Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall launch Big Loud Texas to elevate musicians in the Lone Star state
DALLAS - From Beyoncé to Willie Nelson, Selena Quintanilla to George Strait, the list of music icons from Texas is long.
And now, a Nashville label wants to continue and even elevate that tradition, with the help of a couple of artists from the Lone Star State.
In November, Big Loud announced that longtime collaborators Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall had launched Big Loud Texas. The goal? To find Texas artists and elevate them without relocating them.
"Texas music has got such a long history of influencing not just Texas, but the world," said Austen Adams, chief operating officer at Big Loud. "You could go on all day with the list of influential artists out of the state of Texas. And so our idea is, how do we keep that going, but do it in a way where we get to be a part and embrace the culture as opposed to trying to change it."
Despite the variety in talent across the state, there hasn't always been the infrastructure to take artists to the next level.
"Texas has been historically a great place for young artists to develop and grow," said Brian F. Wright, a popular music historian at the University of North Texas College of Music. "But it hasn't been great for them to break into the larger musical conversation."
Randall, a Grammy-award-winning artist from Dallas, said the idea of elevating Texas artists has been something both he and Lambert have been interested in for a while, and this opportunity with Big Loud came at the right time.
"Miranda has always been great at that," Randall said. "She always waves a big flag for people she's a fan of, especially Texas artists ... I love working in Texas when I can. It's a little bit selfish because I get to come home a lot."
He said he hopes the label can bring attention to all of the music Texas has to offer.
"Texas is kind of its own country, especially when it comes to music," Randall said.
Dylan Gossett
Randall believes Big Loud Texas has found something special in its inaugural artist Dylan Gossett. He describes the singer-songwriter's style as reminiscent of Texas legends like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Kris Kristofferson.
"He's like a modern version of those poets," Randall said. "His songs are really heavy and really heady lyrically."
According to Adams, Gossett has the key component they're looking for in any artist they sign is artistry.
"We heard Coal for the first time, I was like, oh, this is amazing," Adams said. "I haven't heard this before. And this voice is incredible and the lyrics are great ... and then you meet him and he's just a great guy with a lot of creative vision and a lot of drive."
Gossett was signed to Big Loud Texas in partnership with Mercury Records late last year. He's already busy touring around the country and the world.
"I think every day I'm kind of wondering how all this happened," Gossett said.
Before signing with Big Loud Texas and Mercury Records, Gossett was making music in his bedroom, uploading songs to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon. Now, he's being mentored by Randall and Lambert.
"I was a little stars truck at first," Gossett said. "They're always checking in on me, and we're texting each other making sure everyone's on the same page and everyone's happy. It's a great relationship."
Gossett plays in Dallas at The Cambridge Room at The House of Blues on Wednesday night. This summer, his tour will take him to Europe. But he's grateful to keep his home base in Texas when he's not on the road.
"I love the fact that I'm from Texas," he said. "I never want to leave Texas."
Texas' Music Culture
Wright said Texas' size and diversity are some of the reasons a lot of famous artists come from the state.
"There are so many thriving local music scenes in Texas," Wright said. "I think that makes a good spot for new labels to seek out new talent that has been untouched by New York and Nashville and Los Angeles."
Cathy Ragland, an associate professor of musicology at UNT College of Music said that although Texas does have a rich history of country music, there are more genres the state has to offer.
"I think Texas is unique because you've got very strong Mexican influence, and then you've got that mixed with the German and Czech polka music," Ragland said. "It's a big place, it's not one thing."
Adams said while looking for the next artist to sign to Big Loud Texas, they aren't looking for musicians only in the country genre.
"We're just looking for the person," he said. "We're open to whatever genre that may be in. And the good news is our label supports multi-genre."
