Ryan Nelson, who goes by Earl on stage, might have made a deal with the Devil in exchange for his guitar chops in blues music. At least that's what Robert Johnson, who spawned the genre in the 1930s, did at the crossroads of highways 61 and 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi — or so the legend goes.
His biggest musical takeaway from his time in Texas was a penchant for writing about workers’ rights and developing an everyman, blue-collar ethos. “My time as a welder is what formed a lot of my opinions on unions and labor rights, especially having to work in the 110-degree Austin summers,” Nelson explains, while pointing to such inspirations as
“This one I wanted to focus more on really hitting the roots of hill country blues and pay homage to it and align the songs more so with that sound as much as possible,” he continues. “I think we captured it on a couple songs. Some of it still comes out more country. But we are mainly white players playing this genre, so it’s going to come out a little more country. We’re mainly from the Midwest, as well.”is more blues rock, thanks to Nelson’s gruff vocals and silky slide guitar.