This is a re-post of an article that originally ran in the Sherman Herald Democrat on Sept. 10, and was posted here, then dropped in the Sept. 11 technical problems from the hosting Web site.
By Mary Jane Farmer
Crossroads Texas Style: That’s what fans of Texoma musicians Robby White and Jason Elmore witnessed Wednesday night when hard core country met blues and it came out as a night with soul. A honky tonk ‘n blues review.
White and Elmore shared the Last Chance Saloon acoustic stage for several hours, swapped original and favorite songs, guitar licks, and even a few pokes and jokes in front of a mesmerized audience. It was an unlikely pairing, but one they both hope will happen again.
Robby White, who fronts The Tejas Gringos, and Jason Elmore, of Hoodoo Witch, released their respective CDs about the same time earlier this year. White has taken his show on the road to promote his CD, “Back Road Therapy,” and it has received considerable airplay across Texas and southern Oklahoma.
Elmore’s “Upside Your Head” has a more limited audience, but is in regular rotation with blues stations across a wider expanse, the United States. Both CDs are robust in their originality and production, stepping stones to even busier futures.
Robby White is a take-no-prisoners country singer who delivers his songs with an unmistakable Texas twang and with messages penned from his love of Texas, his family, his country roots, and everything else that people think of when they think of Texas and Texas music. His loyalty to those who are helping him along the way can only be rivaled by that of Willie Nelson. Sometimes his lyrics could be considered “not yet radio-friendly,” because those messages aren’t always “G” rated, yet Robby always delivers a family show when it’s called for. Traditional and Texas music, a crossroads in one band.
Jason Elmore is also a crossroads-type musician. Either as a solo artist or with Hoodoo Witch, Jason’s music in the vein of Texas blues meets classic rock. Think Jimi Hendrix meets Credence Clearwater Revival meets ZZ Top meets Kirby Kelley, and that about sums up the sounds coming off any stage he stands on. He also features a healthy dose of his originals.
White and Elmore said the experience was wonderful/ incredible/ awesome — pick an adjective.
Robby said, “I think we both got to stretch the boundaries of the kind of music we’re expected to make. I guess when you boil it down, blues music and country music are both built on emotion, so it worked really well. I think most people around the North Texas music scene know Jason is an awesome blues player, but he’s a whole lot more than that. He had me and everyone else there (at the venue) spellbound last night.
Jason described the gig by saying, with joy, “Although we don’t play the same style of music, we’re saying the same things, making music about heartbreak, women, fighting, and drinking. It’s all blues, although Robby is not typically thought of as a blues artist. Also, I get labeled a blues artist, and while most of my material is steeped in the blues, I think of it as Texas music.
Mark Bickham, photographer for Elmore’s CD cover, said about Jason, “Don’t let that boy fool you. He can play honky tonk guitar with the best of ’em.” Elmore said that statement made him feel good because, “I so often get dismissed as a boring blues artist.”
Nothing boring about Elmore’s music. He has held more than one audience captive, silent, engrossed as he picks his licks, sometimes on an electric guitar and sometimes on an acoustic.
“Robby is an honest music maker. You may not like what he says or how he says it but it’s usually the truth,” Elmore said. “His music is honest and heartfelt and he and I have much respect and admiration for one another. We have played together before, when he hired me as guitarist for a gig in Bandera (Texas). This was our first acoustic show together and I think we hit something good that we will definitely have to revisit—once we get the wrinkles ironed out.”
White continued the mutual, respective admiration exchange by saying about Elmore, “That dude is one in a million. I can’t wait to do it again.”
There were no television cameras at the venue to record that crossroads night, and it won’t be produced as a 60-minute CMT show, but it will remain in the music memories of countless regular and new fans there.