"I’m especially fond of Tex’s train songs, they have a certain lonely feel to them that I’m very drawn to. While he’s never dour, Tex can be quite sentimental, he has the ability to make you almost as chilly as the characters of which he sings about."
Murry Hammond of the Old 97’s
“Honest, sweet and playful lyrics delivered in, but not contained by traditional Honky Tonk style, Tex Smith is a unique and thankfully, prolific singer songwriter!”
Whit Smith of Hot Club of Cowtown
Over the years based in the thriving music scene of Austin TX, Tex has worked & recorded with many local greats including Seth Gibbs (Brother Machine, Bobby Jealousy, The Reputations), Steven Collins (Deadman), The Archibalds, Ramsay Midwood, Jake Erwin & Whit Smith (Hot Club of Cowtown), Sabrina Ellis (Bobby Jealousy, Giant Dog, Sweet Spirit), HalleyAnna, Josh Buckley, Union Specific, Gladys & Maybelle, Ranch\House, and most recently Earl Poole Ball (Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, Wynn Stewart). He’s shared the bill with Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s The Zombies, Bobby Whitlock (Derek & The Dominos) and Grammy award winning Leon Bridges, along with Texas legend James Hand, and rising local stars Mike and The Moonpies, Paul Cauthen, & Colin Gilmore.
Tex Smith was born and raised in Texas, but the roots of his sound spread far beyond his home state. He likes to say that his music “blends country, roots rock, singer-songwriter style and folk into one big flavorful pot of stew.” Indeed, it’s this eclectic mix of styles that marks his artistry. The middle of 5 kids a Spanish mother and an estranged 3rd generation Texan father he grew up in an average suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth, TX. He never received any formal musical training while growing up, however, during his early developmental years of the 1970’s The Monkees TV show was in full syndication. It was this along with the influence of his elder siblings and neighborhood friends Beatles and British Invasion record collections that planted the seeds. A few years later in the early 1990’s while attending the University of North Texas in Denton, TX fueled by his oldest brothers psychedelic garage rock band Terrapin, the music of Deep Ellum, and a key discovery of a Johnny Cash Sun Records cassette tape, he began writing and recording his own songs. After graduating with a bachelors degree in Geography he moved to Dallas, TX, where he began co-hosting a popular Roots/Americana radio show on KNON 89.3FM for multiple years. In 2006, Tex left Dallas,TX and his radio gig and moved to the Hill Country outside Austin, TX and began making music in earnest.
For Tex Smith, music has been the pathway to personal growth and recovery. “I try to write about the journey,” he says. “Music has helped me through so much, brought so much joy in my life. I want to try to just give a little back.”
Tex lives in Austin, TX with his wife Maybelle (of duo Gladys & Maybelle), and enjoys spending time with their son.
ABOUT
Multi-time Independent Radio charting, Tex Smith is a singer songwriter who from his eponymously titled first album in 2009, has continued to write and perform songs that will become central to the modern day Folk & Americana catalog. In a genre that is alive and growing he continues to accrue a devoted following and positive praises in the press. As an independent artist however, his biggest fans and praises have come from within the songwriter circles themselves: