Sometimes you have to ask what I like to call “duh” questions in interviews. For my interview with Texas Country singer/songwriter/producer Paul Eason, my “duh” question was why he decided to pursue country music.

It was clear from the moment he walked into the interview that he was made for country music. His scraggly beard and light blue eyes remind you of real-life cowboys like Ty Murray and the late Lane Frost. His deep voice startled me at first, but I quickly realized it made perfect sense. He has one of those classic deep country voices like George Strait or Garth Brooks.

Most of all though, it was his endearing charm that reminded me of those quiet cowboy types—so self-confident that they say only what’s needed rather than filling awkward silences with meaningless jabber.

At any rate, I went ahead and conjured my most oblivious voice and asked why Paul chose Texas country as his musical genre.

“I guess that even though I grew up in the middle of a city my friends and I always listened to country music and wore boots and drove big trucks around,“ he told me, hinting at the ease with which he fell into this musical style.

It also didn’t hurt that he spent much of his childhood at his family’s ranch in Bellville, TX, the locale where his parents now permanently reside.

But the reasons for his choice run deeper than his friend’s influence and as I kept digging, I found that Paul has the ability to play several genres.

It was at age 12 that he began playing guitar, shortly after he had confiscated his sister’s guitar, which she had received as a Christmas gift. His dad played in a Motown Band and once we got into it, he realized that he actually has a very musical family, which he seemed surprised by as he told me, “My uncle plays as well and he was a fulltime country singer, formerly an opera singer. He went to Carnegie Mellon and he’s got a great voice. His wife was a country singer. My other aunt is married to a jazz pianist that’s traveled the world. My cousin is a drummer, in high school, and is touring around the state. None of us were really raised in a musical household except that my dad would play the occasional show.”

In his early guitar picking days, he experimented with other genres and went through “phases” as he calls them. “I started listening to country music when I was still really young, but then I went through some phases. When I started playing guitar, it seemed like a good time to start listening to new music. I played in some rock and punk bands. We went through a bunch of those kinds of bands. Then I got into jazz in ninth grade and eventually learned the bass so that I could get into High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston.”

His performing arts high school, which has turned out the likes of some remotely famous people you might know such as Beyonce and Jason Moran, provided a particularly formative experience for Paul. “It was awesome. I learned tons about music. I feel like I learned more there than I did in college. Probably because I was around a bunch of guys that went on full scholarship to Julliard, are friends with Wynton Marsalis, and who have played at the Lincoln Center and toured the world.”

Paul’s performance experiences haven’t been quite as fancy as his classmates, but it was performing that drew him to the world of professional musicians. “Our first gig was at this place called ‘The Abyss’ in Houston. The place is just like the name implies. It was condemned a few months after we played there, but I made about $20 and from then on I knew that it was the coolest thing that I could make money from playing guitar.”

With his mind made up Paul went onto study music production in college. He majored in sound recording technology which encouraged his love for producing music, a love that allowed his attraction to music to come full circle as he just produced his sister’s first album.

He also came by his production talent at an early age. “I produced both of my own albums because growing up I always played the drums, the bass, the guitar and I sang. And I had a four-track recorder so I’d record each part and put the stuff together and be my own band for a while. In college I spent most of my time in the studio. So I hope I’m qualified to produce and I’m also producing two other things. I love to put instruments together and make songs.”

It was also during college that Paul formed his current band. They are an eclectic bunch with talents and tastes ranging from choral composition to genuine Texas fiddling. “The bass player’s first love is hard core funk—George Clinton, P-funk. The drummer’s first love is hard rock. Van Halen is his favorite band. Taylor is classically trained and Paul is the only one who originally played country music, but I think it makes for an interesting band.”

Paul described them for me while we talked:

“Taylor Davis is the piano player. I’ve known him the longest. He’s the music director at a church in Houston, and he’s also a published composer. He’s sold like 250,000 pieces of his choir music, and he’s scored a couple of independent movies. He’s really talented in his own right.

