A third generation Austinite, Al Staehely splits his time between Houston and the Big Bend high desert area of far West Texas. His album of new music, Somewhere in West Texas, was recorded in Marfa, TX and features an all star cast of musicians including Fran Christina (Bonnie Raitt, Fabulous Thunderbirds), Scrappy Jud Newcomb (Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Patty Griffin), and Chris Maresh (Willie Nelson, Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd).
The album features a tight band as mentioned above and Jimmie Dale Gilmore loves the album too, stating “Something Good is Gonna Happen - in fact it already has! The new album “Somewhere in West Texas” by Al Staehely is full of heart, humor and fun. This recording is a long overdue, surprising, genre-leaping addition to the catalog of an iconic rock star. His Texas roots shine through as do the musicianship, pitch-perfect, no-frills production. It is a jewel.”
Al Staehely is the only person on the planet who has played both Carnegie Hall and provided legal services for Stevie Ray Vaughan. After several successful tours as the lead vocalist, bass player and chief songwriter in the band Free from 1971 to around 1980, where Al dusted off his law degree and worked as a lawyer by day and musician by night. He played shows with Roy Orbison, Emmylou Harris and Jefferson Starship along with two European tours with John Cipollina and Nick Gravenitis (of Quicksilver Messenger Service and Electric Flag, respectively) documented by the LP Monkey Medicine, which was recorded in Hamburg and featured three of Al’s songs. Back in Texas, just as he was beginning to build his law practice, Polydor Records came calling and in 1982 released Staehely’s Comet, his long-awaited debut record, which was released in Europe but didn’t release in the USA until Steady Boy Records issued it in 2011 (under a new title Al Staehely and 10k Hours. The label also released an EP called Cadillac Cowboys from Al Staehely and the Explosives and he frequently tours and plays live shows all over the place.
Below is the video for his new single from Somewhere in West Texas, “Mercy of the Moon.” After that, you can sample the entire album via the Apple Music Player.
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