Quality Americana

We recently spoke with David Bridwell, who shared a video about his experiences at the historic dance halls in the Live Music Capital of the World.

Quality Americana: Tell me about the song that inspired this video? 

David: It started when I came up with the line “things ain’t so straight in George Strait Country.”

I had just come into Austin and was staying in an RV on someone’s property. I also had some THC blunts basically shoved in my pocket the day I came into town and I sat on a tree swing next to the RV after a night of dancing, thinking of lines to the song…

But a big part of the inspiration came from a Tuesday night at the White Horse when Devin Jake was playing. He’s a songwriter and performer and gay cowboy, and he’d often take time between songs to talk about his struggles, like his power being out or having to mow the lawn: 

“the man that leads the band, 

still talks about his day, 

about love lost and found, 

and missed along the way.” 

And there was a feeling of openness and positivity in having a gay cowboy up there singing honky tonk country songs, especially looking out over everyone as they seemed to really embody freedom. There’s skinny jeans and cowboy hats and women with armpit hair. And pretty much everyone is high. 

“I’m thinking I lost my beer,

I’m thinking the band missed a beat,

I’m looking at the girl with the armpit hair,

Cowboy hats and skinny jeans”

Quality Americana: Tell us how you got the idea for the video? 

David: I met and became friends with Femmy. She was visiting Austin from Amsterdam and she loves filming dancers. I had mentioned that I wanted to feature a couple in the video and it turned out we had the same couple in mind: Kareem and Isabelle. Then I ran into them and explained the idea to them and they were down, so it all came together! 

“I saw you across the room,

And it looked like you know how to dance

And the way you move your feet to the beat

Got me thinking that I got a chance.

So I made my way,

Walking over,

When the band began the next song

And they hit the bass and they hit the drum and we both started to sing along.”  

Quality Americana: I actually recognized Kareem from the Barbeque Showdown show on Netflix.

David: Yeah, he’s been popping up on my Facebook and IG feeds for his BBQ food truck. He was a James Beard Award finalist and I even saw a thumbnail pop up on YouTube with him and Joe Rogan. Check out the video!

More information on David Bridwell can be found here.

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