HWY 261

No guest artist in the KZSM studio today (The Rev's 46th B-Day), so the fellas spin tracks from Austin artists Bad Livers and James McMurtry. James and Danny Barnes of bad Livers both work professionally with Sterling's older sister, Jenni Finlay, so there are a few stories shared between prerecorded tracks. The show closes out with a Tom Waits cover of Kinky Friedman's song Highway Cafe. Kinky (R...

Sterling is taking care of personal business today, and there was no guest artist scheduled, so The Reverend flies solo and spins tracks from a number of artists who are playing locally in the near future. The Reverend also takes a few minutes to pay tribute to Arley Blankenship of Wimberley's Volunteer Fire Ants, who passed away last week. Artists played on this episode of HWY 261 included The Do...

Rob Dark Smith joins The Reverend and Sterling in the KZSM studio to talk about the release of his new EP, Anvil. Produced by Keith Davis (who joins Rob in the studio and accompanies him on the live songs) and featuring a cast of talented local musicians, Anvil is a solid EP, perfect for fans of Americana, Red Dirt, and singer-songwriter music. Rob, Keith, Sterling, and The Reverend swap stories,...

The Reverend and Sterling spin some heavier rock and roll tracks with Texas connections to send off Spring Break 2025 for students at Texas State University and in San Marcos CISD, and to ring in Spring Break 2025 for students in Hays CISD. Artists played on today's episode include 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson & the Aliens, Ministry, Pantera, Dustin Welch, Dangerous Toys, Janis Joplin,...

Sterling is out to play a gig in Luckenbach with Dallas Burrow, so The Reverend welcomes Lynn Crossett back into the KZSM studio for his second appearance on HWY 261. Lynn is releasing a new album, Autumn to August, in June of 2025. Produced by Lloyd Maines, this is Lynn's second record with the venerated Texas producer, and in the lead-up to the album's release he'll be dropping a single per mont...

The Reverend and Sterling are joined in the KZSM studio by singer-songwriter Melissa Engleman. Melissa just released the EP "Love" on Feb. 1, and plays two tracks from it live in studio. The EP is the first of a planned trilogy, "Love, Death, Mexico." Pre-recorded tracks that are thematically linked to Valentine's Day (love songs, breakup songs, etc) from artists including Dixie Chicks, George Jon...

The Reverend and Sterling, along with new KZSM Intern Matt, spin some longer blues tracks from SRV, Los Spark Notes, and Lightnin Hopkins, along with a few songs by artists nominated in various categories for the 2nd Annual San Marcos Music Awards, being held at The Price Center in SMTX on 01-31-25.

The Reverend and Sterling welcome Texas State Geography professor, urban planning researcher, and local singer-songwriter Eric Sarmiento into the KZSM studios. Eric talks about his current research project that involves early East Texas blues, and he plays two great songs live, both of which were released in 2024 as part of Eric's personal goal of releasing a song a month for the full year (a goal...

Sterling is out this week, so The Rev is hosting solo from KZSM studios in beautiful downtown San Marcos, TX. He's joined by Muchacho Sanchez and Andrew Banton, who play together as a duo and perform two phenomenal songs by Muchacho, "Again" and "Marie Laveau." The Rev's youngest daughter, Layla, also makes a guest appearance in Sterling's chair in the opening quarter hour of the episode.

The Reverend and Sterling are joined in the KZSM studio in San Marcos, TX by Dennis Jay, who is a singer-songwriter in the "Western and Country" style. He's got a brand new album out he's plugging, Cowboy Rhythm, which was produced by the great Lloyd Maines. Dennis plays Adios Moonlight and The Last Great Necessity off the new record, as well as reminiscing about Kent Finlay's Songwriters Circle,...

For the first episode of 2025, The Reverend and Sterling spin songs on CD and vinyl from various soundtracks that have some musical connection to Texas. Soundtrack albums represented were: Crazy Heart; Maverick; The Sting; Pure Country; The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; Forrest Gump; Song Writer.

