Inspired by the tradition of the typical Americana band, Dallas-based folk band Light Horse Harry hopes to bring down-home roots and Texas twang to the UT campus, co-ops and bars across Austin.
Made up of UT students Augustus Miller, Zach Youpa, Drew Scherger, Kathryn Drake and Shane Gordon, Light Horse Harry originated in Dallas and then came to Austin to pursue its education at UT.
The band is currently working on its second feature album, which will be released in 2015, and records in the West Campus apartment of Miller, an unspecified business junior and lead vocalist. “Busted in Brownsville,” the band’s four-song EP, was released this past summer.
Scherger, radio-television-film sophomore and bassist, said the band prefers to record the songs themselves.
“We do have complete artistic control,” Scherger said. “That’s the benefit to not having a professional recording space.”
According to Scherger, Light Horse Harry is a Texas band, first and foremost, but enjoys playing all genres.
“We play rock; we play blues; we play country,” Scherger said. “We kind of do a mix of all of them.”
Youpa, acting sophomore and guitarist, said it can be hard to stand out with so many young bands based in Austin.
“There’s nobody that’s like a UT band,” Youpa said. “Hopefully that could be us.”
In an attempt to expand its sound, the band gained two new members — music performance junior Drake and business junior Gordon — on fiddle and drums. Miller met both Drake and Gordon through connections at UT. With the new additions to the band, Scherger said its sound has is gradually transforming.
“We’re on kind of [a] lighter thing than we were earlier,” Scherger said. “We dropped a lot of the technology; it’s gotten more raw and ‘roots-y.’”
The band makes an effort to meet up and hold practice every week.
“There’s more of a problem with all of our schedules getting matched up to where we can find time to progress with each other, rather than just individually,” Miller said.
The group even shares a Spotify playlist with songs they like to inspire each other and keep everyone in the same creative ballpark.
“You want to get people dancing and jumping,” Miller said. “You wouldn’t want to play songs that are sentimental and lyrically driven.”
For Light Horse Harry, getting a live audience excited about their music is essential.
“We make people smile and alter their moods; one song we can play can make people feel a little better,” Youpa said.
Scherger said the band would love to pursue a career in the music industry, but they hope to continue playing together no matter where members’ professional careers take them.
“I’m still gonna play music as long as my hands work,” Scherger said.
