I’m often asked what I look for when I interview talented recording artists. And while I am a vocal recording artist, I don’t pretend to be a songwriter or singer. But I’ll tell you a secret. While I do these interviews with remarkably talented people, I am always looking for common ground. When I interviewed Gary Pratt, he had just released a remarkable new album “Something Worth Remembering”. Knowing the folks at his record label (MTS), I’m certain there are people all over the country wanting to interview him. And between record producers and studio talent, ones nerves can get a little frayed, and while all this was his reality, he stopped his world as if we had the luxury of being old friends.
It’s easy to find common ground when he openly talks about his family ties and when he seems genuinely appreciative of the people around him who are working to help his career. His music production is spot on and fun to listen to. And he told me it is always important to relate to the crowd as if he enjoyed seeing their faces and wanted them to have as much fun as he was performing.
Episode 67 of our Free Range Texan Podcast brings a slice of Gary Pratt’s life, career and music … and a guy like Gary is exactly what enables us to have good music and worthwhile content that we can introduce our listeners to. He is our new friend here on the Free Range Texan, and we suggest that you enjoy our visit with this singer, songwriter, recording artist, and entertainer that will be worth your time. Honestly, I’ve got a grin on my face just thinking about the time spent making a new friend. Enjoy!
Savannah has a quality about her that can only be described as “the camera is her friend.” Not only that, but the microphone and her various and sundry audiences all go together to create a fun recording artist with some great songs. Just below is one of her recent video releases “Soft Place to Land,” and when you watch this, it’s clear to everyone that she enjoys performing in front of the camera as well.
She is at least a second generation jazz professional and one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. But the thing that drew us to her was her remarkable music. I don’t know why we have waited so long to bring real jazz to our Free Range Talent File, but the seal has been broken and our eyes are open. Louise Cappi caused us to remember that we have overlooked a uniquely American brand of music. And she is a perfect ambassador for our Free Range Texan audience.
All of the usual stuff is in place, post-COVid she has begun to work again. Her web site (
If you don’t believe in miracles you’ll probably figure that we made this whole thing up. If you do believe in miracles, get ready to hear one that is only a few days old and happened right before our eyes in the life of my life-long friend, Stan Troy.
Podcast producers are always looking for content, but rarely is a real life miracle laid in our lap. This story is not true because our Free Range Texan Podcast says so, or because Stan Troy says so. It’s true because some of the finest doctors and research scientist that Houston, Texas has to offer say so. So, believe it or not, here is just what happened to our good friend, Stan. Free Range Texan Episode 63 is the first of its kind, and hopefully not the last.
On our Podcast it is always our goal to find the parts of an artist’s story that glitter above and beyond the everyday norms. Sometimes you work harder and sometimes the person’s personality gives you a more comfortable run. Shimmer Johnson gave us the type of interview that we walked away from thinking that we had a new and enjoyable friend in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Shimmer is a pro with a work ethic that commands respect from anyone in the business who learns the daily steps of her music career. If she opens up with you, you find out that very little has ever been handed to her on a silver platter. And she has an amazing grasp of today’s music industry. Oh yes, she has developed a good production team with which she writes and records music with a voice reminiscent of Judy Collins or Alison Krauss.
Shimmer Johnson is unique, and we here at the Free Range Texan are glad to have met her. The people at our studio asked me, “What did you think of Shimmer Johnson?” I just smiled and said, “I like her.” Her video 
To anyone who has grown up in or around the State of Texas, you know that the Marfa Lights are a part of the lore of our land. What has always intrigued me is that they are in fact a real phenomena. Every few years or so there are scientists or university study groups that announce that they have cracked the case of the Marfa Lights. But when they apply their theories to the actual phenomena, like so many others before them they are quickly proven to not be able to exactly explain what the lights are doing or what causes them.
One of my favorite stories is when the government decided that they would get to the bottom of the Marfa Lights. They took a battalion of Comanche Black Hawk helicopters to the popular viewing sight and waited to chase them down. Our government’s finest flying machines were not capable of so much as even coming up with a theory. In short, the lights play games. In our Free Range Texan Podcast Episode 58 we tell a story of one such event. There are hundreds of stories and hundreds of sightings, and they are always unique.
If you were around him much in the musician community you would know that he was appreciated and respected for his talent and/or friendship. In regards to all the things that I have just said, he was a real “what you see is what you get” kind of guy. I liked him and I guess I always did. If you were walking in to spend the evening somewhere, and you found out that Mike Pritchard would be singing, it was a good thing.
Our visit with Mike Pritchard occurred on Episode 34. He was absolutely candid and talked personally with our listeners. For me it was simple. I was just talking with an old friend. In Episode 57 of our Free Range Texan Podcast we step back and revisit the last time we thoroughly enjoyed Mike Pritchard’s stories and talent. Thank you Mike (he always called me Mikey) for this one last time you shared you life and your music. Brother, we will see you down the way ….
First, let’s look at the facts. Producing the Free Range Texan is not free. There are a number of people who have or do commit a significant part of their time, focus and funds to make the Free Range Texan roll out on time every two weeks. I’m about to share something with you that I don’t normally talk openly about. The truth is we have dozens of really great ideas, but when it gets down to implementing the production process, our production funds simply aren’t in the budget … and we find ourselves stepping back, drawing a breath, and finding something else to work on. Sometimes it’s frustrating.
If a few weeks ago you would have told me that basically cutting the number of Free Range Texan episodes in half annually could be a good thing, I would just have bent over with a knot in my gut and walked away. I mean really! On the surface it would seem like somebody shot us with a torpedo. But then, we began to think about our production process and asked some pretty important “what if” questions.
What if we had twice the production time and budget per podcast than what we are currently working with? What if as a production team we no longer felt under the gun to find content, get it recorded and produced, and build an entirely new episode every two weeks? In big-time network programming, each show has three to five production teams. And like a deck of cards, the show’s episodes are dealt out to the team members so that each team has a number of weeks to complete their production by the time it airs. We are not big-time network producers. We have one team and we produce everything, on time. So spending more time with a greater budget per episode started to look like a higher quality podcast with a higher quality life for its producers.
This is gonna be fun! To our regular listeners, please forgive us for not knocking on your door with a brand new episode every other Thursday. We still love our listeners alot! And we promise to continue to bring everything that you expect from our Free Range Texan Podcast to you with a few more layers of icing on our cake. We are genuinely excited about our new schedule as our last bi-weekly podcast rolls out Thursday, July 2nd. And our new monthly podcast schedule begins on August 1st, 2020.