Prophets and Outlaws

Mary Jane Farmer | January 9, 2015

Steven Guckenheimer

Story and photos by Mary Jane Farmer — for more photos, click on the link below.

Prophets and Outlaws had one of the best Thursday night crowds Thursday (Jan. 8) at Hank’s Texas Grill. It was their second time to play the venue. Matt Boggs, lead singer, laughed when asked if those were all “super fans.” “HaHa, we think ALL of our fans are super!” But he did explain the near-phenomenon by saying, “McKinney (and Hank’s Texas Grill) is only 15 minutes away from my mom and dad’s place, and we have a dinner group of 25 friends and family who go to out each week. They came here (Hank’s) and each brought folks with them.”

Another reason, Boggs said, that could account for the larger-than-usual weeknight crowd is the fan base they’ve built in McKinney over the past two years.

“I wish we could have witnessed the crowd that would have come in had it not been 25 degrees out and a weekday,” again laughed Matt.

Prophets and Outlaws plays, mostly of course, their originals songs, with a few covers thrown in. One of Matt’s favorites — all his life — he explained before the band cut loose on it, was Randy

James Guckenheimer

Travis’ “Forever and Ever, Amen.” Later, Boggs said “Randy Travis is the man. When I was a kid, growing up on country music, I would dance around and sing to his music all the time.”

Steven Guckenheime, lead guitarist and co-singer, is also co-writer with Matt, and also writes songs on his own. “He is an incredible guitar player and able to write melodies that I could never dream of. My strength is lyrics; so my favorite is when he and I collaborate, like “Soul Shop.”

“Soul Shop” was PAO’s very first song released to the Texas Music Charts and it went to No. 19. The band followed that up with its current single, “Shine On Me,” which is climbing the charts and currently sits at No. 31. Boggs smiled when he explained that the charts are sort of frozen now, because the Christmas vacation is still going on for some. One had to wonder if it could be, also because of The Music Festival going on now in Colorado, but it doesn’t really matter. It’ll be a week or two before the chart numbers change.

Prophets and Outlaws is a team-band, no one acting like the ‘star’ on stage. Others in the band are James Guckenheimer, brother to Stevie; C.J. Thompson on bass; and Jamie “Jelly” Ringholm on all sorts of keyboards.

To learn more about this 5-piece band, which is making treks throughout Texas and way beyond, and watch their tour schedule, go to their Website, ProphetsAndOutlaws.com.

For more photos, click here.

And for more on Hank’s Texas Grill, click here.