Yes, you could boil The Big Texas Boys down to four Texans making music about Texas, for Texans. But unlike many of their younger contemporaries, this group of seasoned musicians is not merely wearing state pride on their sleeves or catering to a current musical trend. Theyre offering a broad perspective on the Great State of Texas. Front man Randy Hopper saw the rest and came home to the best.
A native of Waco, Hopper spent all of the 1980s touring continental Europe and the U.S. Midwest as bandleader and multi-instrumentalists in Top 40 country cover bands.
Tired of the monotony and frustrated that his band mates wanted nothing of his newfound songwriting interest, Hopper returned to Texas in the early 1990s, settling in Blue Ridge, a rural community between Plano and Sherman.
Already bitten by the songwriting bug, Hopper caught his first Ray Wylie Hubbard show in 1994 at Austin College in Sherman. The experience with the legendary singer-songwriter had a profound effect on not only his craft, but his soul. He spoke directly to my deepest darkest thoughts and enlightened me with his spiritual karma, Hopper says. Rays words touched me that night in a way that I had never been touched. When I talked to him after the show, it was like we were old friends.what a human being! Beyond the dynamic personality, Hopper saw in Hubbard an amazing songwriter true to his art. The encounter left him inspired to persevere while developing his own songwriting style.
Hopper wrote and performed whenever possible over the next decade, often with just his voice and guitar, the same as Hubbard had done at that show in 1994.
He began hosting and producing shows at the famed North Texas venue, Love & War, which brought him in contact with many of Texas musics biggest legends Billy Joe Shaver, Rusty Weir, Gary P. Nunn and, in 2003, nine years after their first and only meeting, Ray Wylie Hubbard. He asked me where Id been, like a long lost friend, Hopper recalls. The journey hed started me on would have taken a lifetime to explain.
Lead guitarist Jeff Davis started playing when he was nine years old. A multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, hes toured the world performing with artists as diverse as Percy Sledge, Jean Knight, and Vince Vance and the Valiants just to name a few. He has been a part of the Big Texas Boys, off and on, for the last eight years.
Stan Ragsdale has been playing bass for over two decades and is one of the most sought after players in North Texas. He has been with front man Hopper for over ten years.
Drummer J.P. Evans first live show was Johnny Cash at age 6. He was on to Van Halen by 11, but wised up and came back around to Cash at 25. His less is more approach to playing is just right for the Big Texas Boys repertoire, which can tend toward country-blues. Evans likens Hoppers song list to a good riding horse. Its the bands job to feed it just enough oats to keep it from getting ornery, Evans says.
![Exit 110 -- [NEW SONGS AND LAYOUT!]](http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/84/s_1d4b416bea1d4953a7d9d65b6814531a.jpg)
