Here is some local flavor for you from where I (still) call home: Lubbock, Texas. Growing up dead center of quite literally the middle of nowhere meant that we very seldom had any touring bands make a pit-stop in our college town. A plus to this otherwise negative isolation proved to be that local acts thrived. In fact, I would say that out of all of the places I’ve lived, Lubbock has had some of the most eclectic and better sounding local bands that I have heard. Not surprising, alt-country proved to house the best-of-the-best of bands, that being Thrift Store Cowboys. Although the group has toured extensively and recorded incredibly polished and delightful albums, they still have remained local at heart.

When I first started going to their shows about ten years ago, the core of the group consisted of singer/guitarist Daniel Fluitt and singer/fiddler Amanda Shires. Both are hyper-talented and incredibly hard-working and are deserving of higher acclaim. Below are two videos highlighting them individually (Amanda has since moved on and started recording solo albums, although her ties to Lubbock can still be seen in the video). Enjoy the best of West Texas!