The Texas Gentlemen - TX Jelly (2017)

The Lone Star-bred collective, The Texas Gentlemen, takes its cues from some of the iconic acts of the past — the quicksilver brilliance of The Wrecking Crew and Bob Dylan’s one-time backers The Band are the most obvious examples. Founding member, Beau Bedford, who shares chief engineering and production responsibilities at Dallas’ Modern Electric Sound Recorders, assembled The Texas Gentlemen as an all-purpose backing band for an eclectic array of singer-songwriters, including Leon Bridges, Nikki Lane, Jonathan Tyler and Paul Cauthen. That deft fusion of what came before with what is right now develops through the members’ unswerving dedication to simply play to the best of their abilities, trusting their instincts, and letting the music guide them. Case in point: TX Jelly was created in less than a week — four days, start to finish — at Muscle Shoals’ singular FAME Studios. Pared down from the 28 songs the Gentlemen recorded in that 96-hour span, TX Jelly effortlessly connects way back to what’s next, summoning the spirits of American songcraft even as it heralds the arrival of 21st century talent. Cut live, with little use for the blinding polish and careful presentation of so much modern music, TX Jelly oozes with skill backed up by that hard-won authenticity. TX Jelly moves between contemplative and raucous, encompassing the full breadth of the American experience. The music touches on blues, soul, folk, country, rock and gospel — from first track to last, you can feel The Texas Gentlemen reaching deep inside themselves and finding what’s genuine — what illuminates the truth of the country’s rich, complicated and singular artistic history — and delivering it the only way they know how: real, raw and righteous.