Quality Americana

A pulsing piano burns into the sky as “What’s Out There In West Texas?” opens.  

“Who’s to say we can’t pack everything up, close out this chapter, find out just where the next is,” Owen Stroud sings. “Like maybe West Texas.”

It’s a beautifully done atmospheric release, filled with passion and yearning. The instrumentation builds up slowly throughout the track, reminding us of hits by Bruce Hornsby and the Range in the late 80’s. 

Leander, Texas Roots

Stroud is a native of the Hill Country, growing up in Leander and later finding his passion for teaching in San Antonio. The single finds the narrator wrestling with the decision of a major life change.

“I knew that either decision I made, there was going to be a lot of change and a lot of heartbreak involved,” Stroud said. “I was thinking ‘what would it feel like to just pick somewhere on the map way out there in a very remote part of the state’ and just kind of start again out there.”

The passion for songwriting found Stroud spending a lot of time in New Braunfels, and it was a tough decision to leave his students and start a new chapter in life. 

Losing His Voice

Last year, Stroud came down with a seasonal bug and ended up losing his voice for over a month. Throughout this time he poured his energy into songwriting, but struggled to rest his voice while also fulfilling his teaching duties.

“One night I sat down at my piano in my apartment and I watched the sunset through the live oaks and I just felt a little bit reckless,” Stroud said. “I don’t care about resting my voice right now, I just want to pound out some chords and just belt, wail as high as my voice will go at the top of my range.” 

Just days before the sessions at Sound Machine Studios in Beeville, Stroud’s voice returned. He worked with Sound Engineer Mason Shirley to get the feeling of the track right. 

Stroud struggled to find the right vocal emotion for the song, finding the first takes too polished for the idea to come to life. There’s themes of heartbreak throughout the track that make the vastness of West Texas a defining theme, and they decided to try a final take with the studio lights turned off.

“I put myself in the headspace of this guy who’s singing to his wife,” Stroud said. “I was really putting my head into the space of the narrator in that song, and imagining that I was on stage, that I was an actor.”

Texas A&M

Stroud studied teaching at Texas A&M in College Station and briefly worked in Missouri before chasing songwriting and performing out in Nashville, Tennessee. He struggled to find a connection to Music Row, and decided to return to Texas and continue his career in education.

“I was a very public facing member of the school, and loved by all these families” Stroud said about his time in San Antonio where he taught over eight hundred students. “When you’re really enmeshed in the community like that, it’s really hard to consider stepping away. It was always really special to see those kids learn.”

Leap of Faith

Stroud is now serving as the Music Director at Hope Presbyterian Church in New Braunfels and can be found performing regularly around the Hill Country.

“It’s been a real, real special time here,” Stroud said. “It’s not just a gig for me, it really is something that means a lot to me.”

The support from his church and friends in his new community made the leap of faith a welcome decision that’s given Stroud a better chance to balance serving and performing. Along with his own performances, Stroud has had the opportunity to travel and fill in keys for Dallas Burrow’s band. 

Psalm 73

Stroud found inspiration from Psalm 73 along his journey:

“You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom Have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” 

More information about Owen Stroud can be found here.

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