Story and Photography by Michael Rushton • Rockshow Pics • www.rockshowpics.com
A Musical Roundhouse Kick to the Face…Texas Style!
SONS OF TEXAS are to Southern Rock what Sriracha is to hot sauce. The first time you try either, the first thing out of your
mouth is “God Damn!” as you shake your head and push your eyeballs back into your skull. As you spend the next few minutes
blurting out expletives and wondering in disbelief how something could be this awesome, one thing suddenly comes to mind-you’ve got to have more…. lots more!
The name of the band holds true, as its roots go back to a group of childhood friends growing up together in the border town
of McAllen, Texas, where they all still live. Their song “Baptized in the Rio Grande” almost holds true. Lead singer MARC
MORALES explains when it all started: “I was like 4 years old and would sing to the girls in school. It made them smile and
show interest, and right then, at that young age, I knew I was on to something.” MIIKE and NICK VILLAREAL--the younger
brothers of a close friend-- were already playing drums and bass guitar in their garage, so it just seemed fitting to take this to
the next level. Guitarist JES DE HOYOS and Lead Guitarist JON OLIVARES joined the band...and Sons of Texas was born!
The band played small gigs through high school and eventually competed in a local “Battle of the Bands”, where they won first
place. After graduation, the band split up as they each went to sow their own seeds of creativity, but as fate would have it, all
those projects failed and they all returned to what had worked from the start. Morales says, “Once we got back together, that’s
all she fuckin wrote!”
The band delivers a powerful blend of Blues, Metal and Southern Rock, with influences taken from just about everything-including family, life in a Texas border town, and life on the road. The members write collaboratively and once you get through
just the first three tracks of their debut album, it’s clear that this process works quite well.