Quality Americana

New Braunfels native Dallas Burrow paid tribute to the Texas Hill Country with his latest release “River Town.”

“Well I grew up in a river town with the radio up and the windows down,” Burrow sings. ”I started making trouble, it was hard to stop. Chasing the girls and running from the cops. Well I grew up and things slowed down.” 

The single appears on Burrow’s latest album Blood Brothers for Subliminal Hymnal Records. The album tackles many themes of Burrow’s life from days in his youth on the banks of the Guadalupe River to fatherhood and settling down with his family.

“While this song encapsulates and is sort of an homage to a lot of the music I heard growing up in the Hill Country of central Texas, and is very much a personal narrative about my own life, I also hope that there is something in this song that everyone can relate to, regardless of where they come from,” Burrow said.

Blood Brothers

The album title comes from an infamous story that took place in Nashville in the 1970s. Burrow’s father Mike was close with Townes Van Zandt and after a performance one night, Townes “insisted they all become blood brothers to ensure they’d be forever cosmically linked.”

While finding his own sound, Burrow was heavily influenced by Van Zandt’s work and fingerpicking. An outstanding cover of “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold” appears on Blood Brothers that was produced by Jonathan Tyler.

Burrow found the inspiration for “River Town” while remembering all of the Texas country acts that appeared on KNBT and served as a playlist for his childhood. Homegrown acts like Charlie Robison and Ray Wylie Hubbard spun alongside Red Dirt country that focused on heartfelt lyrics and storytelling. Burrow also recorded his father’s song “X Old Flames” as a duet for the record.

Burrow recently performed selections from Blood Brothers at AmericanaFest in Nashville, and “River Town” reached the top 50 of the Americana Music Association singles chart last month.

“Well I left town as fast as I could. I got out while the getting was good,” Burrow sings. “I’ve been around and I’ve seen the world. Fell in love with a Dallas girl. Came back home ‘cause I liked the sound of raising our son in a river town.”

The chorus really puts you back in your childhood and lets you reflect on the moments that made us who we are today. 

More information about Dallas Burrow can be found here.

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