In the world of traditional country music, if you find the stretch of highway where Bakersfield and Austin come together, you’ll find Jerry Zinn’s band West of Texas. Twangy electric guitars, crying pedal steel, a driving rhythm section and Jerry’s deep voice come together for an orgy of the ears that serves up honky-tonk, western swing, and truck driving country, recalling the giants of country music: Buck Owens and Merle Haggard; Bob Wills and Ray Price; Lefty Frizzell and George Jones, just. To name a few.

Jerry Zinn, the singer, songwriter and leader of West of Texas, was born in California but grew up all over the world in a military family. Discovering vintage country music through his grandfather’s record collection, he was bitten with the urge to form his own original group and write his original songs. The first iteration of the West of Texas band began in 2003, and the group shared the stage with other purveyors of “real” country music, such as James Intveld, Red Meat, Wayne Hancock, Big Sandy, 1100 Springs, among others.

The original group released a 3-song EP in 2009 and began working on a full-length album. Unfortunately, singer Jerry Zinn had health problems that forced a seven-year hiatus for the group. When Zinn recovered and found himself able to sing again, an exciting new lineup of West of Texas assembled in 2019, just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down live music across the globe.

Jerry went into the studio in 2020 to finish the album he had started over ten years earlier. Titled “Heartache, Hangovers and Honky Tonks,” this great new album release showcases the versatility and power of Jerry’s voice, original songs, and the Bakersfield-meets-Texas concept he had begun years earlier. With the release of the new album, West of Texas are ready for the world to open up again, when barrooms and honky-tonks and lovers of traditional country music are ready for their exciting brand of California twang!