Premiere: Eleven Hundred Springs, Here ‘Tis—real country

"Fair Weather Friend" indeed

Some bands play country, and some bands are country. When you hear Eleven Hundred Springs, the distinction is perfectly clear—this band epitomizes indigenous country music. Over the course of two decades and 11 albums, Eleven Hundred Springs has delivered amazing songwriting, great performances, and distinct personality, and these Texas sons will do it again with their new album, Here ‘Tis.

Heavily influenced by the Bakersfield sound, the rockabilly stylings of the Reverend Horton Heat, The Derailers and Junior Brown, Eleven Hundred Springs delivers North Texas music with shrewdly written songs that allow room for top-notch instrumentation, big parts of the band’s unique fingerprint. Their off-the-beaten-track name comes from a slogan on Pearl beer cans that said “Brewed from pure spring water from the country of Eleven Hundred Springs.” According to the band, they drank enough Pearl to make Eleven Hundred Springs feel like home, but it also served as a tip of the hat to all things San Antonio.

“Fair Weather Friend” brings western swing and big band parlance together in a way that perfectly demonstrates the charm of this album. Steve Berg, the band’s bassist and engineer at their Cadillac Barn Studio told Elmore:

“In recording the songs for the Here ‘Tis’ album, “Fair Weather Friend” was my favorite one to work on. First and foremost, Matt [Hillyer] did a great job writing a song with lyrics that everyone can identify with, and a feel that is fun to listen to. Once I got down to the nuts and bolts of recording, the upright bass (a ’60s Kay M3) got a great sound right away, and really worked with the drums sounds that Christian [Dorn] came up with for this song. Ray Austin’s steel guitar playing fell right into place on the first take, and the same with Jordan Hendrix’s fiddle playing. We literally tracked those parts before the coffee got cold. Matt and Chad [Rueffer] both played through Matt’s 1962 Fender Bandmaster. True to everything else on this song, I just put a mic on it and pressed record. The sounds that we captured on this song are ones that are close to my heart. I would love to record an entire album with this vibe.”

Have a listen—we’re betting you agree.

Eleven Hundred Springs is Matt Hillyer (guitar and lead vocals), Steven Berg (bass), Jordan Hendrix (fiddle), Chad Rueffer (guitar and vocals), Ray Austin (pedal steel) and Christian Dorn (drums).