By Jacob Pellegrino
Austin-based folk-rock duo Briscoe creates music inspired by nature and enlivened by their vocal harmonies and rich instrumentation. We recently had the opportunity to talk with the band on the heels of their debut album, “West Of It All,” which was released in September.
The members of Briscoe, Truett Heintzelman and Philip Lupton, met at a summer camp when they were still teenagers. They became fast friends and their artistic collaboration grew from a mutual love of music.
“We met almost 10 years ago now at a summer camp out in the Texas Hill Country and despite growing up in different cities, remained good friends through the years until we were finally together in Austin. We both went to UT…. We were friends long before we were bandmates,” Heintzelman shared. “And prior to that a lot of our friendship, a lot of what we bonded over, was music that we love and getting the plate together. And so I think we just kind of naturally started singing together and naturally found that two-part harmonies were kind of our bread and butter and so as we started to record music and write songs for Briscoe we wanted to put forth what we thought was our bread and butter, which is harmony based music.”
At a talent show later that week at summer camp, the two performed a cover of John Prine’s song “Paradise.”
“It was a song that we just both knew and loved and was just a very easy harmony to find… it was like the first time I’d ever really sang with somebody else. And so when you sing with somebody else for the first time and hear the harmony for the first time, pay attention to what it actually is, you’re kind of mind blown. And we figured that out and we’re like, oh my gosh, who’s got to play this for people and went to the talent show to play and had a blast. And actually funny enough we played a headline show a few weeks ago in Austin, our biggest headline show ever, and we covered that song again there which is a blast,” Heintzelman recalled. “That whole kind of late 60s through the 1970s period of music has had a huge influence on us. Guys like John Prine, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson. You know, just spanning a couple of different genres, but people who just write such wonderful songs with very clever and awesome lyrics, a lot of harmony. I mean, that’s just like the golden age of music. And hopefully our music reflects a lot of that, for sure taking a big influence from a ton of people like The Beatles and Grateful Dead, all those we’re big fans of.”
When asked about the one song from the album that they would like listener’s to check out, the group expanded on their first single and how it serves as a microcosm for the rest of the album.
“If we had to choose a theme song for the record, if you will, I think ‘The Wells’ is a great song that kind of captures a lot of different things about us from, you know, our instrumentation that we love with the upbeat folky feeling, lots of harmony oriented melodies, and thematically. It’s the first song on the record and captures a lot of what we portray throughout the rest of the record, which is a lot of experiences in nature and experiences of people we love and a combination of those things,” Lupton explained. “So ‘The Well’ was our first single and we put it out there first hoping that it would kind of prime people for the rest of the record, which is now out.”
One of the things that is the most evident throughout the album, aside from clear vocals and lush instrumentation, is the duo’s love of nature. The natural world not only serves as a source of inspiration for the two, but something that is regularly mentioned in the lyrics.
“Whether it’s hiking or fishing and just hanging out, it’s just such a sweet thing to be able to go spend time in small towns like Medina or Kerrville or outside San Angelo, where Phillip’s from, with our friends and family,” Heintzelman shared. “So I feel like a lot of [our time in the outdoors] is out at ranches and lakes that are all within two to three hours of Austin which is incredible.”
The duo further elaborated on music they listen to that might not be as strongly reflected in their recorded output.
“I think we listen to a lot more country music than is reflected. I think we have hints of country influence in our record… But I think we listen to just as much country as we do anything else, not like Nashville pop country, but more like this Americana highwayman country kind of thing we’re really into,” said Lupton. We listen to a ton of that and I don’t think that’s necessarily reflected in our music, a little bit, but not as heavy for the amount that we’ve listened to it.”
Having both studied at UT, Lupton expanded more on the influence of their time at the university on the duo’s songwriting.
“I studied hydrogeology in my time at the University of Texas, and it was a great major as a songwriter and a lover of nature because it would get me outside a bunch to do a bunch of different field work. And I think a lot of our work, if I had to put it in a nutshell, is themes of nature and how they relate to themes of life. The song ‘The Well’ is a great example of that. It was inspired by a project I did for a class in hydrogeology, about the Ogallala Aquifer and how it’s being depleted and it’s this massive well, if you will, that’s running dry,” recalled Lupton. “I did not study songwriting by any means, but we still apply different parts of our lives to songs that we’re writing. Especially from school, I think that’s a great example.”
The two also recommended a diner in Austin for people visiting when asked about any must visit places in the city.
“There’s this little place north of campus that was close to where we lived called the Red River Cafe. They have the best food. They have such good food and it’s just a small little kind of like Mom and Pop cafe. And you know if we can get their name out there then we want to do it. The River Cafe, we swear by it,” Heintzelman said.
When we spoke to the band, they were on the road to Pittsburgh for a stop on their first headlining tour. They shared their emotions as they embark on tour.
“We’re just having fun, it’s been a blast. You know, every city looks a little different. We’ve gone through some of these cities before supporting other artists. So we’ve got a little bit of a fan base, but a lot of them are brand new cities for us,” Heintzelman shared. “It’s everything from playing to 200 capacity rooms that are mostly full to some shows playing to less than 50 people, most of which haven’t ever heard of us before. So it’s a fun thing to kind of hit the road and build up some new fans around the country. Even just today, we spent most of the day driving through the state of Pennsylvania. It’s just incredibly gorgeous right now with all the leaves turning. So it’s been a blast. Just to experience all these things on the road.”
When asked if there was anything else Briscoe wanted to say to listeners, they spoke about their upcoming Houston show.
“I think the only other thing that people should know is that we want them to come see us play live. We’re coming to Houston in late October at White Oak Music Hall upstairs. And kind of a little slogan that we’ve sort of adopted is ‘live music and good times.’ If you come to a show, we think you’ll be very happy and content. Come see us play and have a good time,” Heintzelman explained.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Briscoe’s album “West Of It All” is available wherever you stream music.
