Bringing imagination and an expansive view of what “country music” can be, Austin-based artist Chasen Wayne and his backing band The Honky Tonk Machine have been mesmerizing audiences with their music that mixes country, psychedelia, elements of surf, punk, and jazz, with very involved narrative storytelling for a few years now. For those brave enough to explore the bold moments of Chasen’s albums Strange Places (2024) and Corpus (2025), they were handsomely rewarded.
Now he’s taking the conceptualized approach even further with his new album with the Honky Tonk Machine called The Diamond Saloon out August 28th. Recorded at Sweetheart Studios in Elgin, TX, Chasen Wayne explains in the prologue of the album,
“Ricky & Rex are two brothers in Van Horn, Texas. They own a bar called “The Diamond Saloon” that is barely surviving due to the remote destination and rough blue collar clientele. Rex is relegated to running the place due to his brother’s frequent absences from shifts. A meager existence in the west Texan desert only survived by the hopes of gaining the attention of the new girl he pines for and hoping to one day claim a life beyond opening and closing the doors.
“Ricky on the contrary has no interest in the place or such an existence. He is trying something different. Thrill seeking behavior with big rewards with high risk. Cavalier & naive. Angry and excitable but, ultimately unprepared for what comes with the territory. The territory that comes with the pursuit of a life in crime, nor the geography of the southwestern underworld, and the atmospheres weight on a persons spirit.”
Joining Chasen Wayne in the Honky Tonk Machine are Jamey Maness on pedal steel guitar, Jared Standish on fiddle/violin, Alex Riegelman on electric guitar, Conner Church on drums, and Will Felty on bass and harmony vocals. Jordan Hillman also appears on the album on piano, as does Denis O’Donnell as the narrator of the story. O’Donnell is an Austin legend both as a musician, and the co-owner of bars like The White Horse (previously) and Sagebrush.
Chasen Wayne wrote all of the songs for The Diamond Saloon, aside for a couple written by steel guitarist Jamey Maness. Two singles “”Morning Light” and “Carlos” were released previously, with the album announcement being graced by new song “En Laredo.”
For fans of country music that knows no confines, you’ll definitely want to have The Diamond Saloon on your radar.
TRACK LIST:
1. Part One
2. The Diamond Saloon
3. Wait a Minute
4. Rex’s Lament
5. Part Two
6. En Laredo
7. En Nuevo León
8. Easy Money
9. Morning Light
10. Caliche
11. Carlos
12. Part Three
13. Santa Muerte
14. Another Dusty Road
15. Part Four
16. Rio Concho Waltz & Ricky’s Shift
17. El Salon De Diamantes
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source savingcountrymusic.com ’
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