{"id":2040986,"date":"2025-09-22T12:50:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2040986"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:50:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:50:02","slug":"west-texas-exiles-celebrate-release-of-new-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/west-texas-exiles-celebrate-release-of-new-album\/","title":{"rendered":"West Texas Exiles Celebrate Release of New Album"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>        During the 19th century, Horace Greeley wrote, \u201cGo west, young man!\u201d and encouraged those seeking a better life to head past the Mississippi River toward the riches that were promised in frontier America.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of the West Texas Exiles, it was actually a case of heading <i>east<\/i> to find their fortune.  Toward Austin, specifically, which has historically been the musical land of opportunity in the Lone Star state.  While the band members may have made their initial journeys separately, they quickly found each other, and, as Hunter Thompson once said, referencing Herman Melville, \u201cGenius [stood] hand in hand, and a shock of recognition ran the whole circle round.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was a few years ago.  Today, the West Texas Exiles &#8211;  Marco Gutierrez (lead vocals, guitar), Colin Gilmore (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Daniel Davis (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Eric Harrison (bass, vocals) and Trinidad Leal (drums) \u2013 are on tour celebrating the release of their first full-length album with two shows on Saturday, September 27, at the Mucky Duck.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"West Texas Exiles - 8000 Days (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CFYIvJ7O0G0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>  On a bright fall morning, the Exiles are all gathered around a laptop, speaking via Zoom from Nashville and the AmericanaFest.  The band prefers to do interviews with all members present, and, while somewhat unusual, it\u2019s probably a good idea in this case, as it quickly becomes obvious that the Exiles have a strong connection and, collectively, a wicked sense of humor.  The identifier on the Zoom screen says, \u201cWest Texa Sexiles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the fact that most artists don\u2019t like labels, your intrepid scribe began the discussion by asking what the term \u201cAmericana\u201d means to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s used so much that we now just call it \u2018Genericana,\u2019\u201d Gutierrez says.  \u201cIt means so much that it means nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like everything that\u2019s not \u2018country-country.\u2019  If it\u2019s somewhat in the country world but not bro-country or straight-up indie [or] pop.  But indie rock leans Americana.  Everything that\u2019s not country or pop, that\u2019s Americana,\u201d Harrison says.<\/p>\n<p>While the Exiles identify as West Texans, at some point they all felt a need to move from their homes.  \u201cAustin had a lot of opportunities,\u201d Gilmore explains, \u201cthat, for me, Lubbock didn\u2019t quite have.  Even though so much good stuff came from Lubbock, there was something going on in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love El Paso,\u201d Gutierrez adds, \u201cthat\u2019s where I\u2019m from.  But you have to drive eight hours to tour anywhere, and that\u2019s a difficult thing.  There\u2019s Albuquerque and there\u2019s Tucson, but I think where big things were happening musically was in central Texas.  That is part of the reason that we all had to exile ourselves from our hometowns, if we wanted to do this thing for real.\u201d  Leal says, \u201cThere was a lot of synchronicity, kindred journeys that met at one time and just happened with this band.  That\u2019s the cool story about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"uk-text-center fdn-pullquote-block fdn-pullquote-align-center\"><p>              <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A\/\/www.houstonpress.com\/music\/west-texas-exiles-celebrate-release-of-new-album-21307110&amp;text=%22We+just+act+like+morons.++We%E2%80%99re+all+past+our+twenties%2C+you%E2%80%99d+think+we+would+start+acting+like+adults%2C+but+we%E2%80%99ve+shown+that+we%E2%80%99re+never+going+to+stop+acting+like+morons.%E2%80%9D\">          <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We just act like morons.  We\u2019re all past our twenties, you\u2019d think we would start acting like adults, but we\u2019ve shown that we\u2019re never going to stop acting like morons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>           <span class=\"fdn-pull-quote-twitter-link uk-flex-inline uk-flex-middle\">tweet this <\/span>        <\/a>          <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>  The Exiles new album (produced by Harrison and Michael Ingber) is called <i>8000 Days<\/i>, and the accompanying video provides a familiar travelogue through Texas, with images of small towns, highways and souvenir shops seen along the way, as the band makes its way from one gig to the next.  