release. Vocalist and band leader Walther, who grew up and went to school in West Columbia, labels The Cronkites music as "New Braunfels rock." It could be called progressive Texas country, hard rocking jams or what was once referred to in my younger days as "pop." But whatever you want to call it, the sounds eminating from your speakers when you play the CD "Ambition" are wonderful. I have to give it to my fellow West Columbian, the guy has a very soulful voice. The band's website describes their sound as "the next evolution of the sounds from the Lone Star State created by a new generation that's taking the stage with some serious moxie, grounded in the best roots yet also right up to date for these times." Well put. I have really enjoyed listening to "Ambition" since purchasing it earlier this summer on a trip my wife and I made to New Braunfels and the adjoining community of Greune. I bought the CD simply because Zack is from West Columbia and, admittedly I did not have high expectations when I inserted it into my truck's CD player. Boy, was I ever blown away by just how good this new group is. From the opening number "Georgia Cane" to the closer "Pull The Pin," the 10 songs on "Ambition" are without one single throw-away tune. They are all good, from the tender prayer for redemption "Just Say When," to the rocker "Money Tree" and great songs I really enjoyed like "Without One Sound" and "Down Easy." "We were touring pretty heavily beforehand and especially now with the record, doing all these in-stores and fronts, and Hastings and Best Buys," Walther told a reporter for The Brazosport Facts recently during a stop back home. "It's sort of surreal and foreign just because we've never done that sort of thing." "I'm very proud to be from Brazoria County and I love coming back and seeing the place and seeing my hometown," Walther, who now resides in New Braunfels, told The Facts reporter.

Zack, who grew up in the Gayle Estates subdivision near West Columbia, joined the school choir in the sixth grade at Charlie Brown Intermediate School. He played in local bands when he was a student at West Columbia High School and majored in Southwest Texas State's prestigioius Sound Recording Technology program when he attended the San Marcos college. He graduated from the university that is now known as Texas State with a degree in Geography, which Walther says is "fitting for a road dog in the making."

He started a dancehall band with some friends from high school called Sanger West, and fronted the band Roger Wilco prior to putting Zack Walther And The Cronkites together. Zack recorded three albums with Roger Wilco and toured throughout Texas and Oklahoma.

The former West Columbian says "As I get older, I'm writing songs that are more personal and heartfelt and about love and loss and meaningful stuff."

Zack Walther And The Cronkites have played The Armadillo Ballroom outside of Brazoria's city limits several times in recent history (August 14th was their most recent stop at the Armadillo) and have been the featured band at Greune Hall near New Braunfels on Wednesday nights since last year. Check their website at http://zwcmusic.com/ to see where Zack and his band are playing in the coming months, to read up on a little history of the band, order CD's and obtain a free download of their new single "Georgia Cane" off of the "Ambition" CD. There is also a new video for the song "Money Tree" at Zack's website, and another video for "So Easy" from "The Blue Light Live" CD available for viewing.

The new CD "Ambition" was produced by fellow musician and songwriter Mark Addison. The Cronkites are comprised of vocalist and guitarist Walther, bassist David Pettit, drummer Chris Compton and guitarist and keyboardist Luke Leverett. Walther cowrote "Just Say When" and "Money Tree" off of the new CD with Leverett, whose work on a range of guitars and keyboards "brings a kaleidoscope of colors to the recording," the band's website reveals. Bassist Pettit, who hails from the Texas Panhandle, "melds his country roots with later time playing blues-rock to add even more to the group's sound," the website history of the band states.

"We have the ability here to have a softer acoustic power and then go balls to the wall and leave it out on stage every single night," Leverett said.

"Mountain Laurel Bloom" is a song on the new CD that takes listeners for a spiritually-blessed and folk-inflected tour of the Texas Hill Country. And Walther "sings it all with a classic vocal strength and finesse full of feelings that hit anyone with a heartbeat and ear for timeless music right where they live and love music," the Cronkites' website claims.

Reece Cadenhead first made an impact on me when he and his father Kevin Cadenhead sang at the wedding of Steven Horak and Reece's cousin, Ashley Kapalski, at the Catholic church in Lake Jackson. The qualities his singing voice possess are on a par with "American Idol" champions and those young men who sell millions of records worldwide. This kid is just that good. About a month ago I heard the Cadenheads, father and son, sing once again at the funeral for my childhood friend Charles "Boogie" Kapalski's mother at the Catholic church in West Columbia. Boogie's mother was Reece's great-grandmother. In between his two performances at the two local Catholic churches, my wife and son and I were entertained by Reece and Kevin Cadenhead at Dido's seafood restaurant on the San Bernard River near Brazoria. A large gathering of Reece's family and friends filled Dido's restaurant that night to celebrate the release of this Angleton High School graduate's first CD, "Sleepwalk Back To Texas."

Reece recently returned to College Station to begin his sophomore year at Texas A&M. He is majoring in mechanical engineering at A&M and is a member of the Texas A&M Singing Cadets. But he just might have to put that career as a mechanical engineer on the back burner if his musical career takes off like it should. The young man from Angleton, whose parents are graduates of the high school in West Columbia, began singing in the choir at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Brazoria. As a member of the Angleton High School choir his senior year Reece received top honors in the state solo contest.

Give "Sleepwalk Back To Texas" a listen. Gup promises each of you who purchase this young man's CD will be glad that you did. It is amazingly good. Vocals and production on the CD were recorded at R/R Studio in Lake Jackson, Texas, under the direction of Jason Rooks. But this compilation of 10 original country songs were written and recorded primarily in Nashville, and the quality of the sound is evidence that some seriously talented musicians were involved in the production of "Sleepwalk Back To Texas." My favorite songs on Reece's CD are "As Good As Goodbye," "Ain't Gonna Take It," "Operating On A Broken Heart," "Something Real" and the title song "Sleepwalk Back To Texas."

