Gone –

Shakin’ All Over –

I confess. I may have partially chosen a Band album last time because I wanted to do this record this week. Hopefully it’ll make sense why I teamed these albums up together…

TX Jelly (2017), by The Texas Gentlemen (or The Gents, for short). So I got to see this band live in Boise this past week, and boy were they fun live! I’ve definitely seen several bands live that can just jam on a tune or pull out some impressive solos before, but The Gents were really able to shine in these categories.

The Texas Gentlemen are largely based out of Dallas, Texas (big surprise there). There’s not a lot of info out there yet about the band, but that’s largely due to the fact that they are still a fairly new name. Their first album TX Jelly was only released this September and they’ve mostly spent their time as studio musicians and as backing bands for touring artists (see, I told you there’d be a connection to The Band). Last year they were Kris Kristofferson’s backing band on tour and they’ve backed other musicians such as Ed Sheeran and Leon Bridges. While the specific number of musicians within the group is really hard to pinpoint (I heard an estimate somewhere around 50, and the liner notes mention at least 15 musicians on this album), the group is largely spearheaded by Beau Bedford, who wrote two of the songs, performed on most of them, mixed, and produced the album. When I saw them live, they were a 6-piece band backing Paul Cauthen (also listed as another member of The Gents).

So let’s dive into the album, TX Jelly. I admit, on the first listen through the album may seem a little jarring to some listeners. The multiple musical influences are pretty apparent right away as the album shifts between country, funk, psychedelic, roots, jazz, gospel, and rock. While this large variety ends up creating a less cohesive album as a whole, it makes up for its lack of focus by displaying their impressive versatility and range as musicians. The record truly feels like a group of fellow musicians really playing around and showing off what they do best. If I had to get critical about their work (so far), I’d say that their music is more about the “music” side of things and less about the lyrics. They make fabulous musicians, but I’d really like to see them practice their song writing skills some more in the future. That’s not to say they don’t have any good lyrics in their songs though. I’m actually really fond of the words behind “Superstition” and “Trading Paint” still has some amusing lyrics as well.

The tunes I chose for this Monday LP show the band on two different ends of music styles. The co-lead singer/co-songwriter of “Gone” is Paul Cauthen (who was the main act of the concert) and he’s the one that starts off the tune. This song has a strong driving beat with some fun extensions of short words (such as the title word, “gone”) stretched out into long phrases with multiple pitch changes. The song also features a slow breakdown with it’s bridge that changes up the tempo some. The other tune “Shakin’ All Over” is probably my favorite from them, and their live rendition was extremely impressive. More of a jam song, the song is a long and largely instrumental take on the classic rock tune most famously covered by The Guess Who. Their version almost ends on multiple occasions, only to come back even stronger and louder every single time.

Overall, The Texas Gentlemen are a fresh batch of musicians who really seem to have a passion for their variety of music. While their first album may show off a band that is still trying to get their footing in the industry and practice their songwriting skills, it also displays a large collection of musicians who are at the top of their game and able to play just about anything thrown their way. I’d highly recommend giving them a listen, even if all of their music doesn’t grab your attention, there’s likely something in TX Jelly for you. I would definitely urge people to see them live though, because I feel that’s where they’re really able to show off :3

Also once again, a big thanks to Vinyl Me, Please. This is a copy of their limited pressing of 500 copies on “blue & gold splatter” vinyl (mine’s numbered #459). It was through them that I first stumbled upon The Gents, and like several others I’ve discovered on Vinyl Me, Please, I was not disappointed. Hey! If you’re lucky, they may still have a few copies left on their site: TX Jelly