Yows Music

I was born right here in the great city of Austin, Texas. I grew up next door to Christopher Cross and right down the street from the Vaughn brothers. Ian Moore was a few blocks away. I discovered music at an early age (don't all bios start off this way?). My mother was (and still is) a devout disciple of folk music. My first concert was John Denver and then PP&M-a harrowing beginning for a budding songwriter to be sure. But I would find rock and roll soon enough.

Unfortunately, growing up in a music city was not to be. My dad took a job behind the "Pine Curtain" when I was ten. Tyler, Texas is where I came of age. My friends and I would sit on each others bedroom floors all night, trading cassettes and just listening to what was happening on the outside. Being in the Bible Belt made it difficult to get anything besides Richard Marx or Cindi Lauper at our local Hastings. So every month or so, one of us would head up to Dallas with our folks. We would hit Bill's Records and spend as much cash as we had on records and cassettes. Then we would listen some more.

The Smiths changed my life around that time. I fell in love with Johnny Marr's guitar melodies and listened to lyrics for the first time. One of my best friend's mother took us to the "Queen is Dead" show at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. I'll never forget that show as long as I live. It's where I saw my first Mohawk. It's where I discovered the power that five guys bashing on basic instruments could wield on a raging crowd of hormone-soaked adolescents. I was hooked.

Then came my skating years. It was during this era that I found Husker Du, T.S.O.L., Black Flag, U.K. Subs, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, Suicidal Tendencies, The Clash, and, of course, the Sex Pistols. It was easy to love and gave me the courage to drop in on a 3' vert. I wiped, of course. Yard sale. At some point in there, I got a guitar. My parents were not the most encouraging lot. But I would persist until I finally secured a small Fender amp and a Hondo electric guitar that looked like a Les Paul Special. I picked up a little Ratt, Van Halen and various other cheese because it was easy to get the music sheets. Remember, this is East Texas.

Then it was off to college and back to Austin. The University of Texas is a big place. I found lots of small corners there. "Alternative" music was working for me. R.E.M, Dinasaour Jr., The Replacements, The Reivers, The Lemmonheads, Pavement, the list goes on... The difference was that now I could finally SEE all of my heroes when they came through town. I was either at Liberty Lunch, The Hole in the Wall or the Texas Union every night of the week. It was heaven. And inspiration was everywhere.

Finally, I joined my first band...The Grieves. I basically drank beer with the guys until they finally let me play rhythm guitar. They were already on a management contract. It was awesome. We played around the state and wore our black jeans and black boots. We rocked. I think my buddy Keith Langford (The Gourds) may have had something to do with getting me in because we shared a love of hunting and an appreciation for "normal" people. It's good to have a friend on the road. The ride was fun, but short. I was kicked out because there was not enough room in the van for both me and the guy who was bank-rolling the tour who seemed to think gracing the band with his glorious, but useless presence was more important than a full guitar sound. The music business is like that. It was for the best, though. The Grieves didn't last to finish the tour and I ended up dating the bass player's girlfriend while he was away. The music business is also like that.

This abrupt change put me back in the driver's seat, though. I vowed never to play for a band again. I would run my own show. "Push" was the result. Sean O'Keefe, Carmen Meyer and me-a power trio with a hot-chick bass player. We rocked. This is when I started my song-writing career. My tunes were short and to-the-point. They were also very sloppily crafted and silly. I guess there were one or two keepers in there.

Then life got a little crazy. I met a sweet little woman who took my breath away and took my vows. Eventually, I talked her into moving back to Austin and quickly re-formed the band. This time, Sean and I hooked bass player named Mike MacAnally (The Johns) and called ourselves "The Claymores". This group rocked as well...although not so lovely as Push. It was around this time that I was moving into the alt-country world. Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Son-Volt, The Jayhawks, Steve Earle, Neil and Young were my torches. The Claymores songs reflect this era well. There are many tunes from the Claymores that I still love to play. Check out the store here on the site to pick up a copy of our CD. I have a box full in the attic.

The Claymores drank too much beer and I think that we eventually just got bored with each other. I took some time off to write some new tunes. These turned out to be a bit more traditional country-sounding. I was going for more rocking tunes, but what comes out comes out and sometimes you ain't got no say. I started listening to 70s country and became enamored with Gram Parsons. This was another life-changing experience for me. Once again, I felt small. Sometimes to grow, you need to shrink a bit, I guess. The end result was Ransom Tullis and the Luxury Liners. Ransom is my great, great grandfather's name. I took 'Luxury Liners' from a the Gram tune of the same moniker. I dug up some real superstars for this band. Michael McGeary agreed to come out of retirement when I told him I was looking for a drummer who played like the guy on the Michael Martim Murphy tune "Cosmic Cowboy". McGeary says..."Why...that's ME! Yeah, me and "Murph" were in a session in New York and he wrote that while we were sittin' in some bar near the studio." I almost crapped myself. The funny thing is I was actually calling his boss Michael Christian to play with us and "Hambone" just happened to answer the phone instead. Shit, if that ain't providence, I don't know what is. Michael has also played with Jerry Jeff and the world famous Balcones Fault. Michael called his bud Dean Stinsmuhlen to join us...and he did. Dean was also with BF and the most solid bass player I have ever gotten to play with. And he's even a nicer guy. My buddy Pete Stiles (Meat Purveyors) agreed to flat-pick with us on the Tele and we were off.

Well, now you are current. I'm still playin with the boys, but trying to get my name out as a song-writer these days. I'd like to let someone else take it on the road while I stay home and cook burgers with the fam. So here I am. Songs for sale. And after all of these years, I have never played under my own name. Better late then never, I suppose...