Wednesday, March 12   10:00 p.m.
The Ale House   (310 E 6th St (Alley Entrance))

  Jeff Hughes & Chaparral - Locked In The Big House
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For over twenty years, Jeff Hughes and Chaparral have been honing a unique blend of Honky-Tonk, Country, Roots and American pop music for a new generation of two-steppers in the Lone Star State. The band has been a mainstay in the club and dancehall scene since the late 80's, playing for many years on Austin's 6th Street at the Black Cat Lounge, holding court at The Continental Club on Mondays and the world-famous Broken Spoke on Thursday nights for a legion of hard-core, honky-tonk dancers.Thursday nights at The Broken Spoke has become an Austin icon of sorts, a magnate for good dancers, created by Mr. Hughes and the infectious groove of Chaparral's powerful rhythm section.

Growing up on a steady diet of influences that range from Lynn Anderson to Johnny Cash to Neil Diamond, and later indulging in the rise of alternative icons like Echo and the Bunnymen and Psychedelic Furs, it makes sense that Jeff Hughes' muses would be as diverse as the set lists he creates for his dances. The promising vocal and songwriting talents of Hughes, together with Sid Sanchez (lead guitar), Vic Gerard (bass), Mike Hardwick (pedal steel), and Lee Potter (drums), would take reign as one of Austin's most primed country acts to hit the scene in years. After 20 years, the group continues to energize it's audience with a friendly brand of honky-tonk, combining inspired original tunes and select covers that dancing feet simply cannot resist.

Spending his early years in Dallas and Beaumont, Hughes kept strong ties in the area and got a dose of Dallas'Deep Ellum punk scene after moving back to the pine tree lined highways of Southeast Texas where he grew up on the bayous of Beaumont,Texas. After moving to Austin to attend University of Texas, Hughes began to hone his musical skills and set his sights on the active live music circuit that Austin had to offer. Hughes' varied influences came to full light as Chaparral's roster was filled and dance floors soon swelled in response to the group's smooth traversing between country standards and two-stepping versions of songs like REM's "Rockville". While welcoming a veritable stockpile of Austin's brightest players onto the stage, Chaparral members have traveled and recorded with esteemed artists including Eliza Gilkyson, Marcia Ball, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jerry Jeff Walker, The Derailers, Dale Watson, Doyle Bramhall, Monte Warden, and Trish Murphy. The group stormed area venues boosted by it's fusion of Americana, country, roots, and rock and were voted "Best Country Band" by Austin Chronicle readers in 1992. A subsequent editorial even dubbed the revitalized, alt-country community as "The Chaparral Generation".

After a 4 year publishing/artist development deal with EMI Nashville, and a hiatus to start a family, Hughes and Chaparral made a steady return to the clubs and in 1997 released their self-titled debut on the "Boar's Nest" record label. The effort, produced by steel player Mike Hardwick, earned wide praise and recognition for its top-shelf musicianship and appearances by the likes of Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison. Chaparral's follow up, Head for Cover, was released in 2001 on Sonic One Records, and delighted fans and critics with a choice selection of covers revisited through skilled, twang-infused lens, from the Cure's "Just Like Heaven", to Guns n' Roses "Sweet Child of Mine", to Roxy Music's "More Than This". Jeff Hughes and Chaparral are already firmly planted on Austin's honky-tonk totem pole, where they've been filling dance floors to the brim at establishments like the Broken Spoke and the Continental Club for years. Armed with skilled maturity and a genre-less perspective, Jeff Hughes and Chaparral are energized and ready to ascend even further with their unabashed modern stamp on a timeless honky-tonk formula.