Eddie Saenz

Born and raised in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Eddie Saenz was brought up by a community of country loving, honky tonk junkies that instilled the love for country music in the young child’s heart and soul. Influenced by the constant CD spins of country legends such as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in his dad’s pick-up, Eddie got lost in the world of music at age 9, when he first picked up a guitar.

He made the move to Nashville in August of 2010 to pursue a career in music, as well as a degree from Belmont University. Eddie was quickly inspired by the town’s community of songwriters, eager to find a place and a voice amongst a concrete sea of dreamers and doers. However, the reality of the current state of country music changed his starry-eyed perception. “I was starting to notice that times had changed and were still changing – they always will. New sounds, new ideas, everybody was drawing from a brand new deck of cards, and I was still all-in with an old pair of lucky sevens.”

Realizing that his style wasn’t quite along the lines of what’s played on the radio, he turned to an old mix CD that his cousin had made him before he left for college. A bright orange disc that was an audio encyclopedia of modern day Texas and Oklahoma song-slingers would become his newfound source of inspiration and direction.
“Listening and learning about the likes of Cross Canadian Ragweed and Robert Earl Keen motivated me to write songs that would matter, as well as aspire for a career that allowed me to be no one but myself. It encouraged me to be brave with my message, to have faith in authenticity and to tell my own truths,” says Saenz.

He did just that when he released his debut, self-titled EP in 2013. With songs such as “Highway 281” and “Something I Can Understand”, he honed in on his mission, singing about aspects of life that he felt were being tossed out of the lot. Now gearing up to record a full-length album, Saenz is ready with an arsenal of new material that he describes as, “The walk from the bar to the truck, the ensuing late-night/early-morning hour that presses you to think more about life than you might want to, the Saturday night phases with the Sunday morning stages.” He’s eager to two-step with tongue-in-cheek songs such as, “Arkansas” and “Georgia Girl”, but just as ready to release a sense of reflection with songs like, “Poor Man’s Son” and “First Call.” “At the end of the day, I just write what I know” - says the now 24 year-old - “And what I really know is hanging in honky tonks, and matters of the heart.”