7 Questions from Shane

Hailing from Houston, Texas, Opie Hendrix is telling the truth from where he stands. Born in Indiana, Hendrix moved to Texas to attend the Art Institute of Houston in 1992. He hasn’t left since. That decision has paid off earning him two Houston Press Awards for Best Roots Rock. His musical path has taken him on national tours and onto iconic stages such as New York City’s CBGB’s (and the Mucky Du...

With over 20 albums, two appearances on the Tonight Show and multiple awards for her songwriting and philanthropy, Sara is internationally known for her Grammy nominated and award winning pop/folk music. Growing up in Houston with visual artists for parents, Sara graduated with a BA from the University of North Texas in painting. As a teenager, Sara became a volunteer performing music for youth in...

Roberta and Lisa grew up in Tucson, Arizona, learning to sing traditional Mexican music and developing their own brand of pop and roots rock. They separated after high school, but began performing together again in 1989, when Roberta sang background vocals for a band Lisa had formed. After moving to Houston, they attracted interest from the country music establishment in Nashville but ultimately o...

Al Staehely is the only person on the planet who has both played Carnegie Hall and provided legal services for Stevie Ray Vaughan. Soon after moving to Los Angeles in 1971, he and his brother John were asked to join the critically acclaimed band, Spirit. With Al as the band’s new lead vocalist, bass player, and chief songwriter and John taking over lead guitar duties from Randy California, Spirit...

More quality time with Texas songwriter Shake Russell... Shane for the third in a series of interviews with the Houston-based troubadour.  For more than 50 years, Texas singer-songwriter Shake Russell, has been entertaining audiences throughout the region and all over the United States with his unique Americana style of folk rock.  Weaving sophisticated harmonies through his songs and drawing from...

Nathan Quick spent years working 190 miles off the shore of Louisiana. Getting to and from the oil rig required a helicopter ride, so personal effects had to be kept to a minimum. That meant no guitar for the young singer-songwriter. But Quick found the far-flung locale helped him fill up lyric books.

John was introduced to music and guitars early on, but like many young, male Texans, he found himself drawn toward football. He was the star quarterback at J. Frank Dobie High School in Pasa-Get-Down-Dena. From there he went on to helm the squad at Lamar University in nearby Beaumont. While John’s dream of being a big-time NFL quarterback didn’t work out, he finds himself living a different dream...

Jordi Baizan is a first generation American and native Texan songwriter.  His songwriting, which American Songwriter (USA) has called “exquisite”,  has garnered him recognition from several prestigious songwriting competitions including the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition, the Songwriter Serenade Competition, and the South Florida Folk Festival’s Singer/Songwriter Competitio...

Sarah Grace is a young Indie/Roots singer and musical powerhouse from Houston, Texas. She was a semi-finalist from Season 15 of The Voice, and Sarah Grace’s powerful performance of “Amazing Grace” on The Voice can be described as her signature moment, establishing her as a legitimate artist. The recording immediately shot to #3 on the overall iTunes charts, gained 1 million YouTube views, and live...

Brian Hofeldt and Tony Villanueva founded Ameripolitan band, The Derailers in 1993 in Austin Texas. Over those 25+ years, the band has released eight studio albums, two live records, one retrospective collection and has been a part of numerous compilations and other recording projects. The band has been featured on the stages of The Grand Ole Opry, A Prairie Home Companion, Late Night with Conan O...

Monte Warden won his first of many Austin Music Awards when he was just 15 years old for Best New Band, honoring his rockabilly trio Whoa Trigger!. Warden rode the buzz of that band into his next project – leading (as well as writing all the material for) the even more popular and highly influential, The Wagoneers, which scored a major-label deal with A&M Records after performing at the very 1...

Piper EJ Jones has been performing and excelling as a performer of traditional Highland bagpipe music and folk music since he first picked up the pipes in 1987. He co-founded the renowned group Clandestine in 1991, with whom he produced five albums and won multiple awards. Frances Cunningham is a native of Southeast Texas and fell into Irish music at an early age. She learned the Irish Bouzouki an...

Though Houston native Libby Koch began writing songs in junior high school, she never considered doing so professionally until she attended law school at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University, where she discovered she could hold her own in a city full of heavyweight talents. A job at a large Houston law firm convinced her music, not law, was her true calling, and eventually, she decided it was time to...

Like her cousin Linda Ronstadt, Morales and her sister Roberta grew up in a musical family in Tucson, Arizona, learning to perform traditional Mexican music while developing broad-ranging musical taste prior to moving to Texas. She recorded six albums as “Sisters Morales,” the beloved sibling duo in which she partnered with Roberta, who passed away from cancer in August 2021.

Shake is back in the saddle with Shane for the second of quite a few sit-downs. For more than 50 years, Texas singer-songwriter Shake Russell, has been entertaining audiences throughout the region and all over the United States with his unique Americana style of folk rock.  Weaving sophisticated harmonies through his songs and drawing from various genres, Shake created a style of folk-rock that is...

Over the course of his remarkable three-and-a-half decade career, Smith has released 15 critically lauded studio albums, landed singles on both the country and pop charts, penned a symphony, scored works for theater and dance, published a widely celebrated book on creativity, exhibited works of visual art, and co-founded the non-profit SongwritingWith:Soldiers program, which pairs veterans with mu...

Internationally acclaimed, bilingual singer/songwriter and 2021 Houston Chronicle "Musician of the Year," Amanda Pascali was born in Queens, New York, and is based in Houston, Texas. Pascali, whose music has been described as “an auditory passport,” has performed internationally, from the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. to packed houses in Italy, Romania, and across the Eastern hemisph...

Kym Warner is an Australian musician and record producer, and a founding member of the American bluegrass band The Greencards. Warner was an aspiring bluegrass player after inheriting the bug from his father, an early Australian bluegrass pioneer. The winner of the Australian National Bluegrass Mandolin Championship for four consecutive years, Warner toured with country music artists Gina Jeffreys...

Sunny folk-pop siblings Trish & Darin (Murphy) were one of Houston's most popular local acts in the early and mid-'90s before being bitten by the Austin bug. They still visit about once a month in super-popular '70s/'80s cover band Skyrocket!, but around the holidays revive Trish & Darin for some warmhearted holiday memories. 

An Irish singer-songwriter, Pat Byrne has come a long way since his first deal with Universal. In late 2017, Byrne began his migration to Austin, Texas. In 2019, Pat took the US by storm, with breakout performances at the 30A Festival, SXSW, Kerrville Folk Festival and the Americana Festival. Being immersed in the Texas music scene, Pat's sophomore US release,  Into the Light , has an edgier f...

For more than 50 years, Texas singer-songwriter Shake Russell, has been entertaining audiences throughout the region and all over the United States with his unique Americana style of folk rock.  Weaving sophisticated harmonies through his songs and drawing from various genres, Shake created a style of folk-rock that is uniquely his own. 7 Questions from Shane is an interview series featuring music...

Born and raised in Galveston, Texas, Loomis is the son of musician parents who listened to blues, rock and soul. Music ran in his veins and, with instruments readily available around the house, he picked up drums, piano, guitar and harmonica, honing his multi-instrumental talent in addition to performing regularly as part of his family’s doo-wop group. “My parents had a fantastic record collection...

John Egan has a unique sound ranging from traditional country blues to a more modern songwriter style.  He is a masterfully skilled guitar player who uses poetic lyrics and vintage resonator guitars to create an expressive personal music. Often performing solo, Egan’s guitar style includes, in effect, playing bass, lead, and percussion, all at the same time. He says, “the rarefied air where Lightn...