When I was 12 years old, we lived in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t have cable, the rabbit ears brought in only two television stations, and the mountains around us meant the network station from the nearest sizable town only came in intermittently. Alas, the PBS station was clear as a bell, and somewhere between that station’s dusty documentaries and mind-numbing news reports on textile factory strikes in Bolivia, I had only one respite: the much-beloved music showcase “Austin City Limits.”
It first saw The Wagoneers blow the roof off on “ACL” in 1988, and well, if you know about Monte Warden and The Wagoneers, you know. At that time in the late ’80s, they were being fast-tracked for commercial success. The Wags were signed to Herb Alpert’s influential label A&M while Warden was still a teenager, and to give you an idea of what that meant, only three country acts were ever signed to A&M: Waylon Jennings, Gram Parsons, and The Wagoneers. However, to call The Wagoneers a country act is a bit reductive, as they distinctly harked back to the early days of rock and roll.
On and off the stage, Warden is fanatical about his love of Elvis, and there’s a distinct possibility that he might be the foremost authority on the music and life of his fellow Texan Buddy Holly. The Wags had stumbled onto a sound that was at once fresh and absolutely iconic Americana; I took notice when I was 12 years old
