NUM034
Album cover

Local Customs

Lone Star Lowlands

The second in our series of peeks into the world of regional studios hones in on Mickey Rouse’s Lowland operation out of Beaumont, Texas. Long after the Bopper’s plane crashed and the Winter brothers (Johnny and Edgar) and Janis Joplin split, Texas’ Golden Triangle was home to a vibrant group of musicians, songwriters, and entrepreneurs just trying to make it in Houston, let alone the world. Holed up in a run-down strip mall, groups like Mourning Sun, Insight Out, Sage, Sassy, Mother Lion, Hope, Circus, and Boot Hill tracked out hundreds of demos, most of which were put on the shelf and left to bake in the southeast Texas heat. Until now.

The Numero Group has painstakingly audited every tape in the Lowland archives, selecting the best of the best (22 tracks on CD, 28 for the 2LP) for this peerless compilation. The songs themselves run the gamut: southern boogie rock, CSNY clone workups, British blues thunder, garage-psych hangovers, Morricone-tinged supper club instrumentals, yacht rock, and what can only be described as Bobby McFerrin fronting the Velvet Underground...each of them threaded to another in the way only a tightly-knit scene knits its output together. Forget bringing these treasures back to life—Lone Star Lowlands gives them the life they never had.

  • 2xLP

    2 150g LPs
    1 2-pocket gatefold tip-on jacket
    1 10-page booklet

Track List

  1. Next Exit Take A Look At Your Friends
  2. Circus Give Me Time
  3. Boot Hill No Control
  4. D.O.A. Lady Tell Me Why
  5. Sage Everyday Is Saturday
  6. Hope Dream Away
  7. Mourning Sun Let's Take A Walk In The Woods
  8. Roy Briggs & Alton Tew You Know I Love You
  9. Donald Thomas Calling Me Home (Demo)
  10. Lowlands Studio Band Lizard
  11. Unknown Artist Unknown
  12. Bobby Welch Laughing Girl
  13. Sage Let Me Listen
  14. Insight Out My Loneliness
  15. Boot Hill Groundhog Day
  16. Lowlands Studio Band Trash One
  17. Insight Out Live My Life Today
  18. Mother Lion Simple House
  19. Sassy She's My Daughter
  20. Bobby Welch Yellow River
  21. Insight Out It Makes You Feel So Bad
  22. Linda Crowe I Still Remember
  23. Circus Love Of The Morning
  24. Mourning Sun Where's Love Gone Today
  25. Mother Lion I'm The Fool
  26. Sage I Found My Music
  27. Bobby Welch Benashaw Glenn
  28. Hope Tomorrow