Hey everybody! Today is a cool milestone for me.... Jason Michael Carroll's record Growing Up is Getting Old hits the stores today, and it features my song "Hurry Home" as track #10. I'll be derned....I finally got a major label artist to record one of my songs!!! Ha. He's been mentioning my name in on-air interviews and a few of you fans out there have already heard it on the radio. Still no word on whether or not it will be a single. If it IS, you'll hear it on the radio a lot and they'll make a video of it and all that fun stuff. We just gotta wait and see on that one.

    Another recent milestone is hearing my OWN voice on the radio for the first time. The local Texas country station here in Dallas (KHYI 95.3 The Range) has been playing my song "Back Porch Band" a few times a day here recently! Big thanks to John Murphy, Big Gus, Greg Patterson, Brett Dillon, and all the rest for believing in my music and playing it just because they like it.

    In other news, I'm going to record my new album with Radney Foster producing in June!! I couldn't be more excited to finally have these new songs recorded. It should be released in September, which is when I plan to hit the road here in Texas and Oklahoma with a four piece band. We're gonna be promoting a single to Texas radio and taking the Texas market by storm!
 
    Lastly and most importantly, Jodi and the baby boy inside her are both healthy and happy. He's due to be born on July 17th, and we've started taking birth classes once a week to prepare! He's kicking a lot, and he's already been to more honky-tonks and heard more country music in utero than I ever did growing up. Ha! He's probably two-stepping in there! Well, God bless you all and I wish you all the blessings that a life of love can offer. If you're in the Dallas area, check my show schedule and come on out and see me! Peace,

Zane

1. Family Man

My whole life I’ve always put “family” at the top of my priority list, yet Nashville was 600 miles away from them. I am genuinely happier now that I spend daily time with extended family---especially now that we’ve got a little one on the way.

2. Fans, Man.

There are just more country music lovers here! They go see live music regularly, they get excited about quality music, and they buy stuff to support the artists. They are the foundation upon which everything else is built, God bless ‘em.

3. I’m More Tuned-In

There are a bunch of radio stations in Texas that will (theoretically) play my music even though I’m not on a major record label. Just because they LIKE it. Are you kidding me? This is a rare and beautiful thing.

4. I’ve Got a Honky-Tonk Badonkadonk

Why do I feel so at home in EVERY Texas country venue? Hardwood floors, neon signs, friendly people drinking Shiner beer and eating chicken fried steak…it’s like I was born here or something. Oh yeah wait, I was.

5. Age Before Beauty

I’m a late bloomer y’all. I didn’t listen to country growing up, never went to bars, didn’t know a THING about the music business. Now that I’m finally getting the hang of this at age 31, I’m over the hill by Nashville standards. In Texas however, a lot of the most respected artists are over 50. That gives me a few more years to learn those scales on the guitar that I’ve been putting off.

6. Lock in Those Lyrics!

Yes, I sing. OK, I can play a little. But what really sets me apart from the crowd has always been my lyrics---and that’s what people down here in Texas value the most! They respect people who write their OWN songs and have something interesting to say. Like “If you got a sex change, I’d have to get one too.”

7. A Bigger Box

Country, rock, blues, folk, bluegrass…I love ‘em all, and I get turned on by writing a variety of different styles. In Nashville, only a few of the songs I write fit “in the box” of current mainstream top 40 country. In Texas, the box is big enough to include all (or at least most) of what I write.

8. A Bigger Backyard

When my little boy gets here, I don’t want to be galavanting around the country for months at a time. Good news is, in Texas there are a TON of great venues within 300 miles of my driveway. More than enough to make a living on the weekend and be home for church on Sunday. Maybe he and Jodi can even come along!

9. How would you like that cooked?  Rare.

I’m rare down here in Dallas. Up in Nashville, I couldn’t get anyone’s attention without stripping (which Jodi
disapproved of). After 3 months in McKinney, I was already playing at the local Performing Arts Center for an appreciative crowd! My years in Nashville have paid off by giving me experience and connections that not many people down here have.

10. ROOTS Music.

Jodi and I have roots here in Texas. We’re going to be here for the rest of our lives, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Knowing this allows me to build long-term relationships with all those fans, venues, and radio stations I talked about above. Here’s to a career that’s built to last!