What does the band do to make touring tolerable?<\/p>\n<p>Rising from his reclining position on the couch, Davis answers, \u201cAct like complete idiots and make each other laugh.\u201d  Then Leal jumps in.  \u201cUsually in a band, everybody\u2019s doing their own thing, listening to their own music or whatever, but, for me, our energy is really great travelling.\u201d  Back to Gutierrez.  \u201cI think the answer to that is that we don\u2019t intentionally do anything.  We just act like morons.  We\u2019re all past our twenties, you\u2019d think we would start acting like adults, but we\u2019ve shown that we\u2019re never going to stop acting like morons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Putting hijinks on the road aside for a moment, when the band does get serious, what does the creative process look like?  What was the mindset when recording began for <i>8000 Days<\/i>?  \u201cWe grabbed some songs that we felt good about, that mixed well together, and showed the breadth of what we\u2019re doing, having three singer-songwriters,\u201d Harrison says.  \u201cWe wanted to make a cohesive-ish record that hit a bunch of different angles.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"West Texas Exiles - \u201cTwo Hands\u201d live on Purple Bee TV\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ArkqwlBY_oM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>  Speaking of which, how are decisions made as to whose songs are recorded and performed, and in what sorts of ratios, since that can be a big deal for many bands?  Gilmore steps up to take this one.  \u201cWhen we play live shows, we look at the setting and [ask], \u2018What songs are going to work for the occasion?\u2019  We do try to incorporate a little bit of everybody, but we\u2019re pretty good about putting the ego aside, instead of \u2018Oh, it\u2019s my turn.\u2019\u201d Harrison adds, \u201cThere\u2019s very little ego with these guys [in terms of] \u2018Who\u2019s getting the next song?\u2019  We just kind of feel it [and ask], \u2018What\u2019s the best next song right now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is an appealing and genuine &#8220;Kum-By-Yah&#8221; vibe surrounding the Exiles.  All of the members seem to have an unwavering commitment to their joint venture.  \u201cI have a very small side hustle, but the band comes first.  First, second and third,\u201d Gutierrez says.  \u201cI do sit in and play with some other bands, but all I do is talk about the West Texas Exiles to all their fans,\u201d Davis adds.  Harrison is next.  \u201cThere\u2019s only one chance you get to be in a band like this, so you\u2019ve got to make room for it.\u201d  Then Leal speaks up.  \u201cThey know, any gig, I\u2019m in.  Unless I\u2019m dead!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>The West Texas Exiles will perform at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, at McGonigel\u2019s Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk.  For more information, call 713-528-5999 or visit <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mcgonigels.com\/shows\/west-texas-band-exiles-album-release-late-show\/\" target=\"_blank\">mcgonigels.com<\/a>.  $37 and up.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>For more on the West Texas Exiles, visit <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westtexasexiles.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">westtexasexiles.com<\/a>.&#13;<br \/>\n        &#13;\n      <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script>\n    !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n    fbq('init', '701597819931765'); \/\/ Insert your pixel ID here.\n    fbq('track', 'PageView');\n    <\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.houstonpress.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the 19th century, Horace Greeley wrote, \u201cGo west, young man!\u201d and encouraged those seeking a better life to head past the Mississippi River toward the riches that were promised in frontier America. In the case of the West Texas Exiles, it was actually a case of heading east to find their fortune. Toward Austin, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2040987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[24356,22005,22292,377759,21800,352307],"class_list":["post-2040986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-americana","tag-concerts","tag-houston","tag-mucky-duck","tag-music","tag-west-texas-exiles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/West-Texas-Exiles-Celebrate-Release-of-New-Album.webp.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2040986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2040987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2040986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2040986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2040986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}