5 writers, 5 questions, 1 band, hand-picked by the MWA writers. Welcome to FIVE x FIVE. This week: The folk-punk washboard stylings of Texas Plant.
How did you guys start making music together?
Texas Plant formed in 2013 but we’d all been friends for quite a while prior. In it’s infancy we were doing it just to have fun, play parties, and explore another outlet for creativity.
Has being from the Midwest influenced your music?
Definitely. Ohio and Lake Erie have been a big influence. It’s not glamorous or easy out here and that’s had a huge impact on us.
Your self-titled album came out almost a year ago, has your sound changed much since then? What should we expect on the next release?
Our sound has stayed relatively the same but we’re experimenting a lot more with our writing to keep things from getting stale. We have a few new songs we’ve been trying out live. Lots of our new material is still being worked out but a second album isn’t far off the horizon.
Do you ever feel pigeonholed as simply a “folk” band because you have both a washboard and banjo player?
It’s very easy for people to interpret us as folk band because our instrumentation kind of lends itself to that genre. But that hasn’t stopped us from playing with bands from all over the musical spectrum. We love playing shows with a melting pot of styles. It keeps things interesting.
How did you come to marry bluegrass and punk to create your sound? I mean, you’re throwing some badass sound down with a washboard.
One night bluegrass and punk had a couple drinks together one thing led to another and nine months later Texas Plant was here! Seriously though, it was never a conscious effort to sound the way we do it just developed over time as our styles and influences blended together.
The band’s self-titled album is available free to stream and download via Bandcamp (and it’s worth three times that price). Keep an eye out for more from Texas Plant and catch them live if you’re in the Cleveland area!
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