Sterling is back in the KZSM broadcast booth after a couple weeks out, and we spend most of the episode listening through and talking about his holiday album A Very Sterling Christmas vol. 2 All I Want for Christmas is Uke. You can listen to the album on Lone Star Music at this link: https://lonestarmusicmagazine.com/sterling-finlays-a-very-sterling-christmas-volume-2/

This week we delve into the sports media side of broadcasting as The Reverend welcomes TxSt Volleyball's two graduating Seniors, Alyssa Ortega (Libero, #21) & Ryann Torres (Setter, #14), into the KZSM studio. The 'Cats are fresh off a historic run in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, during which TxSt became the first program since 2014 to sweep their way through a conference tournament as p...

The Rev is solo in the booth this week with no scheduled guest, so he sets the "Way Back Machine" for ca. 2009 in San Marcos, TX, when Sons of Fathers and a bunch of talented other singer-songwriters were burning things up in San Marcos, Austin, and the surrounding Texas Hill Country. The Rev spins prerecorded tracks from Kent Finlay, Sons of Fathers, Paul Cauthen, David Beck's Tejano Weekend, Mar...

Foscoe Jones comes out of retirement for a day to join The Reverend and Sterling in the KZSM booth. The guys reminisce about the days when Sterling was bassist in Foscoe's band The Distractions and talk about Foscoe's two albums, Foscoe Jones: Live (2001) and A Song Like This (2004). Foscoe plays two live songs in the studio and is joined by Sterling on the upright bass.

The Reverend and Sterling welcome Ceilidh Welsh into the KZSM studio. Ceilidh first met The Rev and Sterling when she was a 12 year old student at the annual Young Songwriters Workshop The Rev directs each summer. Ceilidh has been a talented songwriter for years and now, at age 19, she's got some new material she's preparing to release. She discusses with the guys and plays a couple of songs to pr...

In the inaugural episode of HWY 261, The Reverend and Sterling introduce themselves and talk with their good buddy Dallas Burrow, in whose band Sterling plays bass.

The Reverend and Sterling welcome John Arthur Martinez into the KZSM studio. John is a longtime Texas singer-songwriter who, at one point in his career, finished 2nd in Season 1 of Nashville Star (one spot ahead of Miranda Lambert); he currently curates his own annual festival in Marble Falls, Fiesta JAM. He and Sterling also reminisce about the time when Sterling was in JAM's band and they got to...

The Reverend and Sterling talk with San Marcos-based musician Sammy Wells, who performs both solo and as one third of The Trips (a band that includes his siblings...they're triplets). The guys discuss the state of live music in SMTX and Sammy plays a couple of original songs.

The Reverend and Sterling talk with Nathan Hamilton (The Rev's all time favorite singer-songwriter); they reminisce about the first album Nathan was on, Good Medicine Band-Spirit of the Sharecroppers, which was produced by Lloyd Maines and recorded right next door at Texas State University's Fire Station Studios. They also discuss the score Nathan wrote for independent film Fugitive Dreams (stream...

Sterling is on the road this week, so The Reverend is solo in the booth to interview the inimitable Texas singer-songwriter Bri Bagwell. Bri and The Rev discuss her current touring schedule, the possibility of Bri recording and releasing a live album at some point in her career, and her volunteer work with the special needs community at Austin's Marbridge Foundation (where The Rev's wife works, an...

The Reverend and Sterling chat with Troy Stone, formerly of The Hill Country Gentlemen, and an accomplished singer-songwriter who has pursued a busy solo career for the past several years.

The Reverend and Sterling welcome Sam Downing into the studio. Sam is a talented young singer-songwriter based in Wimberley, TX who The Rev and Sterling first met as a teenage student at the annual Young Songwriters Workshop directed by The Rev and sponsored by Cheatham Street Music Foundation. Sam has released a full album and several singles, and has shared stages with such luminaries as Gary P....

The Reverend and Sterling discuss the current state of music in San Marcos, TX with Curtis Rowe, front man and principal songwriter of local band Arbordae.

The Reverend and Sterling welcome George Ensle into the KZSM studio. George has been on the singer-songwriter scene since the 1960s, and has shared stages with the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Billy Joe Shaver. He plays live constantly, and does a lot of work with the special needs community, the Hospice program, and Soldier Songs & Voices.