Earlier this summer my family and I were treated on several occasions to the listening pleasure of hearing Bill Middleton and his band perform on Friday nights at Scott's Barbecue in downtown West Columbia. It was a double treat. I got to wolf down some of the best barbecued ribs and fried shrimp ever put before me at Scott Leopold's barbecue joint and hear the wonderful guitar pickin' and singing of my fellow West Columbian who everybody called Billy Bob when he was a kid growing up in my hometown. Bill is a 1973 graduate of Columbia High School who returned to his hometown after "working his way to the top of the bottom" of the music biz playing guitar and singing all over Texas. He says he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to begin a new career "at the bottom of the top." That switch to the country music mecca in Nashville led to Billy Bob landing a prestigious position playing guitar on the Grand Ole Opry with several Opry stars. He worked with Porter Wagoner, Stonewall Jackson and Jean Shepherd at the Opry, just to mention a few. After 13 years (1986-1999) in The Grand Ole Opry family, my childhood friend came back home to West Columbia. And we in the West Columbia area are all the better for it. Hearing this man sing and play that electric guitar is definitely memorable. The boy's good! Blunt and to the point. His live shows are spiced with blues, rock and pop, but mostly his versions of the best country music has to offer.

Bill Middleton has released two CD's that are both worth giving a listen to. His CD "The Crossroad" is primarily inspirational Christian music, many of the selections written by Bill himself. His other CD is country which is a musical genre Bill truly excels in. I highly recommend anyone who loves music to experience Bill Middleton, both on his CD's and when he and his band are performing live in the West Columbia area.

Kirby Gupton, the son of my father's youngest brother S.D. Gupton, has been a part of the Austin music scene since the 1960s when he was a student at the University of Texas. While cousin Kirby stresses to me that he is not peddling his CD's, it is my personal opinion that his recorded music is worthy of a listen. To put it bluntly, I love Kirby's sound. His musicianship is definitely first rate. He excels on the guitar and saxophone himself, and Kirby has employed some very talented Austin musicians to accompany him on the two CD's he recorded earlier this decade.

Kirby Gupton is "pure country" on the majority of the tunes he has recorded, with a little soul ("Brand New Me") and old-time rock and roll ("I'm A Fool To Care") thrown in as well. His vocal strengths are in his ability to mimic country greats like Ray Price, Waylon Jennings and another impressive sound that I'm unable to pinpoint who it reminds me the most of. Hey, now it comes to me after all. He sounds just like Kirby Gupton! And there's nothing wrong with that when a native West Columbian who may be a little vertically challenged in height possesses such "kick ass," powerful pipes.

My cousin, a 1963 graduate of Columbia High School, mailed me copies of his CD's (both co-produced by Kirby and Fred Scott) in the summers of 2003 and 2005. Other family members who received the same CD's are as lucky as I consider myself. Lucky to have such a talented, gifted musician in our family tree, as well as for enjoying the pleasure of listening to the variety of songs Kirby has selected to record. The 2003 CD features Kirby's versions of three Waylon Jennings tunes ("Just To Satisfy You," "Walk Out Of My Mind" and "You'll Look For Me"), a couple of Merle Haggard songs ("If I'd Left It Up To You" and "The Bottle Let Me Down"), and first rate versions of Willie Nelson's "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way," Jessie Colter's "Storms Never Last" and Billy Joe Shaver's "Old Five And Dimers."

Highlights of the 2005 CD Kirby Gupton recorded at FRS Studio in Austin are the great Tom Jans penned song "Loving Arms" that was previously recorded by Elvis Presley, Dobie Gray and Jans himself and done equally as well by my cousin Kirby, and a couple Gordon Lightfoot songs ("Same Old Lover Man" and "Somewhere USA"). Kirby's cover of Willie Nelson's "I Never Cared For You" and Merle Haggard's "Our Paths May Never Cross" are worth the price of the 2005 CD alone. He really does a bang-up, superb job with Willie, Waylon and Merle's songs.

Cousin Kirby insists that he does not sell his CD's. So those of us who have received the two CD's from Kirby are the beneficiaries of this longtime Austin resident's gift and musical talent. Kirby told me that he would gladly burn copies of his CD's from his master tapes if any friends or family members request them. Email me at tracyg@embarqmail.com or drop me a line at P.O. Box 361 in West Columbia, Texas, 77486, and I will forward your requests for the Kirby Gupton CD's to my cousin in Austin.

To purchase Reece Cadenhead's CD "Sleepwalk Back To Texas," go to his website at http://www.reececadenhead.com/ and do so. I got my copy of the new Zack Walther And The Cronkites CD "Ambition" at the record store in Greune. But you can purchase it, as well as other CD's of the New Braunfels band, on the internet at http://www.zwcmusic.com/. Bill Middleton's CD's can be purchased at his guitar shop at 1118 North Brooks Street in Brazoria, Texas, or on the internet at http://www.billsguitarshop.com/. I hope each of you enjoys the excellent music these West Columbia area recording artists have put on CD's as much as I have.

Zack Walther of West Columbia is finding success in the music business. The Columbia High School graduate, shown jamming on stage above, is the lead singer for Zack Walther And The Cronkites, a band based in New Braunfels.

Angleton High School graduate Reece Cadenhead has recorded an excellent first CD entitled "Sleepwalk Back To Texas" recorded and produced by Jason Rooks. Reece is currently attending college at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Nationally known country music artist Trace Adkins, pictured above with West Columbia native Bill Middleton, spent hours signing autographs and talking to his fans at the grand opening of Bill's Guitar Shop in Brazoria.