 Hey y'all!  I've got a lot of big news so let's get started.  First off, if you haven't heard through the grapevine already, Jodi and I are going to have a baby in July!  AND, our sonogram recently revealed that it's a baby BOY!  Here's his first family photo, sucking his thumb....



No name yet...we'll keep you posted.  So needless to say, that's the big news that we're all excited about.  Jodi feels him moving around in there pretty frequently, and I've felt him from the outside too!  Talk about some life changes just around the corner....  We feel very blessed to have the gift of a new generation in our family.

In other news, I can now officially announce that I will be recording a new record in May and June with Radney Foster producing!  Radney is going to help me combine Texas-style honesty with Nashville-quality production and the result is going to truly be something special.  If you're not familiar with Radney, he is a highly respected singer-songwriter from Texas who lives and writes in Nashville.  His songs have been recorded by Keith Urban, the Dixie Chicks, Sara Evans, and others, and his producing credits include the Randy Rogers band, Roger Creager, and Brandon Rhyder.  We've already written one song together and there will be more where that came from!

Next, you really need to check out my March tour schedule.  I've got some great shows this month including the McKinney Performing Arts Center and opening for Max Stalling at the venerable Dallas venue Poor David's Pub.  Not to mention my weekly gig on Thursday nights at Love and War!  

For those of you that missed it, I had a great time playing at the Texas Independence Day Celebration at Love and War.  There were easily 400 people there and tons of great bands played throughout the day.  Here's a pic of me doing my thing, with Kylie Harris singing her wonderful harmony and bass player Mike Ray looking on.  



I also had a fun show in San Angelo, TX this weekend at "The House of FiFi DuBois!"  Thanks to Randy Hopper for inviting me to join him, Kylie for singing, Josh Rucker for his great harmonic playing, and my old friend Jason Yarborough for donating some sound equipment and playing bass!



It was great to meet all the super-nice folks in San Angelo, and I'd like to say thanks as well to FiFi and Toni...Jodi loves her shirt!  :)  

That's it for now y'all, but keep in touch as 2009 is sure to be a year full of big changes for me and my music!  Peace,

Zane

 January was a good month for me!  I got to play for the first time at some great Texas venues like TBones Bar and Grill and Bill's Records.  Here's the friendly crowd at TBones:



And here's the Texas-themed stage at Bill's Records in downtown Dallas, where I met several new fans and got some good tips on future gigs.  



After all the gigs and new friends, it was time to chill with family and watch the Super Bowl.  Even though I was rooting for the underdogs from Phoenix to win, I must say it was a very entertaining game.  I wonder if Jodi and her mom knew that the 3-D glasses were only for the commercials....

 Well folks!  Texas has been a lot of fun so far.  I got to reconnect recently with an "old" acquaintance from ACU named Aaron Watson who has done very well for himself as a Texas recording artist.  www.AaronWatson.com  A couple weeks ago I got to hang out on Aaron's tour bus, meet the guys in the band, and see them put on a great show at Crosswire in Paris, TX.  Thanks for the hospitality Aaron!  He and I talked about writing songs together in the future, and maybe doing some shows together as well, which would be great.  



Also, Jodi and I had a great show at Faulkner University last week.  Thanks to Zach, John, and all those who came out!   We went from there to Nashville where we spent a few days visiting friends and meeting with music folks.  I had a great co-write with Radney Foster, and he fed me some excellent beef and barley stew that he made.  That was the first time I'd met him, and we really hit it off!  I feel very lucky to get to do cool stuff like that.  

We also got to spend the night with our friends Matt Raum and Lori Davis, where Jodi discovered a love of the upright bass!  Could this be the beginning of her stellar music career?



It's nice to have a home in Texas, but still feel at home when we visit Nashville as well.  Here's looking forward to an exciting 2009 with lots of great new music and new friends!  In the meantime, it's a long 10 hour drive back to Nashville....gotta get my beauty sleep....

Well folks, after nine and a half years in Music City, Jodi and I are BACK IN TEXAS! We’ve moved in with Jodi’s grandparents and we’re going to be helping her mom take care of them. 


I’m still writing for Big Yellow Dog, and I can’t wait to put a band together and start playing out down here in the Lone Star State! Jason Michael Carroll’s new album should be out soon, featuring his version of my song “Hurry Home”, so I’ll let you all know when that happens.

For now though, we’re just happy to be back within spittin’ distance of our loved ones. Not...that...we...ever spit on each other..........on purpose...