By Annabelle Podmore
Ever since he could remember, he has loved music.
He used to carry around a CD player, and he had a collection of songs he’d listen to.
Now, his band’s album is on streaming platforms.
Class of 2020 alumnus Truett Heintzelman and his friend Philip Lupton have created a band, Briscoe, which released their debut album, “Flower Johnson,” on October 30.
“Briscoe started in the spring of 2019. Philip called me one day and said ‘Hey, I think we should take this music thing a little more seriously. We’ve already written songs, so I think it would be a lot of fun,’ and I said, ‘Heck yeah,’” Heintzelman said. “So we just kind of went for it, and started recording and playing shows.”
Lupton and Heintzelman both attend the University of Texas in Austin, so practicing together is much easier.
“We get together at least once a week, if not more,” Heintzelman said. “It’s not a designated time; sometimes we just need to run over some songs if we’re playing a show soon, but a lot of times we’ll just get together and play some stuff and have fun with it.”
Briscoe’s style is unique, but includes elements of both Americana and folk music. When recording their album, they featured a variety of instruments, such as the banjo, saxophone, and electric guitar.
“I play the guitar and a little bit of piano, and recording was fun because we got to bring in instruments we wouldn’t normally play, such as the bass and some percussion,” Heintzelman said. “Philip plays a lot of instruments well. He plays the guitar, the piano, the banjo, and the saxophone.”
Sometimes, Heintzelman and Lupton will get an idea for a song, write it independently, and then show it to the other. More often, though, they’ll collaborate on songs and bounce ideas off of each other.
“Sometimes you have an inspiration, something you want to write the song directly about, and it’s fun to try and figure out how to word things. Other songs are just an abstract idea, not really about anybody in particular,” Heintzelman said. “One thing that I’ve found myself doing since I’ve started writing music is hearing different phrases or different things and thinking that it could be a great line in a song.”
Growing up among music, there are several artists that inspire Heintzelman.
“One of my biggest lyrical inspirations is John Prine. His lyrics are just fascinating, and I try to think like that when I’m writing a song,” Heintzelman said. “Also Paul Simon, Rayland Baxter, the Lumineers, and of course, I don’t think there’s a single wannabe musician in the world who won’t tell you that the Beatles are an inspiration.”
The band has played predominantly backyard shows, including being one of the opening shows at a new park in San Angelo, Lupton’s hometown. Recently, they had a week-long stretch where they played two shows in Austin, and two in College Station.
“We’ve gotten written about by various groups, like an Austin music blog called Afterglow, which we were really excited about. They’ve written about some really cool people,” Heintzelman said. “There’s another Austin music blog called The Deli that wrote about us, as well as The Daily Texan here at the University of Texas.”
Balancing college and music hasn’t been easy. Both Heinztelman and Lupton have had to work hard to make sure they don’t fall behind with their busy music schedules.
“When we recorded our album, there were a lot of long hours in the studio. It was six days straight of recording. We’d go to the studio around 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon, and we wouldn’t get done until around midnight or later,” Heintzelman said. “After a few days of that, we were exhausted, and I’m sure we were snapping at each other. That process can get tiring, but it’s still a lot of fun.”
Despite its difficulties, Heintzelman says making music in Briscoe is the best decision he’s ever made. Briscoe’s album is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and many other streaming platforms.
“If you want to make music and record it, or if you just want to learn how to play the guitar or something of that nature, you should absolutely go for it,” Heintzelman said. “Of course, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies, but it is a blast and you get to play music for people, which is one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever felt in this world. To play for people and hear them singing lyrics that you wrote, is just really cool.”