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Back in 1999, Observer music writer Christina Rees saw the future of Dallas music. But she didn’t find it in the traditional, booming rock venues of Trees and the Curtain Club. Rather, she found it down the road, at Adair’s Saloon, in the form of four former area rock musicians giving the old country sound a go.
The band? Oh, just a small little upstart named Eleven Hundred Springs, who, more than a decade later, are still plying that same craft, albeit with just two of that original lineup’s players.
At the time, frontman Matt Hillyer’s move from more rock-infused material to “straight-up country” surprised the author. But Hillyer had his reasons:
“I write these songs, and now I’m realizing how fun this can be,”
Hillyer says. “We play stuff that’s fun to write, fun to go see, fun to
listen to.”
All this time later, the band maintains that same mantra–and, even with this year’s This Crazy Life, it still succeeds at it.
Back in 1999, though, the band had to defend its change in direction. Read why right here. Or, if you prefer, check out the original scans after the jump.
