WHEN JACOB STELLY ENROLLED AT TEXAS A&M IN 2017, HE BARELY KNEW HIS WAY AROUND THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR. BY THE TIME HE GRADUATED FOUR YEARS LATER, HE'D GROWN INTO AN ACCLAIMED SONGWRITER AND FULL-TIME ROAD WARRIOR, CREATING A SIGNATURE SOUND THAT FUSED TEXAS COUNTRY TWANG WITH RED DIRT ROOTS-ROCK AND ANTHEMIC AMERICANA.
RAISED TWO HOURS AWAY IN LIBERTY, TEXAS, STELLY GREW UP LISTENING TO CLASSIC SONGS BY GEORGE JONES, ALAN JACKSON, AND RANDY TRAVIS. "MY GRANDPA IS MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD, AND THOSE ARE THE SINGERS HE LOVED," HE REMEMBERS. HIS FATHER INTRODUCED HIM TO A DIFFERENT SOUND. "DAD LOVED ELVIS," STELLY ADDS, "BUT HE ALSO LOVED ELTON JOHN, THE BAND, AND A LOT OF 1970S ROCK & ROLL. EVEN BEFORE I BEGAN WRITING SONGS, I HAD ALL THIS AMAZING MUSIC PUMPED INTO MY EARS."
WHEN JACOB DISCOVERED TEXAS' RICH LEGACY OF HOMEGROWN COUNTRY MUSIC, SONGWRITERS LIKE RANDY ROGERS, DALTON DOMINO, AND PARKER MCCOLLUM WERE HOME STATE HEROES. DELIVERING STORIES ABOUT LIFE, LOVE, AND LOSS WITH A UNIQUELY TEXAN PERSPECTIVE. IT WASN'T JUST A SOUND; IT WAS A COMMUNITY. STELLY WAS HOOKED.
"I FELL IN LOVE NOT ONLY WITH THE MUSIC, BUT ALSO THE ATMOSPHERE THAT SURROUNDED IT," HE EXPLAINS. "IT WAS THIS AMAZING SCENE, THIS MASSIVE UPRISING OF RED DIRT COUNTRY, RIGHT OUTSIDE MY BACK DOOR. I WANTED TO BE PART OF IT."