Drummer, Luke Richards and bass player Daniel Rhodes, I both met at Texas State in the jazz department. So that adds an interesting element because they are funk jazz guys playing in a country band. It just adds other influences into our music.

Paul Bruner is our fiddle player. His wife came to all our shows and she told us her boyfriend played fiddle and that he’s really good. I didn’t believe her, but then he played with us and he is really good. Now we are best friends.”

Once he found this harmonious group, he became even more serious about making it professionally, throwing caution to the wind and to the idea of a more stable job. Paul admitted, “I always knew my career was going to be something with music, but I guess there’s a point when I dropped out of college to pursue music that I realized this is the real deal. But I already knew and I didn’t second guess my decision.”

That self-assurance comes from his genuine love for all aspects of music making. This love became clear when I asked Paul what part of making music he could never give up. After much indecision, he replied, “I don’t know if producing or the artist part of it is more fun. I guess the songwriting because that’s where it all starts.”

He admitted that most of the songs he writes at least begin with something that has happened to him, but often there is some fiction thrown in with that truth. “I think a lot of people’s songs start out as true stories. My first albums were. Well, I guess I made up a few of the songs. A lot of them are at least related to personal experiences. One of the songs on my last album was based on experience, but I just turned it into a more interesting story.”

His favorite types of songs—sad, slow ballads—are almost always true because “I don’t think I’d make up a sad song, or at least a sad relationship song. Definitely my slower, emotional songs are usually the truth. I do like to make up songs where people die at the end. Tragic songs I guess you could say.”

Most of all he likes songs that tell a story, which is what really drew him to work within the Texas Country genre. “I’ve always appreciated music that’s a lot about the lyrics and that tells stories. And a lot of country music doesn’t do that, especially a lot of current Nashville stuff. But a lot of Texas stuff is really authentic music. Its not usually changed much by labels and it’s actually the artists writing the songs. I also really like the whole southwest America, Texas, Mexico stuff and that music tells stories about cowboys. I also like instrumentation—country guitars always fascinated me. It’s a combination of the songs and the instruments. So basically the music is what I like,” he said with a laugh.

When you hear Paul’s music, you may hear elements of TX Country greats like Robert Early Keen and college roommate, Lyle Lovett, whose music has been very influential on Paul. He also digs Allison Kraus and the older work of Pat Green.

His dream is to have a career that follows in their footsteps and he envisions his greatest performance as “playing a sold out show at Gruene Hall. I’d be completely happy being Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett. They can tour the country and have big, sold out shows, but they aren’t like big mega stars. They could probably come in here and we wouldn’t even recognize them. Well, maybe not Lyle Lovett because of the hair, but,” he smiled.

He’s had a taste of that kind of fame, although he definitely didn’t see it coming. “We just played in France this July for 15,000 people. They treated us like rock stars and we did autograph signings over an hour. It was pretty nuts. It was a blast.”

While Paul has recently been double-crossed by his booking agent (a tragedy like those any real cowboy would face), he still counts himself as blessed to be able to make a living doing what he loves. Currently, he manages all aspects of his band including their booking and maintaining their website while producing their albums and writing their music.

He counts himself equally blessed to have a family that really supports him in the pursuit of his passion. “Everyday I just love the fact that I can control my own destiny and work on what I want to do and be really productive. I love being able to travel and play guitar and drink beer for a living.”

The last thing I asked Paul was if he believed we were made only to do one thing in life. He told me, “I don’t think I believe in predetermination or anything, and I also think that if I wanted to, I could go do something else. But for me it’s the only thing I could possibly ever dream of doing.”

So to all you truck-driving, boot-wearin’ cowboys and cowgirls out there: do what you dream.

And thanks for the wisdom, Cowboy.

Visit Paul at: www.pauleason.com

Paul Eason Band in Europe

Cowboy Paul