Congratulations on your new record! It feels as though congratulating is not the proper thing, because it makes it sound like something really good accidentally happened. But great albums like ‘Haze County’ don’t just happen like that, do they?
We appreciate the gesture. We’ve been excited about this release for quite some time now. The writing process for ‘Haze County’ began in 2016 so we had plenty of time to refine the songs and focus on the production of the album. It was a much different process than our previous album and we’re very happy with the final product.

When I looked up Haze County, all I really found was an IPA beer. I thought this was probably not what you were referring too, although when I saw it is from Austin, Texas, like you, I was in doubt. Also because haze county sounds like one of the many interesting names of marihuana. Please enlighten us and tell us what you mean with ‘Haze County’?
Hops and Grain Brewery, a local brewery, got the idea from the same place we did. The album title is a play on words. We live in San Marcos, Texas (30 minutes south of Austin). The county that the town is located in is called “Hays County”. Since we tend to be a little psychedelic-minded, we thought it would be cool to change the spelling to “Haze County”. The environment  in which we wrote and developed the album really had a huge impact on us so we chose the title as a testament to San Marcos and the surrounding area.

Speaking of marihuana, do you have any experiences with it, and if so, please tell us about some of the more interesting ones.
The plant is definitely not a stranger to us.

One of the things on this album that is different than on previous albums is that you added Geoff Queen as a special guest. What made you decide to do this, and what does his sound add to yours?
Country music is something we all grew up with and pedal steel is one of those essential elements of the classic country sound. Over the past few years we’ve been listening to a lot of psychedelic country-rock like The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds, and Doug Sahm. I don’t think a lot of people realize how psychedelic and dreamy sounding a pedal steel can be. (Even Pink Floyd uses one). We thought the choice to feature it on this album just made sense, and Geoff Queen is an outstanding player.

I noticed that in the biography that accompanied the download I was sent of your album the name Texas pops up quite a lot. This is obvious, because you are from there, but it made me wonder how important this background is to you and if living there influences your music a lot?
Like I said earlier, the environment that we wrote the album in had a big influence over the music but also on us as people. Sam, the bassist, and I both have been living in camper trailers on cow farms for a couple years. When you live in a trailer, you feel like you’re a part of the scenery and atmosphere a lot more than if you’re in a house. Waking up every day and being greeted by cows and a sunrise over the fields definitely affected me as a songwriter. In addition, Texas has a very rich music history from rock to country and rhythm and blues. A lot of the musicians from here sing about their home. People from Texas tend to be a little proud, it’s something that is well known and that the other states poke fun at sometimes.

Overall, ‘Haze County’ has a very relaxed and mellow feel to it, and it seems that you are spreading a message that gives very easy solutions to problems that people think are very big. Is this a correct observation?
One of the reasons that I am so excited about this record is that the lyrics are very meaningful to me. The songs deal with personal situations and big-picture problems that I’ve been thinking through over the past couple of years. Side A is kind of an introspective look inside myself. You are correct in saying that I have thought through some problems and provided solutions that work for me.